And can't we please bring back the Roosevelts?

Why is the country still listening to the Kennedys? And by that, I mean any Kennedy.

The 2024 Election, Part XX. The Debate Edition

 

June 27, 2024

So, tonight (9:00 p.m. Eastern), the two ancient contestants in what both parties insist is a "binary choice" square off in what will be the only debate of the 2024 Presidential Election.

Trump, who has a habit of going weirdly off script in meandering monologues, has been trying to downplay the results ahead of time, after having spent months claiming that Biden is cognitively impaired.  In reality, Biden's always made odd speech gaffs, but Trump, who in his younger days did not, now makes them frequently, suggesting that the impacts of age are catching up with him.  Both men are the same age chronologically, for all practical purposes, but Biden is obviously more physically fit than Trump, who doesn't believe in exercise.

It is, of course, not a binary contest.  You can vote for somebody else.

Do you intend to watch the debate?

So, who all do we have right now?

Presidential Election:

Democratic Ticket:  

Biden/Harris, incumbents.

Republican Ticket:  

Trump/Unknown.

American Solidarity Party:¹   

Sonski/Onak

Libertarian Party:²

Oliver/terMaat

Reform Party:³

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr (an independent)/Shanahan⁴ 

Green Party:⁵

Jill Stein/Unknown

Green Party of Alaska:⁶ 

Sherman/BluBear

Constitution Party:⁷  

Terry/Broden

Constitution Party of Utah and Nevada: 

Skousen/Combs

Party for Socialism and Liberation:⁸

De la Cruz/Garcia

Approval Voting Party: 

Huber/Denault

Prohibition Party:⁹

Wood/Pietrowski

Independent:  

West/Abdullah

Quite a few third parties, we'd note.  Have you considered any of them?

Wyoming Senate Race:

Democratic Contest:

Scott Morrow.

GOP Contest:

John Barrasso, incumbent

Reid Rasner

John Hotz.

Wyoming House Race:

Democratic Contest:

Kyle Cameron

GOP Contest:

Harriet Hageman, incumbent.

Steve Helling

Constitution Party:  

Jeff Haggit

June 28, 2024

I only watched about 30 minutes of it and could no longer stand it.

There's really no denying at this point that Biden's age makes him unfit to be President.  It's not that Trump made sense, Trump's performance demonstrated that he's an unmitigated liar and constitutionally unfit for office.

Rather, the supposed binary system that Americans have bought off on means that, for most people, the choice, because they refuse to imagine another one, will between somebody whose age has caught up with him vs. somebody who doesn't have a single positive political attribute and who is a danger to democracy.

Some, like Nate Silver, and he's far from being alone, are calling for Biden to drop out of the race.  If he does not, it will be to his everlasting shame.  The real question is not if he should drop out, but when he should drop out.

And who, in that case, might replace him.

Joe Manchin of West Virginia.  A possibility?

The other, and vital question, is how American democracy reached this state.  These two choices are the worst in American history and most people don't want them (which again means, they shouldn't vote for either of them).  If the country survives this election, something has to change, beyond that which will change simply because of who is elected.   The system is not functioning to produce two such abysmal choices.

Almost missed, so far, as a Wyoming story, but sort of an interesting aspect of the warp and woof of our times, a Hageman staffer has been forced to resign, in this case, an intern.

A news story by "The Laramie Reporter" reveals that the intern had connections, at least in the form of social media likes, with the extreme right. The same figure has been a rising, albeit young, figure in the populist far right at UW and is on the student senate.

The entire matter is interesting in that it reveals the extent to which populism in the US right now trends highly towards the anti-democratic. The intern was found to have liked racist posts on social media, and to also have outright stated his opposition to democracy at least once.  He also seems to have followed Francoist, which is stunningly bizarre.  This seems to have come out of the same figure being a Christian Nationalist, which shows a really dark side of the National Conservative movement, but perhaps one that is closer to the surface than many people care to admit.

He lost his position, or resigned, the very day the blog broke the story.

June 29, 2024

To Serve His Country, President Biden Should Leave the Race

June 28, 2024

The New York Times.

The Times is absolutely correct, which doesn't mean it will occur.  The stunning level of refusal to accept reality will keep it from occurring.

Establishment Democrats like Robert Reich who ignored the repeated calls for Biden not to run in the first place failed to address the deer in the headlights appearance of Biden and the obvious age related mental decline following the debate (Reich may be addressing it in his entry of today).  "It's only one bad day" seems to be the theme, with those commenters forgetting the truism expressed by Janis Joplin "that it's all only one f***** day man".  

The bolt is shot.  Some Democrats who were to vote for Biden will now not vote at all, or go to third parties.  Republicans on the fence will in fact fold back into Trump.  Wavering independents will fall towards him, or fall towards not voting at all.

The reality is that Biden needs to step aside in the race. The other reality is, he won't.

Biden will keep running, and Trump will win in the fall.

Footnotes:

1. The American Solidarity Party is a Christian Democratic party that's centrist in nature, which should not be confused with Christian Nationalism, which it would generally be in opposition to.

2.  For some time the third-largest party in the US, the Libertarian Party has seemingly fallen into hard times as libertarian ideas have been co opted by some elements of the Republican Party, which ironically in its populist mode of present, it's also radically opposed to, but doesn't realize it.

3.  A number of parties have had the "reform" label for at least a couple of decades. This party is generally centrist in nature.

4.  Kennedy has the Reform Party's nomination, but isn't running from it.  He's an independent.

5. The environmental party.

6. I have no idea why Alaska's Green Party has separated from the main Green Party, but it certainly has no chance of electing a President.

7.  The Constitution Party is a populist party and is where the "Freedom Caucus" people actually belong.

8.  A radical left wing party.

9.  A really old party, it was at one time a significant one but has waned since the repeal of prohibition.

June 30, 2024

Predictably, there's a lot of Democratic true believer "nothing to see here" type of comments regarding President Biden and the recent debates, maintaining nothing whatsoever will happen in regard to his poor performance.

Not likely.

I'm reminded of Monty Python's classic scene of King Arthur confronting the Black Knight.

"Just a flesh wound".

July 2, 2024

The post election reaction on the Democratic side has been interesting, and unfortunately a bit predictable.

The closer a commenter is to the Biden Presidency, either officially or emotionally, the more likely the comments are that the debate just didn't matter.

It did.

As things distance out, that is recognized.  The New York Times, Maureen Doud, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, and others, have all asked Biden to drop out.  He should, but the voices he's now hearing, from his family, and from inside Democrats, are urging him to stay in the race. Those are the voices that he's going to listen to.

And that's what will reelect Donald Trump in the Fall.

It's not too late to pick a new Democrat.  It's not the case that only Joe Biden can beat Trump.  Indeed, people thought Biden was going to be a one-term President in the first place, and didn't want him to run again.  Nobody likes the thought of Harris being the President when Biden dies.

Of course, what's going on is emblematic of the Democratic Party itself.  It's not true that "only Biden" can beat Trump, but probably only Biden can embrace the full slate of the Democratic left's agenda, somewhat, and still have a chance at beating Trump. Any other Democrat who had a chance would have to run much more from the center.  Ironically, that would also mean that such a candidate would have a much better chance of winning overall.  But the far left of the Democratic Party, like the far right of the Republican Party, is no compromise in nature.

Time remains, but it won't be taken advantage of.  The Democratic Party will simply hand the election to Trump, and more than that, may very well hand the Senate to the GOP as well.

Cont:

A party of Democratic governors is going to meet with Biden regarding his staying in the race, or gettin out.

Congressman Lloyd Doggett has called for him to get out.

Manchin was going to announce that he wanted Biden to back out on one of the Sunday news shows, but was talked out of it.

Democrats who are begging to realize that he might get out, are rallying around the worst possible option for his replacement, Kamala Harris.

July 3, 2024

Push To Ditch Ballot Machines For Hand Counts In Wyoming Gaining Steam

Oh shoot, why not just have a ballot initiative requiring us to vote by raising our hands after we walked to the polls, so we can get as antiquated as possible.

July 4, 2024

President Biden told staffers he's staying in the race. At the same time, support for him to do so is rapidly evaporating in the Democratic Party, with even Jim Clyburn suggesting that he should consider dropping out.  It was Clyburn's supportin 2024 which secured South Carolina for Biden.

Meanwhile, Anne Applebaum has published an article in The Atlantic urging Democrats to pick a new candidate, and noting that the British manage to hold thier entire election in a six week cycle. The French, whom she doesn't cite, are doing it even more quickly than that.

Newly released grand jury material shows that Trump’s name appears multiple times on Jeffrey Epstein’s message logs and seven times Epstein’s private jet flight logs, that Epstein flew on Trump’s jet with a young girl of indeterminate age and that girls who Epstein trafficked worked at Mar-A-Lago.  A girl that Epstein trafficked mentioned visiting Trump’s casino in a recently released deposition transcript.

A Jane Doe witness at Ghislane Maxwell's trial stated that she was introduced to Trump by Epstein when she was 14 years old.

This at least raises a set of questions, if nothing else, what did Trump know about Epstein?

Finally, barbequed dog?

July 5, 2024

Joining the rising number of press outlets calling for Biden to withdraw is the influential British magazine, The Economist:

Why Biden must withdraw (economist.com)

cont:

Now that it appears increasingly likely that Joe Biden will drop out (contrary to my expectations), and may even be reaching the inevitable stage, Trump is increasingly off his game.  Used to insulting his opponents, now that he doesn't know who his opponent is, he doesn't seem to know what to do.  An insult game only works if you visably have somebody to insult.  Without that, it might seem that he stands for nothing much.  He's managed some weak insults against VP Harris, but frankly it's unlikely that she'd be the Democratic nominee.

Today, on things he stands for, he eeked out this:

So he's disavowing those who are his hardcore allies and who have been getting in front of him as it now appears that Project 2025, in the hands of a capable opponent, might be a real liability. But this is a week denial.

July 6, 2024

Biden, bucking the tide against him, and refusing to acknowledge reality, has indicated he will not step down in an interview with George Stephanopoulos.

All along, the American public has not wanted these two ancient candidates, and yet they will not yield to the public desires.  Biden isn't yielding to reality at this point.

July 8, 2024

I listed to the This Week interview of President Biden.  From the audio, I came away more convinced than ever that Biden needs to step aside in the election  It left me, at least, with no confidence whatsoever.

In an odd turn of events, MAGA members are fuming over the results of the French Election:

France

In an amazing one week long rally, the French left and Macron's Ensemble stages a comeback with the left wing NFP now having the majority of seats in the French Assembly and Ensemble the second largest.  

None of the parties have enough seats to form a government, and nobody is certain what will occur.  If a government is to be formed, it will have to be a coalition government.

July 8, 2024.

Some are even accusing the French left of cheating in the election, with quite a few taking the same line as Le Pen supporters and claiming the alliance of French left wing parties "unnatural".

July 9, 2024

President Biden wrote a lengthy letter to Democratic leaders on his reamining in the race.

Related threads:

Why can't Democrats get a clue?

I ran this back in February, at which time it was already obvious that Joe Biden needed to go:

Lex Anteinternet: Why isn't anyone suggesting that Tammy Duckworth r...: 

Why isn't anyone suggesting that Tammy Duckworth replace Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket?

I'm not endorsing Duckworth, and I'm sure she has left of center opinions that I have problems with, but there's no earthly way that a guy with contempt for veterans and whose views toward women appears rather, well whatever, could handle a smart, female combat veteran, like Tammy Duckworth.

Fifty-five years old, lost her legs in combat, Asian American, PhD, and a mother.  She's the anti-Elise Stefanik.

Trump and his supporters couldn't handle her, and Trump would insult every single veteran, Asian American and woman in the country within 12 hours.

Curious.

Right now, the stunning level of density in thought in the Democratic Party is really on display.  Joe Biden is as done as dinner in this election.  If the Democrats are to beat Trump, they need to shuffle him out the door before the primary.  The line that nothing happened at the debate, or that he's just fine, or that it was only one bad day is frankly absurd.

He needs to drop out of the race.

In no way shape or form does Kamala Harris need to replace him.

Harris grates on the nerves of a lot of non Democrats, and just about everyone in the middle of the country. She has a grating voice and comes across as snarky.  She'll do worse, or at least no better than Biden would have. She needs to go too.

The Democrats have some strong potential younger candidates. Tammy Duckworth is the one that can't be beat.  She's much younger than the geezer running on both sides. 

And she's everything Trump has a problem with. She's a woman. She's not "white".  She's lost a leg, and in combat at that.

Trump would have a difficult time not being a complete asshole, and insult Asians, women, veterans, and the disabled.

Shoot, Duckworth is a mother. 

Harris is a snarky sounding lawyer.  He could make snide remarks about her all day, and a lot of people would secretly laugh at them.

A Duckworth/Manchin ticket would be unbeatable.  A Duckworth/Klobachar ticket probably would be.

I'd still vote for the American Solidarity Party candidates, as I have deep problems with the Democratic embrace of such things as abortion.  But the "oh, nothing is wrong with Biden" and "let's nominate the second most worst candidate" thinking of the Democrats is simply amazing.

Democrats don't lose elections.  They throw them away.

Blog Mirror: Joe Biden should drop out.

Labels: 2020s, 2024, 2024 Election, Blog Mirror, Joseph Biden, Personalities

Last prior edition:

The 2024 Election, Part XIX. The Clerks say "M'eh" edition.

Labels: 2020s, 2024, 2024 Election, flap de jour, Natrona County Wyoming, Politics, Taxes, Wyoming, Wyoming (Natrona County)

Did any of your ancestors participate in Operation Overlord?

If they did, let us know, and if you know anything about their stories, let us know that.

One of mine did.  My Uncle Terry, who was a Canadian soldier. That's about all of his story on this topic, I know.

Postscript

Surely, I'm not the only one. . . 

Lex Anteinternet: Drill sergeant shoots first perfect score at Army ...

Lex Anteinternet: Drill sergeant shoots first perfect score at Army ...:   Drill sergeant shoots first perfect score at Army marksman course

Why can't this be big news in The American Rifleman instead of how we need to all bow to the wishes of Donald Trump or how Stalingrad is going to break out at the Loaf and Jug? 

When even the Kremlin corrects Carlson

Tucker Carlson claimed that "not a single Western journalist has bothered to interview Putin".

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov:  

Mr. Carlson is not correct. In fact, there’s no way he could know this. We receive numerous requests for interviews with the president, [...] 

Bigger question. Why are Trump and his minions such Putin fanboys? 

Lex Anteinternet: Some more Hamas Israeli War observations

Lex Anteinternet: Some more Hamas Israeli War observations: 1. What is "proportionality" in a war with an opponent that's genocidal? So what, exactly, is proportional to people who will ...

As a followup, it's interesting to note that victorious powers of the Second World War are still, nearly 80 years after it ended, occasionally prosecuting people who were young in the early 1940s who had some role with the death camps.  We don't worry about putting these people, now in their high 90s or even over 100, on trial even though it arguably serves no purpose whatsoever now.

Proportional?

Well, perhaps, given the monstrosity of the crime. 

Which leads us back to this, what is proportional to an entity that has committed horrors just as equally vile as that which the Nazis did in the 40s, and which would commit more?

Targeting civilians certainly isn't it, but how do you handle an enemy that hides among civilians, and has encouraged them to stay?

And yet again, what do you do if that population actually supports murder to a large degree, and right now, other than the insistence that they do not, there's not very good evidence that they don't.   They're still civilians, but how do you address that?

"How can you represent. . . "

Elk Mountain.

Every lawyer has been asked that question at some point.  Usually it's "how can you represent somebody you know is guilty?"

Usually, amongst lawyers, it's regarded as kind of an eye rolling "oh how naive" type of question.  For lawyers who have a philosophical or introspective bent, and I'd submit that's a distance minority, they may have an answer that's based on, basically, defending a system that defends us all.  Maybe they have something even more sophisticated, such as something along the lines of St. Thomas More's statement in A Man For All Seasons:

William Roper : So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!

Sir Thomas More : Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?

William Roper : Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!

Sir Thomas More : Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!

That's about the best answer that there may be, and frankly the only one that applies to civil litigation.  We can console ourselves that in representing the interests of the potentially liable, we protect the interest of everyone.

But what about plaintiff's lawyers?

Frankly, the excuse is wearing thin.  

I.e., I don't believe it for a second.  It's all about cash.

And this is a real problem.

The question is what to do about it.

Well, frankly, the average person can't do much.  But you don't really have to accept it, either.

Shunning has a bad name in our culture.  Indeed, one English language European source states:

More specifically, shunning or ostracising is a form of abuse. It is discrimination and silent bullying. Unfortunately, often people who have been shunned also face other forms of abuse, ranging from death threats and physical assaults to murder.

And there's a lot of truth to that.

At the same time, it was and is something that is often practiced to varying degrees in religious communities.  Indeed, up until the revision of the Code of Canon Law in 1983, Catholic excommunications were of two types, vitandus and toleratus, with vitandus requiring the Faithful to cease all normal connections with the excommunicated.  It was very rare, but it could happen. Since 1983 that distinction does not exist.  Some Amish, however, still have such a practice, and they are not alone.

Realizing this is extreme, I also realize, as I've seen pointed out twice, that land locking rich magnates cannot do it without local help. They always hire somebody, I've heard them referred to as "goons" to be their enforcer, and when they need legal help, they hire a Wyoming licensed attorney.  Indeed, in this instance, remarkably, the plaintiff did not use a Denver attorney, which I thought they likely would have. 

And this has always been the case.  Wyoming Stock Growers Association stock detectives were sometimes enforcers back in the late 19th Century, and they were hired men.  In the trial of the Invaders, a local Cheyenne attorney was used, but then again, that was a criminal case, which I do feel differently about.

Elk Mountain is basically mid-way, and out of the way, between Laramie, Rawlins and Saratoga.  People working for Iron Bar Holdings have to go to one of those places for goods and services.  There's really no reason the excluded locals need to sell them anything.  Keep people off. . .drive to Colorado for services.

And on legal services?  I don't know the lawyers involved, so I'm unlikely to every run into them. But I'm not buying them lunch as we often do as a courtesy while on the road, and if I were a local rancher, and keep in mind that outfits like Iron Bar Holdings don't help local ranchers keep on keeping on, I'd tell that person, if they stopped in to ask to go fishing or hunting, to pound sand.

If this sounds extreme, and it actually is, this is what happened with some of the law firms representing Donald Trump in his effort to steal the election.  They backed out after partners in their firms basically, it seems, told Trump's lawyers to chose Trump or the firm.

And there are many other examples.  Lawyers bear no social costs at all for whom they represent in civil suits.  People who regard abortion as murder will sit right down with lawyers representing abortionists, people seeking a radical social change will hire lawyers to advance the change, and the lawyers fellows feel no pressure as a result of that at all.

Maybe they should.

Or is that view fundamentally wrong?

Is The Extraordinary Attorney Woo worth watching?

PFC Foley's boots.

This is a well known photograph of PFC Edward J. Foley, 143rd Infantry Regiment of the 36th  Infantry Division near Valletri, Italy, 29 May 1944.  It's an interesting photograph for a variety of reasons, including the number of M1903 Springfields it depicts.

In looking at it, I noticed something odd about Pvt. Foley's boots.  Note that everyone around him is wearing service shoes and leggings.  I figured he'd acquired a pair of paratrooper boots, but that's not what these are.

It looks like the top 3" or so of the boot are a separate leather piece, and they have speed lace hooks, rather than eyelets, in that portion.  They also don't have tapered heels, like paratrooper boots do.

Altered service shoes?

Is this Blog Slow To Load?

Please let me know if you stop in here, if this blog is unusually slow to load.

If so, I may need to make some features adjustments.

A Hundred Years Ago: 1922 Directions for Cooking Hot Breakfast Cereals

My goodness, check out these times:

1922 Directions for Cooking Hot Breakfast Cereals

Thirty minutes for rolled oats?

And I frankly don't know what the preparation methods for some of these cereals are.  Cornmeal?  Is that boiled cornmeal?  Cracked wheat, is that boiled?

Flavor of the weather?

Why would a major east coast storm have "an American model" and "a European model"?

Heard on the Today Show's weather report as I headed out the door, just as they were synthesizing the models.

Geologists, do you still use them? Brunton Compass

Lex Anteinternet: Brunton Compass: 

Brunton Compass

Brunton Pocket Transit, folded for carrying.

Artillerymen, do you still use them? The Brunton Compass

Lex Anteinternet: Brunton Compass: 

Brunton Compass

Brunton Pocket Transit, folded for carrying.

"Do you personally know anyone who has had COVID 19?"

So reads an item that's constantly popping up on my Facebook feed right now.

I don't know the original source, but I suspect, without knowing for sure, that this started off as one of those Covid denial things you see around.  I.e., not that many people "really get it" or "it's not that bad".

I replied the first time, as I know the person who was circulating it.  I haven't to the several ones I've seen since then.

But yes, I know a lot of people who have had COVID 19.  I started counting it up in my mind and then simply stopped when I could think of twenty people I know who've had the infection.

Indeed, I know people who had it the very first month that it became a news story and hardly a month has gone by where I haven't learned of somebody else who has had it or, has it.

Offhand, I can think of two people I know who died of it, and one of them definitely didn't die a good death.  That, moreover, was brought about due to a situation in which one person insisted the other come to his office, which was the one time the person broke a self-imposed quarantine.  He died on a ventilator.

I know another whom I suspect had COVID 19 playing a role in his untimely death, due to the impacts it has one some people who get it. And I know another whom I suspect has been severely physically impaired by the disease. 

I got vaccinated as soon as I was able to and all of my family did as well.  But I know people who haven't.  They all have their own reasons for that.  But we're entering a very new phase of this.  The Delta variant is as infections as the chicken pox and the Lambda variant, which just broke out in South America, appears to be more able to break through.  

This virus isn't following the normal path.  Normally, virus evolve towards being less lethal.  We're not seeing that.

Does anyone really know somebody who hasn't had the disease?  I doubt it.

The bigger question may be does anyone out there not know somebody who died?

Blog Mirror: Is the Allure of Farming Irresistible?

 A question posted by the USDA blog:

Is the Allure of Farming Irresistible?

I think the answer may perhaps be yes, but here's another question.  Is satisfaction of that allure obtainable?

A question for writers of fiction.

If you are a fiction writer, by which I mean novels, how many significant, or central, characters do you feel is the limit for a novel, assuming you feel there is a limit?

To Kill A Mockingbird, by my recollection, has basically five.  The Killer Angels, on the other hand, has at least seven and probably more like ten, if I recall correctly.  War And Peace has enough of such characters such that keeping them all in mind is a bit difficult, even though it is, in my view, the greatest work of fiction ever written.  The small Irish classic Durango has seven or eight.  McMurtry's magnum opus Lonesome Dove is centered on two, but they interact with a bare minimum of eleven other significant characters, and at least that many minor ones.

Thoughs?

Does anyone know what this font style is called?

 From the John Lewis mural in Atlanta.

Something we said in 2016:

We ran a long election post mortem in 2016. . .nothing like for the 2020 Election cycle of course, but pretty long, here:

Lex Anteinternet: The 2016 Election: I didn't see that coming. . . like all of the rest of the pundits. It's been a wild election year. Yesterday, Donald Trum...

One things, of many, we said there:

The voters who revolted are, no doubt, going to be accused of being racist.  But to desire the America they grew up in, which was more Christian, more employed, and more rural, doesn't make them that way.  The Democrats have been offering them Greenwich Village, the Republicans the Houston suburbs.  It turns out they like the old Port Arthur, Kansas City or Lincoln Nebraska better, and want to go back. That's not irrational.

 

Port Arthur Texas.  I listed to people discuss the upcoming election two weeks ago at the Port Arthur Starbucks and thought they'd really be surprised when Clinton was elected. Turns out, they were much more on the mark than I was.  And it turns out that people in Port Arthur like Port Arthur the way it was twenty or thirty years ago, and they don't like a lot of big, hip trendy urban areas that they're supposed to.

Will Trump be able to do that?

Well, any way you look at it, it's going to be an interesting four years.

Trump will have to act on his populist world view.  I'm certain that it will be only momentarily before the pundits will start opining about how Trump, now that he is the President Elect, will moderate his views, etc., but there is no reason whatsoever to believe that. So far, his entire behavior has been true to what appears to be his basic character. We can anticipate that he will continue to act that way. And an electorate that, essentially, voted to rip everything down wants it down.  I suspect, therefore, that's what we will get.

I also, quite frankly don't think that this is universally bad. As noted, I never supported Trump, and I did not vote for him yesterday.  I'm in the camp so disgusted by both political parties and their candidates that I could not bring myself to hold my note and vote like so many others did. But I do think that Trump will listen to the blue collar element of American society, and somebody needs to.  I do not think that this segment, which knows its being forced out of work by a combination of forces that are not of its own making, but which are more than a little the fault of policies favoring the wealthy, will be quiet.  Clinton would not really have done anything for those people other than to lament their status, Trump will have to do something.  And I also think that Trump will actually nominate justices to the Supreme Court who do not feel compelled to stick to it, such as Justice Anthony Kennedy or who have a social agenda that colors and informs their decisions.  Justices who decide the law are needed on the Court and I think they'll actually be appointed.

Did I get it right?