Some Non-Standard Election Notes

 

by Pa Rock

Habitual Voter

Election Day is finally upon us, and late this evening the political dust should finally begin settling.  Of course, the GOP, the party of perpetual whiners, is already threatening to challenge any elections that do not go their way, so maybe the dust won't be settling any time soon.

American politics has clearly gone off the rails, and that is totally the result of a man-baby who could not accept defeat.  

I have scanned most of the internet news sources, and there seems to be a consensus that the electorate is leaning ever-so-slightly Republican, and the election now is the GOP's to lose.   The major news sites rely on polling to make their predictions.  With most people today screening their calls, the political art of polling becomes ever more suspect - and there are all manner and types of polls producing a wide array of results.  I suspect that polling is becoming less reliable and that evidence to support that assertion will become evident as the vote totals start coming in this evening.

There will also be an astronomical event as the polls are closing this evening when the Earth will pass directly between the sun and moon causing a total lunar eclipse.    During that time the Earth's shadow will cover the moon and make it appear dark red in color.  The event also called a "Blood Moon."  Some astrologers are seizing on the election evening event and claiming it will bring about some sort of election havoc - something that Americans can normally achieve on their own without cosmic interference.

I didn't make many political donations this cycle.  There were no Democrats running for any of the local offices where I live, and the only two "races" involved independent candidates running against Republicans.  I did donate to Missouri's Democratic US Senate candidate, Trudy Busch Valentine, and to Jessica Piper, a rural "progressive" Democrat who is running for the Missouri House in District 1 which is in extreme northeast Missouri.  Jessica's campaign has shown other candidates how to raise money and campaign over the internet, and it looks as though she will carry a rural district that has been Republican for generations.  She refers to herself as a "Dirt Road Democrat."

My political donations also went to two non-Missouri candidates.  I gave - as I always do - to Sharice Davids, a Democrat who represents Kansas 3rd congressional district.  Davids lives in the same Kansas community as two of my grandchildren and is their congresswoman.     And I made a pair of donations to Beto O'Rourke, a Democrat who is running for governor of Texas against the reprehensible incumbent,  Greg Abbott.  Willie Nelson supports Beto, so everybody should!

And, I donated to VoteVets, an organization that promotes and supports progressive veterans who are running for office.

Elon Musk went on his new property, Twitter, yesterday and encouraged people to vote for Republicans for Congress in an effort to bring some balance to government because the nation already has a Democrat serving as President.  It's sad to see Musk using his new acquisition for political purposes, but we all knew that it was going to happen.  Actress and comedienne Whoopi Goldberg posted a tweet this morning saying that she would be quitting Twitter this evening, presumably after making her final election observations.  I will be leaving Twitter tomorrow after completing my own political observations - and only those of you who have managed to read this far will have advance notice of my departure!

I will have quite a bit more to say about Elon Musk and Twitter in this space tomorrow.  Count on it!

If you have not already done so, GO VOTE!