Sorry- this is rushed and a bit late. I am election addled. I don’t know about you, but I took my opinions to bed early. I thought it unlikely we would have a new presidential designee before morning, and that was confirmed through the hours I twisted my quilt around me and dreamed of a particularly challenging parking lot at a place where I used to work.
This morning things were not clearer, since about five states were still out and unlikely to have their vote counts recognized for days- or weeks. As you know, the battle over hanging chads in Florida back in the Gore-Bush days took 38 days to sort out, and there was actually physical evidence that a human had handled them at some point.
We had a previously scheduled Zoom call for noon today, hoping to have some resolution to start planning events over the next couple years. The audience was around 70 in age and male, so obviously biased and probably evil in intent, but there was a certain consensus. It was generally accepted that both Presidential figures still have paths to 270 Electoral College votes, the margin needed to win.
But there was also the breathtaking idea that we have possibly elected a 77-year-old man with clear cognitive issues to what was once the most powerful political office in the world. Thankfully, in ready backup to assume the mantle is a lady whose somewhat confused record and rhetoric could not get her to the first primary in her party’s nominating process. What fun!
There is a curious and unpleasant smell about all this. The constant hostility to the President by the “mainstream media” (routinely 90% negative coverage) over four years, the completely bogus polls (again), shutdowns of web traffic deemed “in violation of community standards” (whose community?) and the sudden cessation of vote counting in urban counties in swing states around mid-night on Election Day.
It all painted a picture in common with the bizarre year we have shared. It is quite unlike any I recall in a Presidential election. At least since Mayor Daley of Chicago handed Illinois to JFK long ago.
The current President could still win, but the clear rays of Virginia sky shifting through the barren boughs of the trees surrounding the pasture suggest something fundamental is different here in the Republic. We will have to see how this plays out, and as the Bard used to say: “The Play’s the thing!”
Whatever else, it is a nice day. Maybe we will have something to talk about next week. As always, having a wonderful time! Wish you were here!
Copyright 2020 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com