After it All Lady Liberty still Stands Tall
What an election - like never before and never again we hope. As an outsider to all of this allow me to extend both congratulations to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and a Thank You to thousands of others.
I feel the need because the most famous democracy in the world held together once more when it looked like it might be doomed. We can only hope I am not speaking prematurely.
I am referring here to thousands of nameless citizens who made this election possible. We saw some of them at counting centers across the nation. For days they did and are still doing boring repetitive tasks to get votes counted. Their arms, fingers and behinds must be sore. They are surely sleep deprived and sometimes hungry. This has never been done before in such quantities. As I said, they are still at it.
The resounding message throughout all of this is that all legal votes - the foundation blocks and bricks of any democracy - must be counted however long it takes. These are the people making sure this happens. So far it has all worked despite the leader of this great country.
Lady Liberty might have a back brace by now under the robe but I am sure there is a smile on her face.
I hear Donald was golfing today. Did he count every stroke? Were there any impartial observers? Will his partner take him to the Supreme Court to nullify his fraudulent score?
I suspect there will be a very special Thanksgiving this year for many Americans.
#thebrewsterblock
Music to the Ears
Last night Joe Biden addressed the nation and the world. In a classy fashion he did not jump the gun speaking as the assumed President, but clearly in a Presidential manner.
This is just what America needs. After four years of someone who can't even read a teleprompter without looking like one of those blow up mechanized Christmas or Halloween lawn decorations it was so good to see. In this case it appeared that Biden was also reading his words but what a difference.
When either Biden or Obama speak, they sound Presidential, even their unprepared remarks. Obama is a master at it - no teleprompter in sight. When Trump speaks off script he sounds like a badly scratched LP that keeps skipping backwards as he repeats almost every phrase.
It will be too late but if he has to face the many courts who will soon be after him, Trump should get lots of practice speaking off the cuff. There again what lawyer would ever put him on the stand. As well if he lies to the courts he will pay for it!
It's going to sting even more for Trump if the man he loves to call Sleepy Joe beats him.
Can't wait!
#thebrewsterblock
Take your pick. They are going FAST!
Make America's Presidency and Elections Great Again
Is this election really so different? You could say and I would agree that the current President is the most divisive, unethical, deceitful ever but that is like saying one case of childhood measles is worse than another when both kids are sick in bed. Ask the kid which is worse. There have always been bad Presidents.
Trying to make a virus, or the economy or health care or Trump himself the real issue this time is only scratching the surface. Extending the analogy you don't get severely sick or die from red spots if you have red measles. They are only one symptom. The real problem is what happens to your health overall. The same applies to the country and the election.
I have said this before and it is worth repeating. What is behind the emotion of most elections but in the USA in particular is the great divide between the have and the have nots.
I am not a historian but most of us have some recollection of the topic in school. From the beginning of time there have been conflicts between peoples - internal to a nation or region and between them. It seems to me there are only a few causes. 1) Greedy men - it is usually men - want land, resources, and people outside their jurisdiction so they take them by brutal force. 2) The people they have ruled finally rise up and eliminate the rulers. 3) The rulers begin to suppress and eliminate their own people before 2) can happen. There is a fourth when another nation decides to conquer you, but that is really just the reverse of 1).
Ultimately violence is almost always involved.
In Russia, China, the Philippines, Iran etc. they have experienced 3) above. It is still happening. There have been occurrences of 2) but not many successes. 1) is still happening all over the globe.
What about America - number 2) or number 3)? Since it's founding the gap between American haves and have nots has become extreme. A very few people are obscenely wealthy but they don't see it that way. Perhaps they also think that their wealth will also preserve the status quo for their kids and grandkids. Some of these people and their corporations also control those in power. That is common to most other wealthy countries. The pressure is building and the cork will blow. What flows will not be champagne.
What is more complex in the USA is the racial aspect. Like it or not it is still there. Those few at the top but especially the "red" ones have always resented the "browning" of what they see as THEIR country. Everybody else is in the Land of the Free only as a concession and only as long as they keep their place as second class citizens and are grateful - or else!
This is what is behind the entire immigration hullabaloo. It is behind Black Lives Matter and White Supremacy. From Adam and Eve this has been inevitable with the population explosion, especially in have not countries. They will seek better lives if only food, water, and shelter elsewhere.
Can Joe Biden fix that? I doubt it - not all of it - but John Kennedy made a good start followed up by Lyndon Johnson. Trump and his cronies make the claim but look at the makeup of his staff both in and out of office. Listen to the stories those who used to work with him have to tell. Fake news? No.
I don't have a solution either but ignoring the problem won't make it go away. If the tensions don't subside America in the worst case will self destruct without enemies firing a shot. In the meantime those same enemies will become the dominant forces in the world replacing America.
If that does not fire up the American spirit I don't know what will.
#thebrewsterblock
Elephant and Donkey Commercials are Great!
Hearty congratulations to whomever is behind those commercials on CNN with the elephant and the donkey. They are great.
It is good to see that even though CNN spends virtually all of its time bashing Trump (deservedly most of the time), these cartoons look to be impartial. The message behind all of them is working together or at least that the two mascots should be doing so. They always end up failing.
The last one with a half elephant / half donkey character asks if there is any room in the middle between the other two on a park bench. They both quickly deny it space. So real.
In the past I have named these two Jack Ass and Dumbo. They act the parts most of the time. In the case of the two contenders I think either name is slightly more appropriate for the incumbent.
Thanks CNN.
#thebrewsterblock
