Fifteen White Guys Fail

I start my 'off a day, on a day' week with drizzly weather outside.  I am not excited.
For a number of years, I've hung a Warwick Rowers calendar on my wall.  This year will be the last.  The days of rowers coyly hiding their privates behind oars, and soft drink cans, and tea pots are gone'; there's nothing cutesy in this year's calendar.  Their strength was always in their humorous visuals, rather than in simple nudity.  This is not the case anymore.
Both Mayor Pete and Amy Klobuchar have endorsed Joe Biden.  I suspected this was going to happen.  The party is finally uniting.  Now we need Warren to do the same thing.  Bernie needs to be taught a lesson.
Interestingly enough, the Idiot Jerk in the White House has begun stepping up his attacks on Biden.  This is why he tried to blackmail the Ukrainian President.  Dirt on Biden was essential.  He can only survive on dirt.  He needs to feed his base an angry little chant, like 'lock her up.'  The dumb shit tried it with the Coronavirus.  At first it was the 'next great Democrat hoax,' but he dropped that line as cases and deaths continued to mount.  The he put that Crazy Christian Pence in charge of a task force.  And then again yesterday the Idiot Jerk said something like "I have really, really good doctors who are working on a vaccine, maybe even a cure."  He doesn't want anybody challenging what he says, so nobody around him has a brain.
And speaking of that silly little task force, a number of Crazy Christians published pics of that group praying yesterday.  Instead of relying on men of science, that fool Pence is going to pray for guidance.  He did this in his approach to HIV while Governor of Indiana which resulted in a mini-epidemic.  This man is just like the Idiot Jerk in the White House... dumb as a brick.  The first thing that went through my head when I saw that photo was "what the hell is going on here."

This is a pictures of fifteen white guys (and 1 woman) praying.  That's right, Pence has assembled a white task force made of of middle-aged and aging white men.  Were there no Asians, no Latinos, no People of Color smart enough to make the cut, or he just more comfortable surrounding himself with white Christians?  This train wreck is not even going to leave the station.

Tax This

Okay, so I didn't get a chance yesterday to sell that racist customer her flooring.  She came in on Wednesday, my day off, and made her purchase.  They took off certain charges because she kept complaining how she was an "older woman with a fixed income."  Once the black and Latino installers get to her house, they will have those charges put right back on.  She will most like shriek and moan "they're charging me because they're black and Latino."  Sorry, the very large, home improvement retailer I work for has very diverse policies.  Of course, the install will take place after Tuesday's midterms and she might be too shell-shocked to do anything except shove another bon-bon in her mouth.
So, a friend of mine posted a meme on Facebook about Pennsylvania having the 6th highest taxes in the Nation, and that was a good reason to vote 'red.'  Of course, I spent a minute and a half researching this claim, already knowing it was false.  In fact, when it comes to State and Local Taxes, Pennsylvania ranks 34th.  Here's what we pay in State Income Tax.

And when it comes to Sales Tax... we're at number 32.

Taxes are a lot higher in some states, like California and New York.  Using high taxes in Pennsylvania as an incentive to vote Republican is a lost cause.  Unfortunately, shrieking about taxes has always been a GOP strong point, until you start drilling for the truth.  Higher standards of living and higher pay rates equate with higher taxes.  If you happen to live in a state with a lower standard of living and a lower average pay rate, like down in Conservative Mississippi, and your taxes are high then there's a problem.  Look at North and South Carolina.... Wow.  Those people do pay a lot of money in taxes compared to... oh, say, Pennsylvania.  When it comes to taxes, Republicans have always promised a lot and, in reality, given very little.  Greed, you know?  Their economic plans are always dependent on greed.

Pain in the Neck

Well, yesterday was Veteran's Day so, being a Veteran, I took the day off to... try to put reality into focus... and failed.  There are bright spots out there.  This I found interesting.  Another bright spot is that because those millions of white, rural, racist voters elected Trump the GOP can no longer say they are all encompassing.  Of course we've always known they've been white racists.
And even though I could have gotten 10% off all of my purchases at the store yesterday, I did not go shopping.  And it's not because I got a write-up for that cash bag I left in my apron, which is what the end result was, but more because I don't like going to my work place on my days off.  If I want to buy something, I'll buy when I'm there, not make a special trip.  The discount isn't worth it.
I also had a doctor's appointment yesterday, with my specialist.  My neck.  When even I turn my head to the left or right there's cracking and popping, and sometimes pain.  It's not like I didn't know what he was going to tell me, I just needed it to be official, if you know what I mean.  Arthritis.  He gave me a list of exercises to do so I can strengthen the muscles.  If that doesn't work there will be Physical Therapy ahead.

Right now I'm just going to sit back and watch Trump's approval ratings slowly decline.  Remember when he stupidly said "this will be our Brexit?" totally clueless about what the consequences of that vote would be?  Well, prices are going up in the UK because the Pound keeps deflating.  Get ready, it's going to happen here.  How do I know?  Because I'm a pain in the neck!

Is the Republican Party dead in the water?

I pretty much think so.  Do a search on "racial tweets?"  Holy crap!  I was stunned when I saw much hate there is in the Republican Party, it's like a cancer in their bones.  Now you have some 34,000 in Texas wanting to secede from the United States.  You do know these are the same people who, back when Bush wanted to go to Iraq, damned every one who disagreed as unpatriotic.  When Obama was elected for his first term, instead of taking a step back and analyzing what had gone wrong and what they needed to do to put themselves on an even keel, the Republicans moved farther to the right.  They just don't seem to understand the electorate moves right down the center line, swaying a little to the right but then back again to the left, but just a little bit.  The electorate knows if they go too far to either left or right this ship is going to capsize.  The Republicans don't understand this at all.

I was going to use a picture of the Titanic but too many people lost their lives with that one, the Yorktown is better, it was dead in the water but survived.  Actually, I believe the Republican Party needs to decided if they're going to be on the Titanic and sink or on the Yorktown and float.  If they're going to float they're going to need to something about the racism.  The only way they're going to win another presidential election is by incorporating blacks or / and Latinos and the racists, well, they'll probably have to find another party.  The GOP might split into two  parts, or three parts: social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, and the Tea Party.  In order for the Republicans to put another man in the white house I suspect one of those three groups is going to get the shaft.  I'm betting it's the Social Conservatives.