Election Reflections

[kimberlysteele]

 

Hi Everyone, this post is likely it for this week -- I'm trying to finish a song project and I'll be pouring lots of effort into it Wednesday, when I usually put out a new post. Thanks for reading and please respect my no-profanity rules in the comments.

I have had more close friendships end due to my own choice than the other way around. In most of the cases, I was responsible for both the breakup and at least in part for the conflict that led to the breakup. In only one case did I feel completely innocent. Unlike the others, I never crap-talked this friend, I didn't enchant a guy she was obsessed with, and I was never so much as rude to her though she did not return the favor. She had an irritating habit of telling me I looked tired that I don't miss -- though I blew it off, this seemed to be a form of concern-trolling meant to inform me I was looking my chronological age and not youthful and fresh as we women are supposed to look at all times. She was often kind and considerate, but when the going got rough in her life, she turned out to be a bitter lunatic, obsessed with what she could not have. In her case, the holy grail was a biological child. She spent the second half of our decade-long friendship convinced that she deserved a healthy, perfect baby of her own genetic extraction. As an adoptee who was abandoned by my natural mother at ten days old despite being physically and mentally unblemished, it struck me as odd that she saw adoption as a vastly distant second best to procreation. Somewhere near the end, she found Jesus at the local McBox church -- during our last meeting she insisted she was finally content in life because of her newfound religion. My BS detector started ringing; she was raised agnostic atheist. The friendship came to a screeching halt when I asked, "What if Jesus doesn't have it in His plan for you to conceive?" You could almost hear the snap of the friendship breaking. Despite the pointed nature of my question, I still don't think I did anything wrong.

In a similar vein, I don't feel I wronged my vegan friends when I ended my vegan meetup group of ten years in August. Like my baby-obsessed former pal, vegans and vegetarians have become lunatics about their own holy grail, which is the toppling of the legally elected 45th president of the United States by any means necessary. They began this psychotic break in 2015, when Donald Trump went from fading reality TV show star to leader of the Executive Branch. Though my former friends accuse me of being a Trump fetishist, he has elicited no more than a "meh" from me in his entire presidential journey. I think he's done as good of a job as a person could do given the situation, but unlike them, I wouldn't take his job if it were handed to me on a silver platter, for all the power it would grant me.

I'm intellectually honest: Trump is a weird blowhard. He looks funny with his orange skin and puffy combover. He's also apparently quite competent at being President. He got in the way of foreign powers like China and Russia without goading them into firefights and he also got in the way of domestic terrorists like BLM and Antifa. He did not start any new wars. He's OK in my book. "Oh yeah, he seems OK" is the highest compliment I can give a president as a staid, born and bred, non-city dwelling Midwesterner. Make of that what you will. I am not excited about Trump. He elicits no passion from me one way or the other. I think he is OK, that is all.

Don't tell the other vegetarians, though. Former friends of mine foam at the mouth at the mention of Trump's name, their higher instincts thrown overboard in favor of Pavlovian hate porn gleefully propagated in every byte of mainstream media chatter. Between Facebook, Twitter, and CNN, their lives are one long, solid dog whistle, a teakettle of piss left on a dung-encrusted stove that never stops boiling over. My husband warned me that saying "All lives matter" got Jessica Doty Whitaker, the 24 year old Indiana mother of a three year old boy, fatally shot in the face. Recently, when I put out a sign letting my students know I would not force them to wear a mask inside my business, an adult piano student of a certain age confronted me, citing the governor's authority to deal with me for breaking the mask mandate. When I retorted with "The Constitution is the ultimate law of the land," she got so mad, she quit the lessons she had been taking for over two years. She was not mature about the matter. She ghosted me and did not pay for the half month she was present before our political disagreement. I was far more irritated by the ghosting than the money. People who are older than I am should know better than to act in such a rude and uncouth manner, especially over such trivia as politics. I just hope she finds a teacher in political agreement with whom to resume her lessons, because she was finally beginning to make real progress. I would hate to see two years of work, both mine and hers, wasted!

I am 47. Never did I think I would see a day when a despised Hollywood elite was more interested in cheering on BLM communism than making money in their chosen crafts of acting, directing, and film production, but here we are. Never did I suspect the Left would become the party of censorship. Never did I think people who marched for an end to the war in Vietnam would stump for an all out warmonger who put hundreds of thousands of black people in prison while his own son smoked crack cocaine with the groomed 14 year old daughter of his own dead brother. I didn't expect Donald Trump to be president in the first place and I'm more shocked to see that he's not half-bad at it. I'm done being surprised.

I would like to see a collective return to the old fashioned notions of civility and decorum. This means I would like to see a world where people don't shout in each other's faces or ghost their piano teachers because they are politically disgruntled. I'd like to see a world where Americans wear proper clothes in public spaces instead of open-toed Birkenstocks, shorts, sweatpants complete with sweat stains, and pajamas.  I'd like to see a general disavowal of calling people the eff word and the C word and a return to more literary yet devastating insults.  I'm entitled to my pipe dreams, I suppose. There are life lessons here that are being learned, that much is obvious. I pray we don't need a civil war to figure them out.

Comments

[methylethyl]

I see a campaign slogan there: "Trump! He's OK!"

[kimberlysteele]

Ha ha! Considering Biden is definitely NOT OK -- the poor guy seems well on his way to senility -- it just might work!

[(Anonymous)]

Remember the other year when the OK hand signal was stamped as a symbol of white supremacy? If your former friends and students saw this post, they might think you've really gone over to the dark side and that you'll soon be flashing "OK" at them like a gang sign. Buckwheat couldn't even get away with it now days!

Joy Marie

[kimberlysteele]

I think they were trying to remake the OK symbol as white supremacy to detract attention from another conspiracy -- celebrities have an odd affinity for using it and of course the Pedogate people jumped on that. The OK means 666 according to them and is used by celebrities in the same way as a gang symbol (according to Pedogaters) to signify one's membership in the elite pedo club.

[lincoln_lynx]

I'm less charitable towards Trump than JMG but I'd prefer a Trump win nonetheless. And for a semblance of societal sanity but that's asking too much.

[kimberlysteele]

Let's say the Republicans win everything: presidency and both houses. Unfortunately, they are known for having mandates and then proceeding to waste them. Didn't Republicans control all three branches from 2001 - 2007 under G. W. Bush? Weren't they also in control from 2016 - 2018, when Paul Ryan was Speaker of the House? They are known for treading water when they could be kicking ass. Trump is a President, not a King. People don't seem to understand the limits of the Executive Branch. In 2016, Trump got better trade deals for the US in spite of his fellow Republicans, not because of them.

[lincoln_lynx]

Republican politicians love losing, that's for sure. They could've cruised to victory this time but alas the Republican Party hasn't been Trumpified the way Never-Trumpers whine about.

[kimberlysteele]

I think it was Styxhexenhammer666 who said "the Democrats are given an inch and take a mile; the Republicans are given a mile and take an inch"

[kimberlysteele]

As for societal sanity, YES. Singapore goes too far with its fines for selling chewing gum and jail time for jaywalking, but I don't think they're so far off the mark for publicly caning people for littering or imprisoning them for vandalism. As for the BLM and Antifa members who are upset with how terribly unjust and racist the US system is, I would round them up, put them on a plane, and drop them with about two weeks worth of supplies in the middle of the Sahara desert. Those who survived would be offered as human chattel in Libya's open air slave markets. What better way to prove black lives matter than to offer oneself in the place of the black "bodies" that fill those markets, thanks to the garbage policies of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama?

[kimberlysteele]

Also, the above is why I will never run for President, and if I do, why people should hope I will lose!

[lincoln_lynx]

People say I'm harsh for wanting tarring and feathering to make a comeback and become the default punishment for politicians and public servants who use their position to screw society over.

[kimberlysteele]

I think the pillory would be an effective deterrent for vandalism and defacement of property.

[methylethyl]

Heh. I really think we should bring back something like public caning here, for misdemeanor-type crimes. It'd be far more humane and nondiscriminatory than what we've got: a Byzantine system of fines and bail (which are inconsequential to the rich and disastrous to the poor). Caning is the same whether you're rich or poor. And it'd cost far less than housing people in jail for minor crimes.

[methylethyl]

Of course I don't think their chewing gum and jaywalking rules are weird, either. Singapore's one of the most densely packed urban areas on earth. If every twentieth person in my town spits out a wad of gum on the ground every other day in my town, it's no big deal. In Singapore... every walkable space would be coated in a week.

[kimberlysteele]

True, I had not thought about it. If it's that crowded, yeah, Draconian measures are needed to prevent a San Francisco type situation from happening.

Public caning seems like it would be more humiliating than painful. Though I do wonder... how hard are they hitting people? Is it on the bare tushie?

Remember, remember

[(Anonymous)]

...that we are just short lived mayflies in a late fall storm for this civilization.

This year I got angry multiple times over the insanity of most people around me (or as you would call it - demon possession). But remembering that we are not here for long (at least in this life) and that similar mass hysterias happened during the collapse of other civilizations (Constantine killed almost a whole Roman city when he got angry and he is still considered a saint), so remembering helps me move on and focus on living and not emoting.

That being said, thanks for this article - I agree wholeheartedly and I am trying to follow your advice on standing up for the reality. I just posted a link to a Covid hysteria video on FB (I haven't posted there in 10 years). You never know, maybe some of the distant acquaintances there will watch it and start questioning the mass media.
Thanks!

Re: Remember, remember

[kimberlysteele]

So true. I once wrote in a song "I tried to live in the now but I couldn't make it last". There isn't much time to spend on the ugly political convulsions of other people right now -- I am delighted to report that I didn't waste my evening watching the election. Instead, I worked on my music production and mixing projects, fed some kitties, raccoons, skunks, and possums, and put in 45 minutes on my exercise bike.

If Trump pulls in a decisive victory, I pray that it will mean an end to the popularity of mask wearing, a kibosh on censorious scolds, and a loosening of the death grip the PMC has exerted upon the rest of us for the last seven years. I don't count on any of those things, but a lady can hope.

Re: Remember, remember

[methylethyl]

Looks like decisive isn't in the cards. Sigh.

Re: Remember, remember

[kimberlysteele]

Yes, the PMC is clinging on with every fiber of its being. There's a lot of talk about voter fraud. We're looking at a Constitutional crisis one way or the other.

The US isn't headed for a civil war; it is in one. For now, it's a mostly cold civil war except for the antics of leftist looters and rioters. As I suspected, the Democratic Party is trying to cheat via mail-in ballots. I voted in person because I suspected this would be the case.

I think the PMC knows it is in for a karmic spanking. This is just another part of their Deep State-sponsored color revolution. I'm glad I started studying the Stoics a few years ago!

Mercury Rx in Libra

[brendhelm]

An interesting astrological observation I noticed:

In the history of the United States, there have only been three presidential elections where Mercury was retrograde in Libra on election day: 1908, 2000, and 2020.

Now, 1908 was a clear win, who was of the same party as his predecessor, so not sure what's going on there (possibly a relative lack of Plutonic influence; Pluto's crescendo period had only started seven years prior and had yet to reach its first Saturn opposition) - but we all know what happened in 2000 and what is happening in 2020.

Incidentally, I drew a few cards on election day. 6 of diamonds inverted - can mean abuse of power. Asked about the result, got 6 of spades inverted (trouble, delay), then asked about the final result, got 5 of hearts inverted (moving on, letting go, acceptance).

This doesn't tell me who actually ends up winning, but it is suggestive of the strife going on and, furthermore, projects that it will NOT conclude in civil war.

Re: Mercury Rx in Libra

[kimberlysteele]

Thank you! I appreciate the astrological insight. No wonder 2020 is so ugly. Plus Mercury being such a mess indicates why the mainstream media has become propagandistic and fake while average people have turned into newscasters if only to provide a somewhat more reliable source of information.

I'm glad there's no hot civil war in the cards or stars. I haven't done any divinations in that direction. We are in a cold civil war of the brother-against-brother type in my opinion.

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks Kimberly as always I appreciate and enjoy your reflections so much! My cards repeatedly told me that Trump would win, but after much trouble and delay, and an exhausting fight. I have expected (as it appears he did, based on tweets he sent out as far back as June) that this election would end up in court due to fraud. It is all very shockingly brazen, isn't it? But I think the Dems figure that most of their voters are so uninformed that it doesn't matter how ridiculously obvious it is, or for that matter how ridiculously vague their plans are (it's impossible to pinpoint exactly how their proposed tax policies will actually affect the middle class because they have given no exact determinations about things like tax increases relative to inflation or itemized deductions, and wiggled around so much around with social security increases that it all blends together like a poorly mixed packet of bad jello) but of course we expect it to be negative across the board for the whole economy. Alas, we just have to wait and see. I still have hope for something better than what we were getting before Trump (and since Covid.)

When I read: "I would like to see a collective return to the old fashioned notions of civility and decorum" I had to smile! I felt the exact same way which is why I picked up a copy of Pride and Prejudice to read again, as well as the (now banned) "Gone with the Wind." It's been a joy to read anything at all about history and other times of great challenge, authoritarianism and struggle that our ancestors muscled through to remind me that this all is just happening in the blink of an eye, and at least we're not getting buried alive for the mere suspicion of intimacy as the Vestal Virgins lived in constant fear of, or tossing our loved ones onto the 9am dead trolley rolling through Black Plague-infested towns in medieval Europe...though you wouldn't know that's not our real situation based on the hysteria bleating on MSM.
Books, tea, and civil conversations across cyber space it is, then :)
Hugs and blessings to you!
xoxo K

[kimberlysteele]

Thanks! I fear the Deep State Democrats will cause a Great Depression, especially if they reinstate lockdowns. Most of them won't survive a Great Depression, let alone thrive in it. They carry huge mortgages and they are addicted to so many conveniences, if the going gets rough, they won't be able to cope psychologically. Look how fragile they are now and systems for the most part have not broken down yet.

For instance, the college industry, hanging by a thread and the healthcare industry.

I noticed the latest cancer/chemo drug being pimped in a commercial like soda pop. Advertisers are going to ever-greater lengths to convince cancer victims that they need to go through mutilating, grueling "therapies". There are other options, of course, and I speak only for myself (this is NOT medical advice) when I say that if I found out I had cancer, I'd do my best to treat it via my diet and with herbs and supplements, and if it didn't work, I would let nature take its course and accept Death with as much grace as I could muster.

I was thinking about making a video about how the pro-Bidenites will suffer intensely if the economic crash continues but I don't know if I'll get around to it. Basically I would say to them that the economy that sustained a yoga studio on every affluent corner has already gone away. With a Biden presidency, if that's indeed what we get an I have my doubts, the coming crash will hit them hard. I'm not the one with a $4500 a month mortgage. I'm not the one who runs to the doctor/dentist/surgeon for every ginned-up physical malady; hell, I don't even have health insurance! I'm not the one who drives a new, leased car. I know how to make a tasty meal with only a can of corn, flour, water, and salt; they will starve as they cry over an empty cupboard and no money for their precious restaurant take-out. I also have not spent the last four years sneering at everyone who disagrees with my political views and attempting to dox them or get them fired. They probably should have asked themselves "Can I cope with Great Depression-like conditions, chronic unemployment, and severely reduced circumstances?" before they propped up Cheatin' Joe.

[(Anonymous)]

I would appreciate hearing more of your thoughts in video form on the Bidenites' realistic challenges with an economic crash. It's so true, I was getting some rude comments on social media from a lady who was obviously super pro-Biden / the classic discharged-from-reality, hate-driven socialism, and went to her profile...she had a textbook PMC persona. Huge mask on in *every* photo for the last eight months, with "super cute" designer heels and handbags to match! LOL. I thought about your post and how you're right, people who are higher earners who happen to support this BS think lockdowns is about drinking extra wine, being lulled to sleep at 4pm by Netflix propaganda, and munching out on Uber eats every night, while taking "OMG SUPER CUTE SELFIES with masks on!!" They don't get that if they keep this up, they themselves have the furthest to drop. It's a looong way to fall from Gucci selfies to waiting for three hours the miles-long food donation line, at the end of which you get to sigh a bag of dry elbow pasta and a jar of GMO peanut butter.

[kimberlysteele]

Thanks for the great comment. Yes, I was toying with the idea of making a video on this subject, plus a post here on this blog. The Bidenoids will throw the US into a second Great Depression if the Deep State gets its will and shoehorns Biden/Harris into the White House after February 2021. Biden will lock it all down for 4-6 weeks, and that will be the death knell for small business owners like me. Now I'm a tough little weed, personally, and I have already said to a select few of my clients that I will teach them or their kid for free if it comes down to that. Before this crap, I was already the lone sane adult in many kids' lives, and now it is that on steroids as the Professional Managerial Class goes full metal jacket.