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

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!

Re: Remember, remember

[methylethyl]

I was optimistic yesterday that Trump might be able to mobilize enough votes to overwhelm the inevitable fraud, but looking at what's going on now in MI, WI, PA, and NV... I don't know. And I'm afraid it'll end up being settled in a firestorm of lawsuits.

Re: Remember, remember

[kimberlysteele]

Yes, unfortunately I also believe that's what will happen. I think Biden legitimately won Illinois, though I highly doubt it was by a landslide in my state. Illinois, of course, is the reigning champion of voter fraud and has carried that distinction before it was a state thanks to the city of Chicago. Nevertheless, the PMC have a stronghold here. There are lots of affluent suburbanites and urbanites who have convinced themselves that the Democrats have their best interests in mind. I'd move away (I don't recommend living in Illinois to anyone despite my love for my adopted city of Aurora) but this is where my family resides and where I have deep roots.

Re: Remember, remember

[methylethyl]

Well, on the plus side, after the dust settles, I don't think anyone will be telling "electile dysfunction" jokes about Florida anymore ;)

Re: Remember, remember

[lincoln_lynx]

You want dysfunction? In NC, 2.4% remains uncounted, and they reported it'll take a couple days to finish.

Re: Remember, remember

[kimberlysteele]

The techniques the Biden camp is using to cheat only shock me in their brazenness. Trump seems to have won by a landslide, however, the Democrats were ready for that outcome, unlike in 2016, and they countered the red landslide with a blue tsunami of fake ballots. They've been gaslighting since Trump was elected the first time and now it is gaslighting on steroids. Who was it who said the US makes sense if you think of it as a Third World kleptocracy with a First World military?

Re: Remember, remember

[methylethyl]

If the Dems win this one, and we don't see serious election reform to prevent a repeat performance, I think we'll see the breakup of the Union a lot sooner than anticipated. There seem to be plenty of states that played it straight. How long will they settle for having their votes overruled by whoever manufactures the most fake ballots?

I see that seven wards in Milwaukee counted more votes than registered voters. They don't even care enough to make it look plausible...

Re: Remember, remember

[kimberlysteele]

I think if the Democrats manage to steal this election, it will be a Pyrrhic victory for them. Their cheating has been bald and craven. They could have at least tried to hide it better. I think it's going to blow up in their faces.

My thoughts are that Biden/Harris will be President, for how long though I'm not sure. If they last the whole four years, we will see lots of economic stagnation, mostly because of continued lockdowns in states like mine. It will probably be a recession all four years. For me, it will probably mean losing my commercial space because I won't be able to maintain a high enough number of students to stay there. I also expect Pedogate to gain a ton of traction. Though Trump won't be there to persecute Biden's camp and the elites in his wake, the entire disenfranchised Rust Belt will have lots of time to go down internet rabbit holes. I think it will take a few years, but if Biden wins it becomes far more likely that certain elite camps come to lose their heads on wrought iron fences.

Re: Remember, remember

[methylethyl]

Yeah. I think it will get ugly, very quickly, for everyone. I don't want that to happen.

Re: Remember, remember

[lp9]

Some recent rune readings related to the election:

Last night's question: Will Trump win the election? Gebo, gift, sacrifice to Gods (gebo cannot be reversed); I have gotten gebo repeatedly in the past in response to this question.
Tonight's questions: Will Trump be re-elected? Pertho upright, play, games, flowing of fate
Will Biden win the election? Kenaz reversed, blockage, destructive fire, arrogance, can also indicate physical illness

ABC News has an interactive electoral map where you can assign the pending states to either candidate. A 269-269 tie is still theoretically possible, which would be like throwing gasoline on the fire.

Re: Remember, remember

[kimberlysteele]

My recent Ogham readings:

Is Biden going to be the President? No, Ioho (Yew) ill-dignified. Means a lack of grace, unwillingness to give up the torch.

Will Trump be declared President by the Supreme Court? No, Eadha (Aspen) ill-dignified. Eadha means limits, boundaries.

Will Trump be the President of the US for the next four year term? Yes, Fearn (Alder) well-dignified. Fearn means guidance or bridge and indicates the presence of helpers in various forms, including gods.

Re: Remember, remember

[methylethyl]

FWIW, I don't ask directly about who will win the election. It doesn't feel right. But I have been asking for guidance and clarification about the situation an awful lot these last few months. When I pray and open the book, I repeatedly come back to the books of Esther and Daniel: two stories with a lot in common: in both, you have God's people, the Israelites, living in exile in a foreign land. They've settled in awkwardly. The king is a sympathetic figure, but not everyone likes the Israelites. There are Israelites serving as faithful advisers to the king (Daniel, Mordecai), and the king's non-Israelite officials are murderously jealous and plot against them (in Esther, the eunuchs are mad at Mordecai because they plotted against the king, and he ratted them out). In both cases, the plan is to wipe out all the sojourning Israelites, because they don't follow the official religion and, while faithful servants, won't bow to the official gods. In both stories, our heroes prevail in the end, though things look pretty dire (Daniel chills with the lions, Artaxerxes has to rescind an order to murder all the Israelites). In Esther, the plotters end up hung on the scaffold they built for Mordecai. In Daniel, the plotters get chucked into the den of hungry lions after Daniel emerges unscathed.

So... things could get really dicey. But I think it'll be OK. The villains will be hoist on their own scaffolds, and fall into the traps they have laid for others.

Re: Remember, remember

[kimberlysteele]

Fascinating! Thank you. It's been a while since I read those Bible stories. I had forgotten about them. They seem to be especially relevant fodder for discursive meditation right now.

Re: Remember, remember

[methylethyl]

Last night, getting all anxious about the obvious fraud, and the prospect of liars and cheats taking over the highest office in the country... I got Job, reprimanding his wife.

Job says "If we accepted good things from the Lord's hand, shall we not endure evil things?"

So. Yeah. Patience. Gonna be a rough ride.

Re: Remember, remember

[kimberlysteele]

I'm most likely going to lose my commercial space because of endless lockdowns and extended PMC fear culture. I have my Plan B, scorched Earth strategy in place. I recently bought myself about six more months via negotiation, but if I don't start seeing more students in and out of the door soon, it's over. Keep in mind that getting my own commercial space ten years ago was a Herculean endeavor and both my husband and I put a ton of work into it. I may try to run the library out of the space immediately, though I am not sure how it would do. Set-up would be a beast as the space isn't ideally laid out for a library. There's also the issue of the PMC, which in the area where I chose to set up shop a decade ago, is especially looney. This is why I was hoping to move to a less affluent area when my lease is up.

Under a Biden presidency, costs of living would most likely go up via stagflation. Plus he would take all of the Trump tax cuts away which would punish the middle class. The middle class is my clientele. Democrats, at least in their current incarnation, are extremely bad for the economy and because of their COVID fearmongering, the economy is already in the toilet. I'll be fine, of course, as I don't tie up my whole identity in the amount of money I make. What puzzles me is how the PMC has orchestrated its own demise via COVID lockdowns. We all knew they were unhappy as a group but this time they've engineered their own painful suicide. Though now that I think about it, there could be a temporary boom as Biden opens the floodgates and unleashes loads of cheap Chinese consumer goods.

Re: Remember, remember

[lincoln_lynx]

IMO, it's now obvious that for some reason, divinations relating to the election were all screwy. I suspected that for the last two months when incredulous questions got spectacular results.

Or perhaps Trump was meant to win as they suggested and in their cheating our elites have defied the will of the gods.

Re: Remember, remember

[kimberlysteele]

That's the vibe I have been getting. You just put your finger on it. Not that the will of the gods can be thwarted for long, of course. The Dems have pulled out all the stops to cheat this time -- there are millions of fake or changed ballots. I have already made my peace with a Biden/Harris presidency. Biden is already screwed: he's demented and quickly getting worse, he's also guilty of treason for selling out our country to China his son. So he's already toast. If Harris becomes POTUS in the next four years, which will be highly likely if the Dems push Biden into office, it's extremely sad for women and for black people. The first woman President will have gotten there not by election but by someone being unfit/impeached/senile/dying. The first black woman president, like the first black president Barack Obama, will only be half-black. It's like if I became President (no plans there) and said I was the first Japanese president. Though my ancestry is Japanese-Italian-Celtic I'm not Japanese and I'm not Irish-Italian European. I'm half. Being mixed is not the same as being one ethnicity or the other. It's very much its own thing. Playing the race card is always a bad idea, especially when you're half. Kamala is also technically a loser of the primaries.

There are a few deities as well as demons involved in this one, I think, and they REALLY don't like being ordered around by LARPing egomaniac witches and alt-right Chaos mages. Hubris right now is at a peak and I think those who are wallowing in it are going to get spanked.

Re: Remember, remember

[methylethyl]

I gather there are bigger forces at play, and we mortals are perhaps not that important.

Re: Remember, remember

[kimberlysteele]

The only thing we can do is try to make the best we can out of it, no matter how terrible it is.