Back during the 2018 campaign, I used to say I’d be voting for, and working for, James and Mandy if only for one thing: their promise to expand Medicaid. There were so many other reasons, but that alone would have been enough.
In this election, I can say something similar. Discount everything else… withholding military aid appropriated by Congress to pressure an ally into serving his personal political advantage; talking about “very fine people on both sides;” forcing protesters out of the park so he could stage an amazingly stupid and pointless photo op; firing people who did their duty by testifying truthfully against him; “shithole countries;” getting his crooked friends off the hook with the law; stiff-arming allies and having “love” affairs with tyrants; 220,000 dead from the pandemic… obviously, I could list hundreds of utterly horrific, wildly abnormal things he has done to degrade this country and damage its ideals and interests.
But we would have to do everything we could to get him out of office, and replace him with Joe Biden, if all there was was this:
Advocates for immigrants say they still have not found the parents of 545 minors who were separated from their families starting three years ago during President Trump’s immigration crackdown at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The 545 children are among more than 1,500 who were separated from their parents as far back as July 1, 2017, and they include cases that were part of a pilot immigration program at the time and were not immediately disclosed to the U.S. District Judge who ordered the families reunited in June 2018, said American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Lee Gelernt….
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That issue alone should have ended Trump’s political career. We stooped to the level of thuggish regimes like Russia. Disgusting.
By the way I invoked your blog on Keven Cohens radio show. They keep claiming the Democrats are less civil than Republicans. They cited yard sign vandalism as one example.
It remains hard for me to imagine that supporters of Joe Biden are vandalizing Trump signs. I accept that it’s happening, because I’ve heard about it from reliable sources.
It’s just that from where I sit, it seems extremely unlikely. Because that ain’t what’s happening in my neighborhood. And what’s happening here is pretty much what I would EXPECT to happen…
My neighborhood has a mix of signs for all parties and political candidates. Doesn’t appear that anyone has messed with anyone’s signs, though.
Well, but how would you know?
When mine have been defiled or stolen, I just replace them. The only reason people know what has happened is I keep telling them. Most people — normal people — don’t do that.
The one Trump sign I can think of in my neighborhood (I seem to recall there’s a second one, but I can’t picture it now — I guess I don’t pass that way often) seems fine, day after day. But I don’t know: Maybe they’ve replaced it over and over…
Meanwhile, new signs for Joe and Jaime keep popping up. Here are some new ones I saw yesterday. They’re well placed — excellent defensive position. Who’s going to climb up through all that ground-cover junk to get to them? I have some of that same stuff on my property, and I have good reason to think copperheads live in it. But it’s nowhere near any good spots for placing signs…
Well, I suppose I was more impressed than I should have been by the “good ground” the folks chose for their signs at this address.
I walked by there today, and the Biden sign was gone:
“Biden/Harris down, we got a Biden/Harris down…”
So I guess I’m doing right by continuing to take mine in every night, then back out in the morning….
You’re correct, Brad. I don’t know with universal, omnipotent certainty. Just making an observation.
Oh, I’m not arguing with you. It’s just something I think about, as someone who thinks WAY too much about yard signs. I wonder whether other people are having trouble, but I have no way of knowing. Unless I knock on all their doors and interrogate them, which I don’t have time to do…
People on a neighborhood website I read have been complaining for weeks about people stealing their signs. These are in-town hoods, and the signs are for Democrats. They say people drive by in trucks and grab their signs, as well as the usual walk-by thefts. A friend who lives in the only Republican district in Maryland said she finally made stencils for Biden supporters to use so they could repaint their signs after people spray paint them. The Democratic Party couldn’t keep replacing them. Persistence is key.
That’s not enough.
I’ve written my representative and both senators to ask them what they are doing to reunite these families.
Have you?
It may not produce any concrete result, but at least they are aware that people “back home” are concerned.
Non- scientific observation. I just drove back roads for an hour. Biden signs outnumber Trump signs 10-1 or more. Of course, many Trump voters may not be advertising. And almost every Biden sign had a Harrison sign as well.
Yep, that’s sort of what I see, too, but aside from my precinct — which has been Republican, although I would say fairly moderate Republican, as long as we’ve lived here — I’ve mostly only been in Democratic-leaning areas. Shandon and the like.
A friend who lives in Pelion says all he sees is Trump.
One thing that worries me is the thing you say about “many Trump voters may not be advertising.” That was definitely the case in 2016. There was ONE Trump sign in my neighborhood. And I think pollsters were undercounting the Trump vote that year because respondents didn’t want to admit they were voting for Trump, even though they were.
Now, though the dynamics are different for several reasons, and I’m not at all sure how it adds up:
Anyway, that’s enough.
Aside from the fact that it’s a HUGE mistake to read too much into yard signs — if they were a reliable indicator, I assure you James Smith would be governor now — there are just too many variables in other areas as well.
Yes, the polls are encouraging, and the pollsters have learned a lot from 2016. But they are still WAY too close for my comfort. We still have in front of us the extremely amazing, disturbing fact that millions of Americans actually want to VOTE for this idiot.
Support for Trump has always defied logic, and it still does. So no matter how many encouraging signs I see, I still worry. A lot…
I received a Trump letter over the weekend from his campaign. I opened it and wrote “I already voted for Joe” and mailed it back to them in the paid envelope they provided.
I really enjoyed that.
… and poor ol’ Donald being so short on money…
I believe many of the same voters who put Trump in office also put Obama in office. They were voting for something different, and in both cases they got it. I also believe that at least some of those voters have buyer’s remorse, and they’ll vote for boring rather than different.
Oh, I think you’re right.
But of course, what you just offered was a powerful argument against letting people vote for president. Voting for “something different,” no matter what that meant?????
To summarize the thrust of the comments above:
Claiming the moral high ground for the country takes a backseat to color commentary on front-yard games of “capture the flag.”