Rumble In Our Democracy

I keep wanting to get back to local news, but the sore Democrats won't allow it.  They're still complaining about dog whistles and racism.  They're still calling Bannon a white supremacist.  So far, on their behalf, I've seen no real insight about their loss.  Newscasters on CNN speculate that Joe Biden might have beaten Trump.  Instead,  they should be examining how they lost any pretense of objectivity.  Torturing the Democrats even more, is the fact that they won the popular vote.    I see previously sensitive women, of Democratic persuasion, making catty comments about Kellyanne Conway's appearance.  I see lawyers complaining about the legality of the  electoral college.

A local dispenser of taxfunded grants is distressed because Trump used an Indiana state grant to help retain Carrier manufacturing jobs. He wants Obama to get credit for the 16 million jobs that a Washington Post headline said that he had created.  There's no details in the article, because if Obama had in fact created that many jobs,  Hillary would have won. Union members voted for Trump not because of racism, but because they know better than most, that making popcorn at the mall during Christmas season,  isn't manufacturing.  Although, I have often praised this local official on this blog for his accomplishments in Allentown, he requested that I refrain from commenting on his Facebook page. He hates Trump to his very core, and does not accept him as his president.  Another tax funded agency director praised his reply to me.  Never the less, I will continue complimenting his good work.  For me,  life goes on in Allentown, regardless of who is elected to the White House.

We see professors outlining courses on racism and electoral grief.  Others seek contributions for a recount in Florida, with only hours left allowing that recourse.  I have yet to read or hear a positive, forward thinking word from the Democrats.  As a certified bastard, I must once again confess my amusement.  My only concern is that my smirk might be taken as a smile.

Recounting America's Preference

Earlier in the week, I was critical of the Green Party and their recount effort.  I thought that they were compromising their principles, to possibly only benefit Clinton and the Democrats.  Indeed, the disheartened Democrats thought much more of Jill Stein after she filed for the recount.  The Clinton campaign is now openly recruiting people to help with the recount in Michigan and Wisconsin. The other day, after my post, I received a call from a local Green Party member. This woman was an avid supporter, who actually was with Stein several times during the campaign.  According to this source, the party itself did not support the recount, and it was more of a renegade action by the good doctor herself.  This was not my impression, or the premise of my previous post.  I also believe that it was not conveyed by the press, or is the perception by the general public.

As an advocate for independents and third parties, I find this revelation disappointing.  I knew that Gary Johnson was using the Libertarian Party as a vehicle for his campaign.  I assumed that Jill Stein was more married to her choice of parties.   However, I certainly understand the difficulty of running completely independently, with no party affiliation.

In photographs of the local Lehigh Valley recount, I recognized vocal Clinton supporters present.  The entire local recount only discovered a few absentee ballots which were not counted.   It in fact reaffirmed the integrity of the existing voting system.

Looking For A Cop In Allentown

If you were looking for a policeman Tuesday morning, you better have been on the second floor of Sacred Heart Hospital, because all the brass and most of the shift were there. It was another one of their Coffee with a Cop sessions.  Besides hospital personnel,  there were only a few community members present.  I confronted Chief Morris about what appeared to me to be a wasted use of manpower.   To his credit, Morris didn't take offense at my blunt assessment, and actually even explained the reasoning.  Police take many of the injured and distressed to that hospital, and this session allowed the hospital workers and police to meet personally, under much less stressful circumstances.

The next Cop and Coffee will take place at the Sunrise Diner on S. 4th Street.  Even I concur that spot will be a good location for community outreach.

Looking For A Motive In Ohio

Main stream media tells us that the authorities are looking for a motive as to why the young angry Muslim immigrant attacked people at Ohio State.  Needless to say, I find the inquiry mind boggling.  With open hearts and closed eyes we have become easy targets.  We worry more about xenophobia and political correctness, than security. Our college professors want to label our self preservation instincts as racist.  We hide from the reality of our enemy's blind hatred, and instead concentrate on weapons, like gun control. The weapons used in Ohio were a car and kitchen knife.

While our social scientists look for complex answers, hopefully our government will resort to simple procedures, like increased vetting.

During WW2, the navy didn't have time to psychoanalyze each kamikaze pilot.

Unfriending The Election Results

Before and since the election, I have been amused by reactions to Donald Trump. One facebook friend started to unfriend people yesterday that support Trump. Others are even less tolerant, and will unfriend those who don't loudly condemn Trump. They just cannot be associated with any possible connection to racism or xenophobia, even if contrived. I suspect that the next four years will be tough on them. Although, I do not believe that their characterizations are fair, this post isn't intended to defend Trump, but rather note the mindset of those so upset. Meanwhile, they feel free to viciously demonize, ridicule and mock anyone they suspect remotely connected to the evil one.

Counselors were actually recommending that family members didn't discuss the election at their Thanksgiving dinner. Nonsense like that makes bastards like me grin, and I don't smile that often.

The Marginalization of Dr. Stein

When Jill Stein campaigned for President she defended herself against taking votes away from Hillary.  She claimed that Hillary was just the status quo, and not really progressive.  The Green Party is now saying that they're not doing the recount for the benefit of any one candidate, but for democracy. Well, we know that they're not doing it for Jill, because she only got about 1% of the vote.  She is now getting more contributions for the recount than her campaign generated.  She has become a willing tool for those despondent over Hillary's loss.  Clinton's campaign staff will be on the ground monitoring the recount.

Trump's victory was pure democracy.  He had no get out the vote organization,  no ground game.  If history will show any shenanigans in the 2016 election, it will be in this recount,  not on November 8th.  As someone who ran himself for office twice as an independent,  I find this action disappointing.  It depreciates the Green Party to the children's Junior Achievement section of the Democratic Party. In essence, Stein is a front for Hillary to recant her concession.  Jill Stein's legacy will be the confirmation of Trump's victory, instead of the principles on which she had run.

Observations From An Old Allentown Meat Market

Card carrying members of this blog know that in addition to being a son of a bitch, i'm also the son of a butcher. Because my father had a meat market, I was impressed when Wegmans opened about 15 years ago. They raised the bar for local supermarket chains. Getting on their parking lot the day before Thanksgiving was a fool's errand, until this year. On Wednesday there were plenty of spaces, I couldn't even describe the store as very crowded. What happen? The simple answer would be more competition, with Hamilton Crossings and their new offerings. I actually think that  something else was also in play.

For the last several years, Wegmans had indulged in one remodeling project after another. Although new, changing and different might appeal to their clientele in upstate New York, I don't think that they understood local Pennsylvania Dutch thinking. Make it do, wear it out, use it up, do without has been the mentality here for generations. I found the continuous remodeling annoying, and with each improvement there seemed to be less customers.

This blog has received some complaints, mostly from my distressed Democratic readers, about straying too far from the valley with my recent election posts. I wouldn't expect to hear that beef about this entry.