Tuesday January 22

I am still alive, still reading but not saying much because there isn't much to say--especially about the political impasse. My last post was on the 4th of this month and it seems like nothing much has changed except to become more frayed, tattered, and dusty.

The impasse continues. One commentator said of #45's ego stroking wall that it was a "3rd century solution to a 21st century problem." Well, as I remember my history it didn't work in the third century, nor did the Great Wall of China work to keep out the Mongols who, after conquering China in 1279, ruled as the Yuan dynasty till 1368. And the wall didn't keep out the Manchu who ruled as the Qing dynasty from 1636 to 1912. But, further, immigration is a perennial problem not just one for the 21st century. We obviously haven't come up with any new ways of handling it.

I saw a couple of glimmerings of possibilities. One was a bill put forth in the Senate, I think, which would end shutdowns as a weapon because any time a political impasse over budgetary bills occurred in the future all funding would continue under the last budget until the impasse ended. The bill did call for staged reductions in spending the longer the impasse continued. The measure hasn't a snowball's chance in hell. It is too reasonable.

I get totally annoyed with those who say the Democrats should just give the man-baby his wall and then get on with things. Why annoyed? First, #45 is behaving like a 2-bit thug who goes to a shop owner and promises not to break the windows if given a certain sum of money every month. That is called extortion. Second, Mr. Art-Of-The-Deal President is a notoriously untrustworthy "negotiator." He has a history of agreeing to something and then going back on the agreement. Opening the government by giving him his "wall" on the promise of "negotiations" on immigration is a sucker play. And I put the word "negotiator" and "negotiations" in quotation marks because his doesn't negotiate--he bullies. Everyone knows the only way to end bullying is to stand up to the bully. And, third, "getting on with things" will simply mean getting on to the next policy impasse. Lather, rinse, and repeat. I am tired of the repeat.

Another commentator made a more extensive comment on #45 and the country's standing world wide. He is not only an unreliable negotiator at home he is also unreliable in negotiations with foreign leaders. They know they can't rely on him to keep his word and, worse, they can't trust him to keep agreements, even long standing agreements and treaties, negotiated under past administrations. The man-baby is a cheap conman and the whole country is being painted with the same brush.

Meanwhile, here I have made some progress. I finished one crochet table cloth and a doily. I have almost finished a second doily and decided what pattern to follow for a second table cloth. My seed order from Baker Creek arrived with the two types of cucumber seeds and the snake beans, which are a really new item this year for me. I am planning of the bean for the flowers which should be spectacular if all goes well. They sent me some black Russian tomato seeds so I think I will adjust my plans to include them. I had planned to not plant any tomatoes or peppers. My rosemary transplants are doing well including the smallest which finally decided to live. Sometime next month I will see about transplanting them in more permanent pots--if I can open the shed door to find them.

Winter has finally arrived here with temperatures most day more normal for January. We had a stretch of warmer than normal weather which had us wondering if winter was going to ignore us this year. With snow on the ground and temps in the 20s we have no doubt now.