September 21

As several other blogs have posted over the weekend: RIP (power or peace) RBG

My first reaction: Can 2020 get any more F*$#ed up? Well, it can. The shameless, power hungry Repthuglicans might ram through a reactionary activist judge forgetting all their pledges that if an opening on the Supreme Court came up in the last year of #45's first term they would not confirm a replacement until after the next inauguration. The "Party of Lincoln" is dead. Or, even worse, #45 might be re-elected.

I was outraged and angry when the Orange Idiot was elected in 2016. Now, I am incredibly sad and, somewhat, philosophical. Things are changing and have been for a while now. It isn't a though such drastic changes haven't happened before. The adoption of the Constitution in 1789 changed our government dramatically. The westward movement changed attitudes toward slavery and the strains on our government resulted in the Civil War and more changes. I could go on but it isn't necessary. One of Heinlein's curmudgeonly characters in a future time (I forget which one) said that the United States had gone from a representative republic (with, I would add, a very narrow representation), to a broad democracy, to an oligarchy to a dictatorship and back and forth in the list without ever changing its Constitutional framework. But I would also caution all those gleeful Repthuglicans to be careful what they wish for--they might get way more than they bargain for.

Reading today:

    Tom Englehardt at TomDispatch: A Vote For the Apocalypse.

September 20

Welcome to Fall🍂

It has been getting more and more autumnal for the last couple of weeks--since the heat broke and nights started dropping into the low 50s and 40s. I think the trees were just waiting for that because they have been turning colors--nothing close to full glory which is about two to three weeks away. The shadow of the house is almost at the top of the fence which it does around each solstice. It has me thinking about looking at shade loving plants for a fall garden next year. At the summer equinox there is almost no shade at all in the gardens except for a small strip near the house itself so all those plants have to be sun loving and very heat tolerant. I will have to think about that and do some research.

Reading today:

    Andrea Mazzarino on TomDispatch: War Zone America? When a military couple worry about a possible new civil war here, maybe we should all be worried.

    Ben Hunt at Epsilon Theory: The Welding Shut of the American Mind. Some interesting points here and has me thinking I should re-read The Closing of the American Mind which I didn't like much when I first read it a couple of decades ago.