October 27

 We had a full day and a half of good rain which ended around noon yesterday. The temperature barely got up to 50F. The last of the trees went from green to fall color almost over night. The high winds on Tuesday blew a lot of leaves off trees. At time it looked like yellow snow falling because of the number of leaves falling.

I found this sad report almost first thing this morning. That so many Republicans would favor declaring the U.S. a Christian nation even though the Constitution prohibits the establishment of an official religion. One big question: which variety of Christianity would be the official Christianity of the U.S.? But expand the question a bit and ask: what about non-Christians under a declaration the the U.S. is (some form of) Christian nation? That is what this post on the Atheist Revolution asks. The answer should scare us.

Another sign that fall has definitely arrived: when the sun rose we saw frost, heavy frost on the rooftops. Not yet on the cars or grass.

I had a thought that I doubt the politicos would like: the volatility in the electoral process with narrow margins in so many areas, the shift in voter sentiments among groups once reliable voters for one side or the other, the switch of once reliable areas like the formerly Blue Wall of states all tells me that neither party has anything to offer the electorate. The Republicans are simply nit-picking the Democrats while not putting forth any concrete policies. Mitch McConnell's response to a reporter who asked what their plans were: we'll tell you after the election. Essentially they are following the dictum Robert Heinlein put into his character's mouth in TIME ENOUGH FOR LOVE: in a government of the people, by the people, for the people, don't tell the people. The Democrats did pass some legislation and used executive orders that will help people if they retain the House and the Senate and if the courts let some of it stand. They promise to extend those and to enact more to cure the chaos the court has produced with the cancelling of Roe but that depends entirely on keeping and, maybe, extending their majorities. We are in for a very bumpy ride no matter what.