November 30

 We have made it to the last day of November. Somehow all the wild weather that hit the Pacific Northwest and the east coast almost totally missed us--so far. Meteorological winter starts tomorrow so we have plenty of time to get hit. Astronomical winter is December 20 (or thereabouts). I am just starting to think about what next spring's garden will contain and how the containers will be arranged.

The best comment I heard lately about the incoming administration was from a guy named Grant. He was interviewed on MORNING JOE early last week promoting his article (I forget where) and it was, to paraphrase the title of the article, if you think you know what is going to happen--you're wrong. It looks like there might be a fight over confirming some nominees and one has already thrown in the towel. Trump seems to have decided to nominate serious candidates for the departments he, or his oligarchic supporters, like. But he is nominating people with serious character flaws and very limited experience and/or expertise for those departments he hates. How well they will work together is a question and whose advice, if anyone's, Trump will take is another. Although Trump constantly extolled his "promises made, promises kept" slogan, his first administration promised much and delivered little. And he has to deal with a very closely divided Senate and House.

I have watched MORNING JOE for several years and was surprised when Joe and Mika announced a couple of days after the election that they had gone down to Mar-a-largo to meet with Trump. However, I am not, like some, going to stop watching. I can agree with them on the subject of the toxic nature of politics nowadays and that the rhetoric should be tamped down. I notice that they promised that they will still criticize Trump when they disagree with his policies. I heartily agree with that also. Unfortunately, over the last 12 years or so ad hominem insults have passed for reasoned debate on both sides of the ideological divide. Trump has been a master of the form and the Democrats have been sucked into the pattern. I haven't seen anything to indicate that Scarborough and Brzezinski have "kissed the ring" as alleged by this piece in CROOKS & LIARS and some of the commentators at the end. I follow a number of bloggers and commentators who espouse conservative views, many of whom supported Trump and expect good things of him. I don't intend to stop reading/watching them either.

This piece is a nice change of pace. Not everywhere is a carbon copy of New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, or San Francisco or any other highly urbanized place. Not all of our borders border Mexico.