The election is finally over.

It’s nice to see a presidential election that is wrapped up before the bars close.  The 2000 Bush-Gore election, with the hanging chads, was so tedious.  Just like the Olympics, it makes a difference where you watch.  I like Real Clear Politics because they provide all the current information in a clear manner.  Watching a news channel on Youtube or cable or broadcast, is so tedious.  I’d rather watch a Jerry Lewis Telethon.

The rest of the time, Real Clear Politics aggregates polls from everywhere else and posts articles from a wide spectrum of sources.

This morning, I’m wondering what’s up with the states that can’t close the books on the election? 

Prior to the election, here are the states that RCP considered to be battleground states.

Almost half of these battleground states haven’t been called at 7 am.  No other states are still up for grabs.  That is strange enough to warrant some attention.  Here are the

RCP 7 am results.

Michigan has 97% of the ballots in, and a 1.9% spread.  What’s the hold up?

Arizona has a 5.7% spread, with 63% of the ballots in.  That is one of the lowest percentage of votes counted, of all 50 states.

Nevada has a 5.5% spread, with 89% of the ballots in.  Surely they could count enough of the votes to call this one.

Sparky likes President Johnson

 

Sparky wanted to recreate this photo of President Johnson holding his beagle up by the ears.  With Sparky’s belly, I’m afraid his ears would come off.  I obviously can’t tell him that, so just said that I can’t find my suit.

Sparky wasn’t impressed by LBJ shaking hands with his dog.  He thinks Blanco looks like a dumb ass.  Sparky is envious and suspicious of dogs with luxurious fur.  He likes how his seal fur lets him slide through brush and brambles, and thinks that slick dogs should get more acclaim.

Yuki riding on the back of President Johnson’s Cadillac has the twin virtues of being fun and dangerous.  Sparky is going to talk about this photo for weeks. 

After seeing President Johnson howling with Yuki, Sparky says that being president seems like a pretty easy job. 

Going back to the Moon.

 

With the normal stupid stuff going on, it’s easy to lose track of the impressive work being done.  SpaceX  routinely launches satellites into orbit and occasionally demonstrates an impressive new capability, but the big picture isn’t addressed very often.

The Artemis III project is planning to get people back to the moon in two years.  NASA is leading the project along with the space agencies of Europe, Italy, Germany, Japan, Canada, Israel and Dubai.

Humans haven’t walked on the Moon in over fifty years, and this time, we won’t be landing in an expedient contraption.  SpaceX is building the lunar lander.  The photo above shows the SpaceX HLS with other objects to show the scale.  Notice the tiny Apollo Lunar Module on the right.

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Sparky and the yellow jackets

The last time we went into woods at the South Park trail, was the second time that Sparky was noticed by yellow jackets.  Both times, a yellow jacket landed on his back, Sparky got frantic, I noticed his distress and slapped the yellow jacket off.

I don’t think that he was stung.  Both times, the yellow jacket was trying to figure out if there was a dog underneath all of the seal fur. 

Sparky no longer wants to go in the woods, and he’s gotten worse.  Now, he’s reluctant to go for a walk up the hill.  I’m trying cognitive therapy on him.  Exposing him to the area, without going into the woods.  Or entering the woods somewhere else.

Sparky and Mr. Moose don’t agree.

Since I have been chronicling Sparky’s journey, this seemed like a data point that couldn’t be excluded.

Sparky pooped on Mr. Moose.  Decorum compels me to mask the evidence.  It was a walk on a dark night, so maybe I’m making too much of this, but that’s my main job, so I speculate.

It’s not uncommon to have a falling-out with someone who was once a cherished friend.  I had a dear friend who had a vastly different political perspective.  We had a disagreeable exchange on social media, and that was it.  Sparky hasn’t expressed an interest in politics, but he would naturally have an affinity for Biden biting babies. 

Mr. Moose has always been in the Bull Moose Party, supporting the formerly Republican, Theodore Roosevelt.  TR has been dead for a hundred years and Biden isn’t running, but Sparky and Mr. Moose don’t keep up on current events.

Whatever the reason, Mr. Moose is out of the rotation until he gets washed.

Sparky picks a Halloween costume.

Sparky is trying out some Halloween costume.

His baby seal costume isn’t very convincing, but is easy.

He really wants to be “Sparkle, the saucy princess”.

Sparky doesn’t want to go with the obvious.  He thinks that Snoopy is kind of a tool.

Whatever Sparky decides to go with, Halloween might get him a car ride.  That’s about it.

Trump is having fun.

Vote for whomever you’d like, but admit that this is funny shit.

It doesn’t matter if Biden meant that Trump was garbage, or Trump’s ideas, campaign staff or supporters.  The words of a feeble dotard don’t carry much weight.

I’m impressed that Trump’s staff spotted Biden’s line in the transcript and made it a talking point or meme, long enough to acquire a clean garbage truck and prep it for a campaign event.  Trump and his people are having fun and are quick to respond. 

It brings to mind a video shot by a diverse group of Trump supporters at the Madison Square Garden event.  In the days prior to the event, the Harris campaign was drawing a parallel to the 1939 Nazi rally at the same venue.  Playing off of the Harris message, individuals in the group proudly claimed to being the Black Nazi, the Jewish Nazi, the White Nazi and the Asian Nazi.

I get that they were riffing off of the absurd Nazi statements, but it’s not good to see people comfortably call themselves Nazis, even if it was facetious.  That is a danger of making false or exaggerated claims about a person or group.  If everyone thinks a person is awful, then the person may decide there is no reason not to be awful.  The reputation penalty has already been paid.

Interesting political survey if you are kind of bored.

Survey to identify your ideology.

Vote for whomever you’d like, it’s none of my business.  So close to the presidential election, it gets stupid.  This year is stupider than usual.  Trump gave a big speech at Madison Square Garden, just like the Nazis.  Harris gave a big speech at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., just like the KKK.  Like I said, stupid.

The I Side With survey is only about policy questions.  All of the policy questions, it’s very long, but you don’t have to answer all of them.  It seems more nuanced because it asks if how much you like a policy and how much you care about that policy.

At the end, the survey provides the candidates who are most compatible with the survey-takers answers, along with political party and ideology.  I’m just “Right-Wing”, which is kind of disappointing.  I like to think I’m more sophisticated than that.

Joe Rogan’s Trump episode

Joe Rogan’s episode with Trump was just posted on Youtube.  It’s midnight, so I’m not staying up to watch it, but thought I’d check in.  I was curious how Rogan presents himself.

Here’s Rogan from last week’s episode.

Here’s Rogan for the Trump episode.

Joe cleaned up.  Looks like he waxed his head.  Shaved his head, his face, and is wearing his nice shirt.

Rogan is already a big deal, he doesn’t need this episode with Trump, but guests on his show have been suggesting it for several months.  Rogan’s guests are people he thinks are interesting or friends of his, but that’s not it this time.  My sense is that Rogan is trying to help.  Not help Trump, but help the rest of us.  Everyone else that writes about Trump or Harris, are either trying to help or hurt the campaign.  Rogan isn’t a partisan guy.

Trump and Rogan are interesting because they have a lot in common.  They have both been successful in several different fields.  Both were involved in combat sports and both had reality TV shows. 

The beginning is boring, as they get comfortable. 

Talking about his first days as president, Trump says, “I picked a few people that I shouldn’t have picked”.

Rogan:  “Neocons?”

Trump: “Yeah, neocons, or bad people”

I like how Rogan is using political lingo, and Trump isn’t.

A few minutes later, Trump says, “I always got more publicity than other people.  And it wasn’t like I was trying.  I don’t now exactly why, maybe you can tell me.”

Rogan: “Oh yeah, I can definitely tell you.  You said a lot of wild shit.”

Trump:  “Maybe, maybe.”

They are loosening up, so it’s starting to get good.  I may stay up for a while.

Sparky is snoring.

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