Guard Dog

US Rep Paul Mitchell from Michigan has resigned from the Republican Party. I thought the letter he sent was worth sharing:

They are moving elsewhere. Away from the major cities to smaller ones. Which will of course turn the smaller cities into major ones and the whole thing starts over again

Is this the end of cities in America? Ummm no. But, it is an interesting population shift. One that will be exacerbated by eventual tax increases as more and more of the taxes are borne by a shrinking tax base. But... the folks who move because of oppressively high taxation and city hall bullies tend to vote for the exact same s--t they just fled from when they get to their new cities. As for me, hell will freeze solid before I ever again reside inside of a city limit. Or near one. In fact if I ever even get a neighbor whose house I can see from mine I am f-----g out of here!

As Sinbad would put it there is a grain of truth in all good humor. But in this case the tongue was firmly in the cheek

In other news I believe the electors from each state will cast their vote today. That means the 2020 election is well and truly over. Hopefully. Meanwhile in Trumpland

No sense of humor!

They are

Nothing much going on right now. The hot stove is ice cold as clubs reckon with millions of dollars in OPEX debt from the 2020 season. The Tampa Bay Rays are following up their World Series run with a fire sale. Charlie Morton, Mike Zunino, Hunter Renfroe, Chaz Rowe and Nate Lowe were all shown the door. The latter in a trade to Texas for farm system spare parts. Blake Snell and Kevin Kiermaier are being shopped for trade. And the Rays appear to be looking at second tier free agents and farm system depth to fill in the holes. Looks like a tank job to me. That means they are looking to just run out the clock on their lease in St. Pete and move the team to Montreal in 2028. To hell (or Canada) with them. In other news the Cleveland Indians will change their name in 2022. So far no official candidates. You guys may not know this but the nickname came about because a player on the team, Louis Sockalexis, was a native American. He was the first to play in the major leagues. The name Indians might have been meant as derision. Hard to say. But it was made up by the owner of the team who recruited and paid Sockalexis albeit years later. They say today the name was a tribute but who knows. Before that they were the Naps in honor of star player and manager Nap Lajoie. Before that they were the Blues, Bronchos (yes that is the right spelling), Blue Birds, and Spiders. Personally I like Spiders. Any other ideas out there?

If you go in a Chinese take out joint and don't see a single Asian face.... don't order. The place in Millington used spaghetti noodles for lo mien. Not joking

@Gromnir you were right, I misunderstood. Salwell was not f-----g her. Some pols in Ohio were. My mistake. They are definitely connected though and not tenuously. She had definite access to him and his inner circle. The FBI were on to her and she fled in 2015. She was also connected to Tulsi Gabbard and Rho Kanna but those connections appear to have been a WIP before she bolted.

Aw no. He was great:

No the Democrats would not have done exactly the same. It would be a different flavor of bad. What we have seen the last four years is something unusual and hopefully won’t happen again. But the Democrats are no saints. And they have been more than willing to overlook illegalities amongst their own to keep hold of power. It’s just a different color bear. As for your take on divided government all I will say is it’s far better than the alternative. Over the last 20 years bad things have come from united government. In other news democrat congressmen and former presidential candidate Eric Slawell looks like he’s been f—king a Chinese spy for a while now.

@GromnirI don't remember who said that Trump would be the death of the GOP but they were right. They didn't just turn their backs on their own legacy, they dropped trou and shat on it after doing so. This country NEEDS a viable Republican party. Or something like it. Not this thoroughly ruined and discredited thing Trump is leaving us. The Texas AG is tweeting about an election that didn't go their way as a pretext to secession. Now, there IS some precedent for that... but over THIS election? This man is not worth the fight to keep him in office. Biden is not the Stalin we are afraid will come from the Democrats. Hell we have a 90% chance of divided government for at least two years. And if historical trends are followed there is a good chance for divided government all the way to 2024. Trump is gone, the government is split and a (hopefully) less activist court? That is a win.

Enough already. Make it stop. Make. It. Stop.

Couldn't be so lucky! My luck the therapist would be a dude. Nothing wrong with it... just not my thing.

Got back home yesterday. Surgery went well. My arm is in a soft cast but I start physical therapy tomorrow. This time no dating the therapist! Didn’t work out so well last time!

Thomas Jefferson and I both agree with you 100%! ”I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all”

Which makes this story even worse... if possible... Arizona GOP asks followers if they're willing to die in effort to overturn election results I'm sure this was just rhetorical. There is no politician, or whatever Trump is, whose political fortunes are worth the fight that has ensued since the election. And certainly none ever worth dying for. That fact that this insane, unreasoning fanaticism that we have witnessed in this election battle should come from Republicans, REPUBLICANS for God's sake, is just a shock to me. This was the party of McCain, Reagan, Goldwater, Roosevelt, Kissinger, Douglass, Lincoln, and Fremont. This was the party of dispassionate reasoning, fiscal responsibility, and restrained government. They are trying to get the court to overturn an election even they KNOW they lost. Even if it were successful who would even want to be in power under such a circumstance? The utter illegitimacy of it would completely neuter them during the next two years. And the voting public would be so infuriated the 2022 Congressional and State elections would see a near extermination of GOP political power even in Red states. And you can bet a new Democrat Majority on Congress will see Trump dispatched ignobly with another impeachment. God knows he's given them cause. Sometimes you just want to grab these folks by the shoulders, shake vigorously, and ask "What the f--k is WRONG with you?"

It's better than anything you're going to get in a bakery!

Like this post only if you get the TV show reference:

The "Chosen One" or demigod trope is also irritating. Also having a PC that has a history you can't control. Particularly if that history makes them special in any way. From a narrative viewpoint the Courier from FO:NV is the best RPG video game protagonist. They have a back story that is completely opaque. They have travelled and can be expected to have the skills they start the game with, whatever you choose them to be. They can be young or old, good or evil, altruistic or selfish, it all fits. The Lone Wanderer you have a backstory, a relatively set age, and a motivation to enter the main story that are all pretty much chosen for you. Ditto with Nate/Nora in FO4. These are young adults who were well established in life. To roleplay them you are sort of limited by who they are. Yes, I know you can do anything you want but from a narrative perspective you can't. There is nothing special about the Courier. They were not a vault dweller, nor a hero necessarily. They were a regular Waste lander doing a job and got caught up in a larger game. Then did what they did.