So, based on the latest headlines, it looks like we’re going to ultimately get good news on this one. Biden needs one more state, *any* state left, to put him over the Electoral College finish line; 45 needs them all. Nevada looks really good at this point (and will likely be the next declared state anyway), Pennsylvania still might redeem itself, and I’m still optimistic that Georgia is going to surprise a few people.

So, really, this is all over but the shouting. And there will be shouting, and it may delay the finale a bit, but I really think, in the end, it won’t matter much, because it won’t have much support behind it.

I’m perfectly okay with that. I’m willing to wait a bit.

It’s not over. It likey won’t be for several days. Not that those projections that came in last night are official anyway (they never are). Remember, this year is kind of unprecedented, with many more absentee/mail-in ballots due to the pandemic the current occupant hasn’t done anything about. Those votes get counted.

It’s not over, no matter what he says. He can’t declare victory and call for counting to stop just because. That’s not how our system works. Our system isn’t perfect, but it’s mostly worked so far. He’s run over a lot of so-called “norms” in the last few years, but what’s happening now, the vote, is more than a norm, it’s a core principle of this particular experiment; he cannot steamroll that.

(and he’s not even consistent; where the pretty picture is trending red, his team of lawyers are saying stop; where it’s trending blue, they saying to keep counting…)

If you’re in one of those places that’s kind of overwhelmed, it might be worth your time to make your voice heard and insist that all the votes are counted according to the rules in your state.

And after that? Take a breather from the constant newsfeed and doomscrolling for a bit. Go outside; it’s going to be a beautiful autumn day. We’ve got time.

If you’ve been putting off casting your ballot, it’s time to get moving on that. Today in America is “Election Day”, although with the way things have been working this year, it’s really more of the Election “Deadline.” We’ve been talking for years in this country about how to make voting easier and more accessible to more people (well, some of us have; some of us are suing to keep thousands and thousands of legally cast ballots from being counted right now); lots of talk about making election day a national holiday (which, cool and all, but doesn’t do much for service or essential workers) and such. In this pandemic year, however, a lot of states have, through necessity, made it much easier to vote; expanding absentee and mail balloting, early voting, and other steps that have made it very easy to vote, over a long period. I voted and had my ballot accepted in September! The early turnout numbers are staggering; I expect record turnout this time around; in large part to voting being made more accessible.

The ‘Rona is good for something, I guess.

One thing we’ll likely see this time around, however, is that with all the early voting and certain states choosing not to adjust laws to keep pace (like not counting absentee ballots until after the polls close tonight), we’re unlikely to see a declared winner tonight. This is honestly always the case (no matter what some people are saying), as the results you hear on tv on election night are complex statistical projections; official, certified counts come days or weeks later when we’ve all already moved on to other headlines.

Tonight is likely going to be weird; and that’s okay. The media just doesn’t quite know how to report it given the current conditions.

The important thing is that you vote, and if you’re in one of those places where counting is in doubt, make your voice heard to your local officials, and tell them you want ALL the votes counted.

As for me tonight? I’ll work on keeping pace with the results, of course. And if things can be predicted with reasonable certainty and they go the way I’d like, I’ve got a crowler of an amazing barrel-aged cream ale waiting to help me celebrate.

Cheers.

Tomorrow is it, my friends. If you haven’t voted by now, tomorrow is your last shot; it’s election day. Go to your polling place (if you need to find it, look here to find it), and do your part for the democratic process; it’s your responsibility as a citizen of this country; don’t shirk it!

If you don’t add your voice, you’ve got no room to complain (Carlin was wrong on that one). Just do it, please?

I did *not* forget! I was just in a car a lot of the day and couldn’t exactly type. Please consider this your daily reminder to vote. If you have an absentee/mail-in ballot, at this point, your best bet is to hand-deliver it to your local registrar to make sure it gets there in time. Too much legal maneuvering out there to assume that if you mail it now and it doesn’t get there by Tuesday that it’ll be counted.

Otherwise, go out Tuesday, wear a mask, stay distant, and do it at your polling place. Don’t know where that is? This link ought to help you find it.

Do your part!

It’s four days until election day. All the eligible voters in my household have now voted (and the other one wishes she could). You should as well; seriously. Yesterday there was a line down the block at the registrar, only took the kid fifteen minutes to get through. Most places are pretty quick. And, as I’m fond of saying it is literally the least you can do to live up to your responsibilities as a citizen.

Rant ahead

While it’s always been out there, the COVID19 pandemic has really brought the concept of rights and responsibilities to to the front of the national discussion. It’s not that most of us are looking at things philosophically, but it’s there in the content of every politics and politics-adjacent social media post and article, and the relative importance of each element of citizenship definitely varies by party affiliation and/or political philosophy.

If you’re not following my line of reasoning, let’s look at masks, and the kinds of opinions people have about them. The science says the primary reason masks work to prevent transmission is that it keeps the wearer from spreading the virus through exhaled droplets; that is, you wear a mask not to protect yourself, but to protect others.

Let’s look at the relative positions on masks from the right and the left. Those on the right (conservative, republican) side of the spectrum, are more likely to oppose wearing a mask, as an infringement of their personal rights to not be inconvenienced. The focus is on themselves and not on others. Those of us on the left (liberal/progressive, democrat) are more likely to wear masks because, although occasionally annoying, we see it as a citizen’s responsibility to do our part for the welfare of others around us.

Now, as a former civics teacher and a current public servant, I understand that citizenship carries with it both rights and responsibilities, as expressed here on the website of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration services website in the space where naturalization (becoming a citizen by applying rather than just being born in the US) is discussed.

I just wish that more of us focused on the responsibilities of being a citizen, a member of a community, or thought about how our actions affect the greater population; particularly the folks in charge, for the moment, and those that support them.

What prompted this (admittedly disjointed) little essay were a pair of op-ed pieces that were published by the Christian Post this week, written by Joe Biden and Vice President Mike Pence.

Biden’s piece focuses on what he calls the “Greatest Commandment”, which boils down to “love your neighbor as yourself.” He writes primarily of how this guides his behavior and his political philosophy; doing what he can to help the less fortunate and treat others well, because “We are all created “imago Dei” – beautifully, uniquely, in the image of God”, and he cites his sources with appropriate scriptural references. Biden’s what I call a “justice Catholic”, and one of the kind of people who inspired me to stick with the Church a lot longer than I would have otherwise (shame there are so few of them, even if the Pope is one). His essay could’ve been written by a Jesuit; the key message is responsibility to serve those around us.

Pence’s piece, on the other hand (and I’m not surprised it was written by Pence and not the President), is all about what 45 has done to “defend liberties” of those in Christian club. There’s no talk of service or responsibility to others; not a mention of Jesus or Christ (I CTRL-F’d it to be sure) or anything he said. The piece is all about how the President stood up for “freedom”, not about how he’s walking the Christian path, as laid out by Christ in the Bible.

And, that’s not exactly atypical of the sort of person who loudly proclaims their Christianity, and who loudly supports the current administration. It’s all about them. They claim to read the bible every day, but somehow missed Matthew 6; they’d rather use the bible to beat up on those who they disagree with. The typical voter for the current administration just isn’t that interested in helping others, they are (as that iconic Republican voter in the NYT piece said) talking about wanting him to “…hurt the people he needs to be hurting.” For so many of them, the cruelty is the point, which is just about the opposite of the message pretty clearly laid out by the faith they ascribe to. If you’re a supporter of the current occupant and you’re reading this and thinking “well that’s not me!”, maybe you ought to rethink your position on supporting him; if you take the time to look, the disconnect between your professed values and the administration’s actions is pretty easy to see.

If you’ve voted for the incumbent this time around, know that that’s the philosophy you’re supporting. It’s not something I’d think you’d be proud of. If you haven’t voted yet but are considering voting for the incumbent, look again at the kind of things voiced by the campaign and it’s supporters; it’s not a good look.

Me, I’d rather be helping; and I hope you would too.

It’s damp, it’s sort of cold, and it’s less than a week to election day. If you haven’t done so, or sorted out how you’re going to do so, get on that now, please. It’s not too late, but it’s imperative.

But, the week’s basically over. It’s been low-level stressful all the way around, though some of the work re-jiggering has resulted in some positives, at least in terms of the team I’m working with on the acquisition support aspects of my job. I forgot what it was like to work with people who are as interested in getting things done as I am, at least in terms of having a sympathetic ear to vent about how stupid the process sometimes is.

Beyond work, there hasn’t been much; I got a little bit of outdoor time in, but the weather’s been crap, so not as much as I’d like. I recorded a short performance vid for a friend’s weekly online entertainment stream (which I’ll point to closer to air) as well, which felt good, as I really haven’t played much music lately. We’ll see how it goes over. Love the material, struggled with looking at myself while recording it, but I’m going to blame low self esteem.

No concrete plans for me on the weekend beyond a couple of boxes to tic here and there. I probably just need to find a new tv show to stream, having finished “Helstrom” and “Santa Clarita Diet” this week (both decent, the latter moreso); so there’s that.

Anyway, tunes. Some decent 80s jewels in here (The Humdingers have been talking about covering #1 for years now), and some other stuff that isn’t bad. I found some small measure of joy here; hope you find yours somewhere as well.

1. “Under the Milky Way” – The Church
2. “Mr. Tillman” – Father John Misty
3. “Flame” – Sebadoh
4. “[10 Good Reasons For Modern Drugs]” – The Twilight Sad
5. “Waiting For The End of the World” – Elvis Costello
6. “Isolation” – Joy Division
7. “Neil and Jack and Me” – King Crimson
8. “Crush With Eyeliner” – R.E.M.
9. “The New Stone Age” – Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
10. “President Gas” – THe Psychadelic Furs
11. “Down In The Park” – Gary Numan, Tubeway Army
12. “Tattooed Love Boys” – Pretenders
13. “Holy Ghost” – Bent Knee
14. “Randy’s Hot Tonight” – Electric Six

We’re going to do this every day, folks. If you haven’t, find out how. Commit to making your voice heard.

Do your part, if not for you or for me, then for the 231,000 people (as of today) who won’t get a chance to.

I know the right people don’t find this obscure at all.

…and just because it is when it is, VOTE.

So, election day’s a week out. Ideally, by the end of next week, we’ll have a better picture of what the next four years will look like; whether to sigh in relief, or continue stockpiling non-perishables in despair.

The full-time voting residents of this house have already voted. Early voting at the county registrar is mobbed daily. Even though our particular precinct is somewhat crimson, with regular Saturday morning flag-waving mini 45 rallies and swag vending set up in the parking lot of the derelict Rite-Aid, nobody really questions that Virginia’s gonna go blue. All of our statewide offices have been so for years, and we have comfortable Democratic majorities in both state houses and our House delegation. There are just more of us in the major metropolitan areas and Interstate corridors than there are in the wild red wilderness.

Watching my friends in so-called “battleground” states is more concerning. The land of my birth, Pennsylvania, seems to be the epicenter of the conflict this time around. In this age of COVID, while I’ve barely seen evidence of candidate appearances, the Keystone State is seeing the Biden campaign pop in for quick jaunts from the DE home base, President Obama in Philadelphia, and ridiculous numbers of Super-Spreader MAGA rallies. I can’t imagine how swamped the airwaves are with campaign ads. It really must be overwhelming, for Pennsylvanians, and for my friends in Ohio, and hell, Georgia and North Carolina(!), which, in a strange but welcome turn of events, are in play.

As I alluded to, my vote, while important, isn’t going to be the one this election turns on. You folks in those battleground states – stalwarts like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Florida; and new upstarts like Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina – are absolutely key.

That’s why it’s important that, if you haven’t voted already, to get on that – make a plan to ensure you get it done. This year, what with the pandemic and all, is weird; if you’re confused about how to go about things this year, there are plenty of resources; Vote Save America is one; Vote411 and I Will Vote are others. Take your pick.

I’d like to tell you that it doesn’t matter who you vote for, as long as you participate, but those days are passed; after stuff like this, this, this, or this, all just pulled from the surface headlines this morning, it’s important that we get a change in management; a return to at least the appearance of civility and competence. So yes, I encourage you to vote for new management.

Make a Plan. Vote.