It's not the messaging, stupid

Some delusional Democrat hacks believe their problem was "messaging." If only Kamala had been more effective at messaging, they say....

The problem wasn't the messaging, it was the message. They told voters, "We know better than you. You don't need to know the details, you just need to keep voting for us because you are a member of [insert name of disadvantaged group here]. Just ignore the 15 million illegal aliens running around, destroying state and local budgets. Forget our irresponsible spending that spiked inflation to 9%. Forget about our attacks on the Constitution, whether it be free speech, an independent judiciary, or the electoral college. Just vote for Kamala because Oprah told you to."

Trump will no doubt get bogged down in stupid controversies that don't matter because that is what he does, but I hope that along the way he repeals the electric vehicle mandate and countless other regulations that hamper our economy. I hope Congress extends the 2017 tax cuts that helped EVERYONE. I also hope (but do not expect) Congress to make some effort to bring down the spending. Trump is far from perfect, but he should be better than the dimwit Democrats who have spent the past 50 years dividing people into identity groups and pitting them against each other.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I voted Libertarian for president. It is discouraging that in Montana, the Libertarian Chase Oliver received fewer votes than RFK, Jr. who had dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump. I realize that as a Libertarian for the past 40+ years I'm tilting at windmills, but I believe I'm right and 99% of the voting public is wrong. At this point, the populist Republicans are a bit better than the communist Democrats, so I'll take what I can get.

And P'Nut and Fred have been avenged.

Avenge Me!

P'Nut and Fred were executed by New York State storm troopers last week.

Decision 2024

Here's my much-anticipated presidential endorsement for 2024: Libertarian Chase Oliver. It will make no difference in the grand scheme of things as Trump is expected to win Montana, and between the two major party candidates I hope he is the one who wins. Even though he is such an asshole. I can't find the exact quote, but Nikki Haley (who I wrote in on the primary ballot) said she does not agree with Trump 100% of the time, but she agrees with Harris on almost nothing. Leaving personalities aside, I will never vote for another Democrat as long as their party is actively working to destroy the United States from within. That may be a strong statement, but bankrolling 15 million illegal aliens isn't somthing anyone voted for in 2020. The Biden/Harris policy from Day 1 was to allow it (enable it) to happen. Trump is an asshole; Harris is an anti-American traitor.

I'm voting for the Libertarian because I agree with him on about 95% of what he says. Trump is about 80%, and Harris is 0%. If everyone keeps voting for the two major parties just because they are the two major parties, nothing will ever change. I've been tilting at this windmill for more than 40 years now, and it probably will not change in my lifetime. Some of my relatives say I am throwing away my vote. If the election were between Hitler and Mao, with Mother Teresa as the third party candidate, would I waste my vote by going for the saint instead of one of the dictators? Liberals say Trump is a fascist, and conservatives say Harris is a communist, so maybe that is not a ridiculous example. I don't know if Oliver is Mother Teresa, but he's got my vote.

Never Democrat

The Democrat Party believes anyone who opposes their authoritarian power grab is a Trumper. I am not a Trumper. Trump is an idiot. Biden is an idiot. Both things can be (and are) true. American voters are bigger idiots for forcing us to choose between these two demented old men.

Both major parties have let us down, but only one of the parties is an existential threat to our way of life. The Marxist/Socialist Party more commonly known as the Democrats has finally gone too far. During his long and controversial career, Trump has probably done something that should have been prosecuted. But convicting him of something else on that basis is not how our justice system is supposed to work. The Democrat Party manipulated this case against Trump at every level, up to and including the judge and his various reversable decisions. But it doesn't matter to the Democrats if this case gets overturned on appeal, as long as that happens after the election.

I'm probably still not going to vote for Trump this fall. On our recent primary ballot, I wrote in Nikki Haley's name. But I will never, never, never vote for another Democrat at any level due to the ridiculous transformation they have gone through the past 16 years, and the past four years in particular. Bidenflation and Freeloadernomics are just two aspects of their delusional, destructive governance. The Republicans are far from perfect, but they are the only alternative we are allowed to have. That is, at least until the authoritarian takeover by the Democrats is complete, after they destroy democracy in order to save it. This country is becoming the rich man's version of Cuba.

Creepy creepy creepy

Amazon has a shopping suggestion for me, accessories for my 2017 F-150. How do they know what I drive? I have never bought anything from them relating to my vehicle. GFY Bezos. I know he's not CEO any more but I don't know who is.

No Irish Need Apply

I came across this image of the house my family lived in in 1960 when I was a tot. It was on the edge of Pierre, SD, and just visible to the right is empty land that extends for hundreds of miles. As you can see, the driveway isn't paved, and I don't see anyone being forced to pick cotton in the yard. Six people lived in that house and there was one bathroom. But some people tell us that our family is privileged and should pay reparations to them based solely on the color of their skin and what other people who are long dead did to their ancestors. The African people of 200 years ago do not have a monopoly on being victims of mistreatment. As someone with an Irish name, I know what the English did 200 years ago to my ancestors, but I'm not looking for a handout.

Mando bad

I have never been a big fan of Star Wars. I remember wondering after watching the first three movies how the Empire managed to conquer its empire with stormtroopers who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with their blasters. I have watched bits and pieces of the other six movies in the main story line, but they just never held my attention. Recently my cable company, Spectrum, which I truly truly hate, notified us we would henceforth get Disney+ for no additional charge (with commercials). OK, something new for the hundreds of dollars a month I give to this loathsome monopoly.

I decided to check out The Mandalorian and see what all the fuss was about that. I have made it into season 3 (diverting into The Book of Boba Fett which is really season 2.5) and have a few observations:

• Despite the cartoonish stormtroopers still being unable to hit the broad side of a barn, the series is incredibly violent. The Mandalorian gets his ass kicked on a regular basis, but for some reason no one simply shoots him. Or if they do shoot him, the rounds bounce off his armor. Meanwhile the stormtroopers are dropping like flies, one shot one kill. I gave up on the TV series Fargo because of the body count, and there are some episodes of the Mandalorian that rival Fargo's carnage.
• How disgusting is the inside of that helmet if he never takes it off? I wear a CPAP mask every night. It needs to be cleaned regularly.
• I kept wondering why members of this space-faring society lived and dressed like camel herders until the scene shifted first to a Ringworld and later to the New Republic capital. The CGI (or whatever they call it now) is seamless and often quite incredible. The transformation of Mark Hamill into a younger version of himself also is rather dazzling. But I don't understand how young Mark Hamill can look real but Katee Sackhoff looks fake. It is 15 years since Battlestar Galactica ended so maybe I'm influenced by how Starbuck looked back then.
• Once again, we have a spacefaring society that appears ignorant of basic physical security measures. It is harder to get into a basketball arena in our universe than it is to get onto a military starship in their universe.
• As with most action-adventure scifi series (Stargate SG-1 comes to mind), this show has devolved into "someone is held hostage and we have to free him/her/they." And there are fight scenes. The writing is formulaic and faithful to Star Wars canon.

Since I got new eyes in 2018, I've been reading about a hundred books a year, and most of them are scifi. Speaking of Ringworld, in 2019 I re-read the book by that name. (Yes, I keep track.) The best book I have read recently is "Rendezvous with Rama" by Arthur C. Clarke. (I also read the sequels, but alas, they were co-written by a fellow named Gentry Lee and don't measure up to the original.) I hate to sound like a book snob, but there are hundreds more good scifi books than good scifi movies/TV series. The producers of the visual medium are hostage to special effects. The special effects in Mandalorian are often spectacular, and the writing often sucks.