Waking Up

 I gladly stand corrected. I worried and wondered whether, in fact, the “Talking Heads,” the “Political Pundits, and the “Pollsters” were speaking from orifices south of their border and spouting information not based on facts, but on items that would make great headlines. I apologize for my questioning and am very happy to say I was wrong.

I avoided watching any media show-and-tell panels and reluctantly put my phone in the other room so I wouldn't be disappointed before bed, knowing that if the blue tsunami was just a tiny wave, sleep would be difficult for me.

It is Wednesday, November 4, 2026, and I may actually be witnessing Americans wake up from the living nightmare we have all been suffering. As the grandson of a Romanian grandmother, full of superstitions, I can't say the evil has been eradicated, but I can admit that, at least in this election, the evil has been called out and, hopefully, is on its way out.

Worry is my middle name, sadly, so now, even with the good news of a Democratic Party landslide, I believe we all must be very guarded and cautious as to how Trump and his losing party of MAGA will handle the politics of this nation between now and the January inauguration of a new Congress! We have a trapped rat in the White House; we have some pissed-off MAGA politicians, and between the two, we should be very afraid of how evil their intentions might be for the next two months.

Phew, to wake up to good news in America has been a long time coming!

 

My Fix

 My name is Gerry, and I am a political news junkie. I have way too many times overdosed on politics and have read or watched way too many media stories for my own health. 

Today is THE DAY, well, at least THE DAY, when Americans are supposed to finally express their satisfaction with the status quo, or their utter dissatisfaction with their so-called lives and liberties. Ever since Trump and his well-paid team of anti-democracy peasants, this once glorious and grand American project (Which had its flaws) is now on life support. The armies against the right to vote have made every effort to subvert it by insidious mechanics, the American way, and are trying to mold it into the Trump way.

I woke up this morning and by sheer habit, looked at the News icon on my phone. I scrolled for about 10 fucking minutes and realized that I was not reading news; I was reading opinions- opinions of people who truly cannot profess the future, have no real data from which they can pontificate, and are just making a whole lot of noise.

And because I am a political news junkie and still needed my fix, I immediately turned on the news channels, and after about 5 minutes of “yadda, yadda”, blah, blah blah, listen to me because I am a well-paid talking head, or I was on the streets and heard the voters say, and of course a bunch of “etc., etc., etc.” I looked at my dog and said Oh my God, this is ridiculous. These are nobodies who are pretending to be somebodies, and none of them not a single one knows anything about the future of our democracy.

Well-paid know-it-alls who, in the end, will know nothing at all until voting is over. And well-paid people who pretend to see the future, who only know how to sell snake oil! 

This is going to be a difficult day for me as I can’t get a dose of my habit!

 

 

The arsonists

 The influential Center for Renewing America says that “neo-Marxist progressives and anti-Western Muslims” can’t sincerely swear to protect the Constitution—and shouldn’t be allowed to assume office. (WIRED).

It is Monday, November 2, 2026, just one day until the midterm elections, and either one day until those who support Trump and prioritize his power above and beyond the Constitution of America incite chaos, corruption begins to rot democracy, ending any and all future chance of free and fair elections. Or one day, when the citizens of this nation finally wake up and realize that Trump is a cult leader, his red hat, white sheet supporters are cultists, and that drinking the Kool-Aid actually leads to death and destruction of morals, values, and anything resembling freedom.

I read articles from WIRED and other media outlets regarding the Fascist and Christian Nationalists’ attempts to deny the vote and the results of that vote from finding fruition, basing their ideas on bigotry and bias, and I worry. I worry because the political party in power right now is in their corner, cheering them on, and promoting this vile and anti-American behavior.

This is not the America in which I was born and raised. This is almost as if a foreign nation has invaded my country and has spilled gallons of gasoline throughout the country, and is just waiting for Tuesday, November 3, 2026, to light the match. 

We know the arsonists are waiting, and we must all be ready to put out the fires immediately!

Money!

 Sunday, November 1, 2026, with two days until the 2026 midterm elections, which are supposedly to be held. Another day to worry about whether these elections will take place without some effort by Trump and his fascists to stop them from happening, whether or not Trump and fascists will steal the results, or whether or not the values of democracy will withstand a barrage of war-like maneuvers to stop free and fair elections in this nation.

And on top of that, all we seem to hear is how much money billionaires and corporations have poured into the campaigns of a vast majority of politicians, and how that money can make a difference in how this nation will be governed for the next two years. This information begs the question, at least for me, of who the candidates will represent: the people or their puppet masters.

Dark money, sunlit money, money, money, and why are these wealthy entities spending that money? Come on now, that is an easy question: they spend the money so that THEY, and only THEIR interests, will become a priority in the governance of this nation.

Yep, there is so much to worry about this time around and add to that the fact that no one in our government has made a real, honest, and concerted effort to level the playing field by creating any law limiting how much money can be spent on purchasing a candidate. 

Help me understand, I say with great snark…if candidates need vast amounts of money to try and compete, who is it that finally wins that election, the actual candidate or the folks who bought and paid for that candidate to win?

 

 

Real Monsters?

 Growing up in the mid-fifties and early sixties, there were a lot of things to be afraid of. Back in the day, it was the Flying Saucers, or the creatures created by radiation. Monsters lived under the bed or in the closet. Living in Pittsburgh, I watched Chiller Theater every Saturday night and knew something must be lurking in our basement and waiting in the shadows of the alleyway beside our house. Be it the next atomic bomb or the little green men from Mars, the fright was out there, and just waiting to grab you.

As I grew older, and hopefully a little wiser, I realized that my imagination was triggered by stories based on fiction. From tales of the Unknown to The Twilight Zone, my fear of the unknown had been triggered by the talents and imagination of writers, men and women who were able to capture the fear and haunting of an imagined world and, through their abilities with the written word, made the unimaginable real.

I am now a seventy-seven-year-old man, living in the year 2026, and I have once again become overwhelmed with the fear of monsters roaming freely, none of which are fictional, but all of whom are way too real. They are not vampires, zombies, aliens, or giant insects; they are, in fact, the current President of the United States, his administration, Republicans, and billionaires more concerned about their own wealth than the welfare of anyone else who is not them.

Monsters have become real. And I have no idea how to fight these monsters. These monsters are aided and abetted by way too many other people. To say you support Trump or the Republicans is to admit that you thrive on hate, fear, and loathing. To support Trump and the Republicans is to admit that you prefer pain and suffering. To support Trump and the Republicans is to admit that decency is failure, morals are passee, and values are meaningless. 

The monsters and creatures I face today will not fade away when the dawn creates light, or when the TV is turned off. I fear my tomorrows because I sadly believe that evil is so well accepted that too few have the desire to fight it. November 4, 2026 is soon approaching, and as I see it, that will be the beginning of the end, or there will be no end in sight!

It just ain't over

 “Donald Trump's administration is intensifying legal action against US states with just days to go until a midterm election that will decide the balance of power in Washington during his final two years in office.

Four days until the midterms, and the Trump Reich has declared open warfare on the democratic process of voting in the United States. Trump is worried, Trump is afraid, Trump may lie about everything in his life, but deep down inside his rotted orange gut, Trump does know that he is a criminal, a con, a rapist, a pedophile, and one huge guilty man.

In Alaska, ​the Justice Department filed an amended lawsuit on Thursday seeking to block the certification of results in the event of a narrow Republican loss in a hugely consequential Senate ‌race, citing a New York Times report that Democratic operatives recruited a spoiler candidate to siphon votes from the Republican incumbent.

In California, meanwhile, the DOJ is escalating its pressure campaign against state election officials, issuing subpoenas as part of a criminal probe into alleged voting by non-citizens, according to copies of documents seen by Reuters.

The moves, taken together, represent an extraordinary federal intervention in state elections, which are administered locally under the US constitution. As November 3 nears, election officials around the country ​have told Reuters they are bracing for further legal challenges from Washington.” (Reuters)

The election, according to Trump and his Reichstag of DOJ Gestapo, and a very biased Republican activist Supreme Court, can only count as legit if and only if Republicans win and maintain a majority. 

So the question we, the people, must ask is: what happens if the Blue Wave is, in fact, the outcome of the midterms, but the President and his illegal team deny that reality?  Trump believes he is the be-all and end-all, when in fact what he and his gang of goons are trying to do is end all outlets for democracy to continue in this nation of ours.

 

 

What law?

 Democrats demand reform after judge says DOJ ordered her to reverse rulings. A Post investigation examined the Trump administration’s campaign to pressure a veteran immigration court judge before she was fired. (The Washington Post)

Articles like the one above gnaw at my gut and press my worry button deep in my stomach. We have a lawless President, surrounded by a lawless DOJ, encouraged by cultists who place their own outcomes above the law, and a large group of Republican leadership who only prefer living by the law whenever it rules in their favor. And oh yeah, we have a not-so-Supreme Court filled with people who place their own profession and the priorities of their puppet master above and beyond the laws of this land.

So when I read articles like the one above, I grow very afraid that whatever the so-called “Blue Tsunami” is supposed to look and feel like, I must consider that Trump remains in power no matter what, and his cauldron of crooks and criminals still maintains the power and prestige, and no matter the size of the “Blue Tsunami,” will it ever flood and reverse the current cast of fascists running our government.

I grow weary of news outlets trying to outdo their competitors with stories of how large the tidal wave will be…and I ask the question over and over again…if a tidal wave never hits the shore, was it ever a tsunami?