Friday, February 21, 2020

 I don't know what I'm going to write about tonight. I had an idea in the drive home from the gym, but it has plumb eluded me since. Even the evening constitutional with Otis wasn't able to spur it back into life.



 I guess we could look into the News, since we haven't really been keeping up. What with yesterday's Hunter Thompson hagiography and Wednesday's delve into the mind of conspiracy theories, it may seem like I've been avoiding the news. That's because I have. It's all a little goofy.

 I don't watch the debates anymore since the Bush-Kerry ones proved they don't really matter. I know the Democratic debates are a different cup of meat, but I still can't make myself do it. Partly Twitter's fault because reading those smokin' hot takes from every half-bright dingbat who started paying attention to politics in 2015 is bad enough. Actually knowing how it went and still reading that lame dumbness would be just too much, man.

 That being said, from everything I've read it seems Elizabeth Warren completely bodied Michael Bloomberg in his first debate. She's gotten a lot of flack from right-wing peckerwoods who'll be voting for Trump anyway for being "mean" and "nasty", but she has managed to shame Bloomberg into releasing three women from his plethora of NDA's. A small start, sure, but that guy's not used to being told what to do or else.

 I honestly don't get Michael Bloomberg. He's as sleazy and loathsome as Trump - or any billionaire, really - and nothing he's done or said has convinced me he's really interested in anything apart making sure Warren or Bernie Sanders don't raise his taxes by .1%. He's launched an enormous push for, of all places, Mississippi. Sure, I understand going after the state with highest percentage on black voters in an attempt to shake off the stink of Stop-&-Frisk, but I don't know what the long-term goal is.

 The best we can hope for after November's done and gone is Mike Espy knocking Cindy Hyde-Smith out of the Senate, the six-week abortion ban still blocked, and - dare I hope - the legalization of medical marijuana. I think the likelihood of those three in descending order, but nevertheless. This is Trump country, bubba, you better believe it. People talk about turning Mississippi purple, but it's too racist, way too gerrymandered and way, way too against changing anything to make a dent. I'd love to be proven wrong but I am not going to hold my breath.

 In other debate news, it seems Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg tore into each other over who was the most centrist and/or had the hardest last name to spell in relation to their first name. Equally exiting is Joe Biden, continuing to make people wonder just why the hell everyone thought he had this in the bag six months ago.

 The Nevada primary lands tomorrow, with 48 delegates in play of which 36 are based on the results of the state's caucus. Learning from the Iowa debacle, the Nevada Democrats are trying to nail down any loose ends and possible foul ups. This is the first substantial primary of the season, and depending on how things go, we might loose a few more stragglers. Basically, it's crunch time for Tom Steyer and maybe Tulsi Gabbard. I can see him jumping but she's a weird one and time will tell.

 The other thing I think worth mentioning was the revelation that the Russian government is indeed making efforts to interfere in the 2020 elections. Notably, they're working on Trump's campaign as well as Sanders', and the two men's reactions are telling. Trump pitched one of his regular fits, outraged that anyone would dare suggest that he was less than holy while Sanders told Putin to get stuffed.

 A little on the light side tonight, but I think that's sufficient. I'm also posting this little bit I wrote on Tumblr about looking for writing/editing work or, more specifically, how to really go about it. The landscape's changed since I was making a living with this sort of gibberish. Any advice would be most welcome and, either way, have a lovely weekend.