The Coming Red Wave?

Or so one of my friends believe.  Yes he actually appeared to be serious.  And no I did not try to convince him otherwise, since voter turnout is everything in these elections.  And I have no sense if the often dead beat DEM supporters like Biden or hate Trump enough to get to the polls.

Personally I think it is going to be a Blue Wave because Trump has effectively pissed off or disgusted everyone except his base... (see comic)  Touch to zoom and read FrankenBiden parts.

I just think of all the Moderate Independents and Republicans like myself who were going to give him a chance because of our dislike / distrust of Clinton.  And how he totally failed at being honest, professional, fiscally conservative, showing humility, showing empathy, etc. So I know that is literally millions of votes that Trump lost...  

I am very interested in what happens Tuesday?  I am hoping it is a blow out for Biden, so we can soon put this unfortunate experiment behind us like MN put Jesse Venture behind it.  And I think Jesse was far smarter, more honest and more professional than Trump. :-) 

Poll Discussions 1

Poll Discussion 2

GDP Fraud?

 Government Spend Props Up GDP.

Of course that huckster Trump in trying to sell it as a huge rebound. 

Now will the Trump True Believers drink the Kool Aid or will they remember that this is just the $3 Trillion of stolen money propping up a looming disaster?

I know this probably will not surprise anyone, but the FOX News coverage does not even note how the CARES Act drove these numbers.  And that without the next stimulus (ie theft from kids) and with COVID numbers growing, things are going to get rough.

It will be interesting if he is the is one of the only Presidents to see negative GDP growth during his term in office. :-)  :-(

Trump and the National Debt

I am frustrated that this topic never showed up in the debates.

One would think that the media and DEMs would want to remind the voters that most of Trump's "economic success" was stolen from our kids...  I mean it is easy to grow an economy if you cut taxes, increase spending and borrow TRILLIONs.

Some simple math: $1,000,000,000,000 / 330,000,000 = 

$2,778 / citizen (man, woman and child) or

maybe about $8,334 / household.

And Trump's government has stolen 8 times that from our kids...

(ie $22K per person, $66K per household)

No wonder current citizens feel wealthier and the economy boomed, they avoided paying a ton of bills and put it on the plastic.

How did we become so selfish as a people? :-(

Who Hates the USA?

A Conservative Friend who Loves Trump posted the bolded text below.

It started me wondering who these people are that Hate the USA? 

My simplistic answer would be the folks on the Far Left and Far Right.  I mean both seem very unhappy with the USA as it is today.

The Far Left folks think Medicaid, welfare, free K-12 public education and a lot of other educational programs for the poor folks is NOT nearly generous enough.  And they want to give government even more collection and distribution powers.

The Far Right folks of course think it is terrible that a woman gets to choose, the LGBTQ folks have equal rights / protections, that freedom of religion means freedom of all religions, that they have to pay enough taxes to avoid deficit spending, etc. And they seem to want to turn the USA into some Christian form of Sharia law and keep spending more than they pay.

Another friend pointed me to this wonderful interview with Thomas Friedman.  Here is a wonderful portion.

“Only one thing worse, in my view, than one-party autocracy, which China has, is one-party democracy.” That’s because it is unable to produce the compromises that are embedded in America’s constitutional system.

Friedman says we are “undermining truth and trust and destroying our cognitive community— our ability to sort out fact from fiction— and our social community—our ability to come together to do big, hard things.”

“Politics has to be about something other than itself,” he said. “Politics has to have meaning and be productive.”

If Joe Biden is elected, Friedman would like him to form a “national unity government.”

“I hope the current version of the Republican party is crushed. I hope it fractures between the Trump cult and the moderate Republicans, and you get a whole new center.”

“For the health of conservative ideology,” Friedman says, “this Trump version has to be destroyed.”

Of course, this friend is pretty Progressive so he interpreted  "Unity Government" to be Left Leaning. So I had to crush his dream by noting that a "Unity Government" would need to be made up of the "Happy People" from both sides.  Those of use who think the USA is wonderful the way it is, and that only minor continuing adjustments should be made to make it better.

Unfortunately I fear that we are doomed to continue bouncing between "one-party autocracies" every 4 or eight years. :-( 

COVID in Rural Areas

How could ND & SD have screwed this up SO BAD?

I mean they have very few urban areas, no international airports, little public transit and by definition most of the residents spend most of their lives "social distanced".  And yet there case rates have exceeded urban states and their death rate is catching up quickly. 

Apparently sticking one's head in the sand does not protect one from catching a virus.

Debate was a Little Better

though I gave up listening after about 20 minutes.  The continuous lies and political talk seemed to offer nothing new.  In fact, I assume that is why the fact checking was so fast...  They just need to "copy and paste"... :-)

Fact Check 1

Fact Check 2

Fact Check 3

Fact Check 4

Since FOX News does no "Fact Check", here is their spin / coverage.

Of course the other recent news is Trump attacking Leslie Stahl / 60 Minutes and violating his agreement with CBS.  I can not wait to see what the 60 Minutes staff present on Sunday night...

How Trump Should Debate

 According to Liz Peek. 

• First, the president must remind the nation what he has accomplished in his first three and a half years in office, with specifics. (see article)
• Next, the president must be likable; he should smile.
• Third, the president should dial down his attacks on Joe Biden.
• Finally, the president should tell the audience what he plans to do in his next four years.

It will be interesting to see if Trump can follow this logic formula, or if he goes back to interrupting and attacking?

And with his microphone being shut off for the 2 minutes that Biden is speaking, will Trump act polite / professional?  Or will he be over their screaming like a desperate ignored child? 

Who to Believe?

 Regarding potential Hunter Biden Emails.

FOX News Coverage

CBS Coverage

Politico Coverage

SNOPES Coverage

The Street Coverage

Business Insider Coverage

I of course am suspect of any thing the Rudy Giuliani releases 3 weeks before the election after holding it for almost a year.  And why didn't FOX jump on the story?

Finally, do I care?  I am not sure given how the Trump's are using their relations to Trump to benefit financially.  It is a bit like the pot calling the kettle black.  Thoughts?

Biden is Not Clinton

 That is for sure. And Trump certainly did not grow into a President that would unite and empower America.  And he has surrounded himself with incompetent people...

And he continues rallies as COVID case numbers sky rocket and deaths remain at ~750 per day...

So 2020 certainly is not 2016...  And maybe the pollsters learned some stuff from 2016.

Can Trump Supporters Accept a Loss?

David Brooks mentioned on the PBS News hour tonight that he has been talking to Trump supporters who he thinks are totally unprepared for the high likelihood that Trump will lose the Presidency.  

Apparently the Trump Supporters are under that delusion that there are many Trump Supporters who have been lying to the pollsters, and that he really is not as unpopular as everyone reports.

It is strange how confident they are in this bad bet.  Of course they trust what Trump says, so I guess they are somewhat delusional.

Now what will they do if Trump loses and pops their delusion?

Biden and Trump Fact Checking

I was jumping back and forth between channels until I got bored and went to Netflix.  My summary is that Biden was trying to answer questions and Trump was trying to attack others and defend himself.

That could have been the questions each received...  But when the President claims to not know about "Q Anon", one has to either think he is an idiot or a liar...  Not sure which is worse.

Fact Check 1

Fact Check 2

Fact Check 3

Fact Check 4

Wishing Romney Was Our Candidate

 As he calls for decorum and professionalism in politics.  Click to expand

The Cost of Trump to GOP?

 Senate Republicans scramble to put Trump at arm's length

Many GOP politicians and voters have allowed Trump to lie blatantly, self deal /squander, verbally attack and in general act like an authoritarian dictator in some third world country.  Thankfully we live in a democracy where hopefully the majority will not tolerate this kind of behavior by an elected civil servant.

I still do not understand why so many people love and support Trump, and probably never will.  However I am pretty sure the GOP is going to pay big time for their foolish cult following, and it seems that the GOP politicians are beginning to understand this.

Voting: Security or Suppression?

Jerry has been trying to convince us that the system is deeply flawed and that voter fraud is rampant.  Of course he has no evidence, and claims that the MN SOS sending absentee ballot applications out to all registered voters is proof of this terrible state of affairs.  I mean some of voters may have moved, may have died, etc.

Then a bunch of DEM operatives may collect them or dumpster dive to get them so that they can commit felony fraud and obtain extra ballots.  Of course the argument seemed kind of stupid after I received the same document from the MN GOP party.  And of course it really gets terribly foolish when you remember that people can print out as many of them as they want at the web site. 

Now we have GOP law suits all over the country that are aimed at making it harder for legal citizens to vote. 

• We have the suit in Pennsylvania to make sure that all "naked ballots" get disqualified.  Sorry Granny... You forgot to put the ballot in an envelope before putting it in an envelope...  Your vote goes in the trash.
• Then there is the suit in TX to limit ballot collection boxes to one per county. Even though some of the counties are huge and have 4 million citizens in them.
• And there are hundreds more apparently.  With DEMs trying to give citizens more time and options to legally vote, and the GOP trying to shorten voting times, options and generally make it harder for qualified legal citizens to vote.

I personally think it is one of the most terrible things about the Republican Party.  Samuel L Jackson did a wonderful PSA discussing the evil history of voter suppression.

Now I did ask what the GOP was doing to promote legal voting, make it safer, increase voter turn out, etc.  Unfortunately that apparently is not important to them. :-(   

Electoral Map Update

 Shows Biden Lead Growing?

Trump Scared of Virtual Debate

 And says he will not attend.  I suppose I understand his fear...  He may actually have to say something of value and he would not be allowed to continually interrupt Biden and the Moderator. 

Well hopefully they give the whole time period to Biden then... :-)

Pence Almost as Rude as Trump

 And definitely avoided answering questions. It was sad again to see the GOP debater refusing to follow the debate rules that they had agreed to.  Pence's primary violation was that he would keep talking over his time limit and over the Moderators repeated request to stop. :-(

On top of this he absolutely refused to answer many of the questions that were asked.  Mostly he just took his time to preach to the Conservatives.

Overall, Harris seemed professional and answered most questions somewhat directly.  Though like all politicians she also avoided and wandered some.

Fact Check 1

Fact Check 2

Fact Check 3

Fact Check 4

Why Voters Like Trump

 This piece tries to explain it.

As discussed before, I am totally befuddled over why people are willing to over look Trump's poor behavior and lies.  Here is another explanation.

Finally a Election PSA Worth Watching

 Get Your Booty to the Polls... :-)  

You go Girls !!!! 

Biden has Double Digit Lead?

 According to VOX.  Where as other polls indicate a ~7 point lead.

The 7 point number makes more sense to me since ~52% of citizens disapprove of Trump and ~45% approve of Trump.  Now if the 52% will only get out and vote...

I had an interesting exchange with a FB Friend who said he loves and respects Trump. So I asked him if he thought Trump's lying was acceptable from a politician and providing a good role model for the children in our society.  Needless to say he has not answered. :-(

Now this individual seems very ProLife, so I can understand appreciating Trump loading the courts with Conservative Christian Judges and Justices.  However is this really enough to respect a man who cheated on his third wife, lies to American citizens daily, etc?  Apparently ~45% of Americans think so?

Personally I can not understand it. Here are some of his recent mistruths.

Trump is Now a Nobody

 And China is Loving it... :-)  Now I wish I was a kinder soul, but I hope he gets to spend some time on a ventilator like Boris Johnson did.   And just think of his older stupid supporters.  I guess that is what happens when you trust Trump and FOX News. :-)

Which Expert?

 So one of my FB Friends sees himself as an expert in science and education, which makes sense since he is a high school science teacher.  With this in mind he is often condescending and insulting regarding my differing thoughts regarding education improvement, helping poor kids learn and climate change.

Which of course makes sense since I certainly am not a Teacher or a Scientist. Here is a sampling his latest lecturing...

"Your callous “know it all” opinion is typical of the lazy Republicans I have dealt with who value their ideology over anything else even at the expense of the environment. You have no idea what I believe about supporting public schools, nor do you know what issues I am talking about. You have never valued by expertise in that field . And I’m not going to get into it with you because the issues do not match with your perceptions and you are unwilling to listen to anyone that may know more than you about it." 

"I always seek out, listen to and discuss a topic from people in a particular field who have spent their lives working in that field. I value their input before making assumptions about a particular topic in that field."

Now I am not angry or offended, I do throw a lot of ideas out there but hopefully with adequate sources, data, etc to pretty much back them up. However I understand how folks can think that I am not listening / learning.

Well there is the lead up to this post which is labelled Which Expert? for a reason...  Here are a couple of our favorite topics:

1. How to ensure all mentally capable children are academically capable when they graduate from High School? 
2. What should be done regarding man made climate change?
3. Other...

Just to explain my expertise for folks who are not familiar, I am a Professional Engineer with an MBA and significant experience as a 6 Sigma Black Belt.  I have spent ~30 years leading cross functional teams to solve problems, fix things / processes, develop new products or execute projects of different types.  Some a week long and some several years.

In summary I have some general experience in many things, however my true strength is in listening to and working through others who are much more capable than I am in the areas of study / experience.  I probe, prod, promote collaboration, organize, challenge group think, track, analyze, brain storm, track, nag, time keep, etc.

SO given this problem statement: "How to ensure all mentally capable children are academically capable when they graduate from High School?"  Which experts should be involved in solving the challenge?  I mean imparting knowledge in the classroom (ie teaching) is a part of the issue certainly, so I am happy to listen to teachers about how discipline, teaching, technologies, etc can be improved.  They are the experts.

However I would argue that the performance management, staffing, compensation, termination policies and other issues are key to ensure that the Teachers are performing at a high standard. Which leaves me wondering who are the experts in performance management maintenance and improvement?  I certainly do not think it is the employees (ie Teachers), though they should be communicated with regularly.

And we have not even gotten into where children spend most of their youth and how that impacts their academic performance.

And when given this problem statement: "What should be done regarding man made climate change?" I have no doubt that a Science Teacher may be up to speed with the latest scientific releases.  However does that make them more capable of understanding and balancing the massive financial trade offs that we are looking at?  Where does the role of "science" end and the role of public and private policy begin? 

Well that is the question on my mind...  Personally I think many of us may be experts in small areas, and yet some like to think that makes them an expert in the whole topic.  So when I disagree with you and request sources / proof...  That is why... :-) 

And I promise to continue explaining the rationale for my beliefs and providing sources, so you can see how I got to my belief.  Then please feel to question the rationale or point me to better sources.  Thanks John