[long]

One of my all time favorite political novels is ‘The Porkchoppers’ by Ross Thomas. It’s about a Union election in the Nixon Era. At one point one of the candidates holds a rally; to get more people to attend they hold a raffle. Surprise, the winner of the new boat is the cousin of one of the insiders.

Exact same thing happened this time.

https://www.wisn.com/article/who-received-million-dollar-checks-from-elon-musk/64345029

For perspective, Trump’s golf trips have cost over $10 million so far.

Trump had four years to plan his great return. Four years to mull and ponder. This is his best stuff. Everything else is going to be ad libbed.

Exactly. Politics is messy and there aren’t ever going to be perfect options.

Figuring out the least terrible choice is how we progress.

No you don’t.

If the government of the USA falls apart there is still a giant military infrastructure in place.

If you think that they’ll just shut down all those aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines you are terribly mistaken.

Have you tried going to the meetings?

Everyone in the rooms knows about drunk dreams.

90 million people didn’t vote.

Back in 1960, the US minimum wage was $1.00/hour and the average US home was $11,000.00

In ‘Hell’s Angels’ Hunter Thompson had a chapter about the economics of being a biker/hippie/artist circa 1970. Six months of a full time Union job as a stevedore paid enough for a biker to hit the road for two years. A part time waitress could afford to support herself and her musician boyfriend.

Of course people were happy here.

I literally had that conversation.

If you don’t have a good sized freezer, buy one. They aren’t that expensive and they’ll pay for themselves. Right now I have pints sized portions of two different home made soups in the freezer. Takes me five minutes to microwave. It takes just as long to cook 10 portions as it does one.

If I know I’ll have a busy week I’ll make myself a three pound roast chicken on Sunday afternoon. Other folks I know will make a lasagna or roast beef or a big pot of rice and beans. Just make something you can use all week. The good thing about chicken is that I can make tacos, or a sandwich, or throw some on a salad.

A fun way to get started with a story is to take two actors and put them together.

Natalie Portman and Keanu Reeves are the stars of the story. Now tell me the plot.

https://www.diningandcooking.com/1463121/how-to-make-lilly-with-the-nuts-italian-ice/

“Lilly with nuts.” Italian ices

Be that as it may ,we aren’t going to change the system overnight.

If any good comes of this, it will be raising awareness.

It doesn’t cost you anything to check in on your neighbors.

Hurting New York will only make Trump more popular with his base.

Here’s what happened in America.

In the 1960s the “Women’s Lib” movement started. They got a lot of press coverage because it was a good stroy, but didn’t actually change things a lot.

In 1973 the Oil Embargo hit and suddenly one job wasn’t enough for the family to survive. Lots of wives had to go out and look for work to keep paying the bills.

The Right has been lying that women getting jobs is what destroyed the one income family.

TIL. Thank you.

The idea is briefly mentioned in the book “Double Star” by Robert Heinlein. He doesn’t provide an actual constitution.

Governors and mayors would still run the local area, but the national laws would be passed by a legislature composed of people all elected ‘at large.’

The Congressmember from Texas has no power in his state. He can’t force anyone to do something. They can go to Washington and vote for a law that’s enforced by the police.

Very cool. Thanks, I’d never heard of that book.

Robert Heinlein worked on some real political campaigns back in the day and it shows in his writings.

Another fun political writer is Ross Thomas. He was a WW2 veteran who went from being a Washington reporter to a crime novelist.

“The Fools In Town Are On Our Side” is about a plan to clean up a small Southern city by making it " so corrupt that even the pimps will vote for reform."

“The Porkchoppers” is about a Nixon era Union election. It’s all about the nuts and bolts of running a dirty campaign.