I refuse to sniff the Hopium, as they call it on the internet, but I’m allowing myself, at some moments, when the light is just right, when I’ve had a single drink, when I’ve slipped out of my bubble and into another, to feel some optimism about the upcoming elections.
This week, in the Michigan House, this is what happened (link probably paywalled):
LANSING — The Michigan House voted on Sept. 23 in favor of proposals to condemn socialism and to require an American flag be displayed in a prominent location in each classroom across the state.
…Michigan law already generally requires American flags to be placed in classrooms, under legislation that Republican then-Gov. Rick Snyder signed in 2012. But the new bill from state Rep. Matt Maddock, R-Milford, aims to add a size requirement — two feet by three feet — and a standard that the display be prominent.
I feel so much better now, knowing the party that wants the government out of our lives will now enforce a particular flag size and placement. Comic relief, also likely paywalled:
Freedom Fest, a MAGA-themed Kentucky event planned for Sept. 26 that was to be headlined by Kid Rock and was slated to feature an appearance from Dog the Bounty Hunter, has been canceled by organizers after selling less than 10 VIP tickets, The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
Organizer Eric Deters announced the cancelation on social media on Sept. 21.
He said he had counted on VIP ticket sales funding the festival, which was previously held in 2022 and 2024. Past events featured guests such as Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Candace Owens.
“When I put together Patriots Day Freedom Fest, I put it together with the game plan and the idea that I could pay for it with VIP sales of $1,000 from these 100 people that I interact with on a regular basis,” Deters said on Facebook in a since-deleted message, according to the Enquirer.
Instead, only six people had purchased VIP tickets to the event, he said. The number of non-VIP tickets sold for the event was not disclosed.
“Rank-and-file Americans are the backbone of this country, (from) both political parties,” Deters said. “I want to tell you something: rich people, as a whole, suck.
“I am never ever, ever, ever, ever doing this event again. Ever,” he said.
The air may be hissing out of the balloon. We’ll see. I’ve had my hopes dashed too many times to get comfortable believing it, but all the indications are good.
And if Tubby pulls a fast one and cancels the election, the country will burn down and then? Problem solved.
Sorry I’ve been scarce this week. It’s been one of those weeks. Not busy, just uneventful. I made a list and handled some things. I went to a friend’s house and made some misshapen turnovers. The filling was great — pear, fig and gorgonzola — but the pastry was a mess. We decided there is NO SHAME in going for Pepperidge Farm puff pastry next time, and we will. I went to the library, in another attempt to distract myself from the current crisis. I was amazed to find an unread Thomas Harris book, and dismayed to learn, 80 or so pages in, that it’s terrible.
And other than that? It’s just been kinda dull, now that the thrill of traveling to the Hoosier state has worn off. I need another adventure.
alex said on September 24, 2026 at 6:00 pm
Heading for Chicago for the weekend, as well as another foray into the Indiana Dunes, this time for the grand unveiling of the renovated 1933 World’s Fair Glass House of Tomorrow which had spent most of the last several decades masked with grayed particleboard and left to die. Now that the neighborhood has been rediscovered and rebranded as “the Hamptons of the Midwest,” the funky modernist cliff dwelling is getting a second life. I’ll be one of the lucky few who gets to see it before the park service leases it out to rich fuckers for two years and seven figures.
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Dave said on September 24, 2026 at 7:51 pm
Eric Deters, I thought, why do I know that name and then I realized, WLW, where he used to host a show back in the days when I regularly visited Cincinnati. What I didn’t know because it happened after I retired, he was fired from WLW for racist remarks he made, he’s been sued for trying to practice law without a license, having lost it, and got a jail sentence suspended after chasing and threatening his nephew, said nephew son of his brother, who has a restraining order against him. All in all, a quality individual.
I learned all of that in a minute or two simply searching out his name.
A bigger American flag, yeah, that’s what it will take to make them all patriotic.
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Cheez Whiz said on September 24, 2026 at 9:43 pm
The shock of betrayal expressed by people like Eric Deters doesn’t last. Like everything else it will be rationalized as someone else’s fault and then forgotten. There was a wealthy white guy with a Venezuelan wife. She was recently deported somewhere and all he could say was how could they do this to him. It will end up being “somebody at ICE”‘s fault, and he’ll send another donation to Trump. Critically examing your worldview when it is fundamentally violated is painful, and Americans don’t do pain vouluntarily, unless its related to feats of strength.
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Jeff Gill said on September 25, 2026 at 7:20 am
I got to spend an hour “interviewing” Keith O’Brien here in Newark, Ohio last night, and to his support may I recommend “Charlie Hustle” to one & all, aptly subtitled “The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball.” It is, as Pete said when asked if he’d read it not long before his death, “a frickin’ 400 pages” (Keith doesn’t think he did, sadly), and it’s a deep dive into growing up on the west side of Cincinnati and the world of baseball and celebrity in the 70s, 80s, and beyond.
Right now, I’m starting his Larry Bird book that just came out, “Heartland.” So far, so good: haven’t gotten to Terre Haute yet.
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Suzanne said on September 25, 2026 at 8:28 am
Jeff, I just picked up Heartland from the library. I haven’t started but I am looking forward to it. It got good reviews.
Did anyone happen to catch the clip of Renee Good’s mother testifying before Congress a few days ago? She said she voted for Trump thinking he’d get rid of criminals and terrorists and lo and behold, he decided anyone could be considered a terrorist, even her daughter. I can’t even. What the heck did people like her think would happen? His track record of lying, stealing, destroying has never been a secret.
I will never understand people and their embracing of ignorance.
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nancy said on September 25, 2026 at 10:04 am
Suzanne, ditto. All I can think is a line from “The Wire,” clearly written about the nonsense in Iraq going on at the same time: “The bigger the lie, the more they believe.”
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ROGirl said on September 25, 2026 at 10:38 am
Why reinvent the wheel? It worked for the nazis. Foment nonstop chaos while proclaiming that you’re the only one who can fix it.
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jim said on September 25, 2026 at 12:47 pm
The insurance news of several go us has been really hard to read. Then I read this article, and it was even worse news. Medicare Advantage plans often have the odious pre-approval issues that make regular Medicare look good by comparison. That is, until Trump, Kennedy , Oz and AI get involved: https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/09/trump-admin-using-ai-to-deny-medical-care-for-seniors-in-disastrous-experiment/
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Julie Robinson said on September 25, 2026 at 4:18 pm
jim, I could write a book about the horrors of Advantage plans, but the ACA plans are also unaffordable. Our daughter pays almost 25% of her tiny little paycheck because the subsidies were cut back so far.
Today’s shoulder saga included waiting 40 minutes for my X-ray. The tech was super apologetic, a piece of equipment had gone down. Okay, but did no one think to inform the patients? They sent me a survey, because you can’t sneeze without someone wanting to survey you about the experience, so I let them have it.
If anyone’s looking for a distraction, the NYT has ranked their choices for the top 100 TV shows of this century: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/arts/television/best-tv-shows-21st-century.html?unlocked_article_code=1.D1E.53RV.tVB2Uxo2JV4e&smid=url-share. Gift link, sorry it’s so long. I’ve never seen an episode of many, but was pleased to see a few I liked on the list, like 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, and Succession.
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Sherri said on September 25, 2026 at 5:36 pm
Finally, success! My husband and I were able to get our prescriptions filled and covered by insurance today!
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Julie Robinson said on September 26, 2026 at 9:20 am
So glad for you, Sherri. One small mountain conquered.
My X-ray results came back and my shoulder is broken, possibly in multiple places. I might have said a very bad word. I might have said two or three. Hopefully I can get in to see an ortho fast. In the meantime I’ll continue with the sling and ice packs.
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Mark P said on September 26, 2026 at 2:40 pm
I’m agnostic about hope. It’s kind of like seeing the top floor of your house engulfed in flames and thinking that the fire department will probably get here soon.
I understand why people here talk about their problems. About a week and a half ago my wife’s (previously mentioned, I think) fairly mild dementia took a big old step in the wrong direction. She’s confused about who I am and where she is. She talks about other people in the house. I may or may not be able to get her to a doctor’s appointment in about a week, and I have absolutely no one to even talk to here. So I talk to you all. Sorry.
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Jeff Gill said on September 26, 2026 at 4:58 pm
Keep talking, Mark.
My sister & I dealt with some pretty serious (and occasionally scary) paranoia & anxiety with our mother, but once she got to where we had to place her in memory care, the default reality has become mid-1950s, in a dorm at Eastern Illinois, and she is always happy to see us (let’s just say that’s not the greeting we were used to for the previous 50 years), and full of cheer. The relocation that was forced on us (long story) we worried about immensely, but she not only barely noticed it, she’s already telling staff here as with the previous facility that she built it with her father, who is nine feet tall, and everything there is hers. Which is true enough unless she tries to fiddle with the medication cart, which is locked anyhow.
Yeah, IRL when people ask how I’m doing at the football game I say “fine!” Thank you all for being a place we can “talk.” And say things.
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Sherri said on September 26, 2026 at 9:17 pm
I’m with Jeff; keep talking.
Julie, I’m so sorry it’s been so difficult to find out your shoulder is broken; shoulder pain is so difficult because it’s impossible to find a position to ‘rest’ the shoulder.
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Julie Robinson said on September 26, 2026 at 10:36 pm
Mark, I’m always happy to read what you’ve written and if it’s therapeutic, please continue. Would an online support group help? I attend one in person and I know they also offer them via zoom.
Sherri, I guess I’m supposed to be in the sling, even in bed. Sleeping in a recliner has also been recommended but we don’t have one, nor space in the bedroom. I need to sleep in there to breathe animal-free air.
Things aren’t so terribly awful, though. The writer and artist Suleika Jaouad is about to undergo her third bone marrow transplant in her young life. She’s been fighting leukemia since the age of 22, never totally healthy. Her book Between Two Kingdoms is a masterful exploration of living with illness.
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Deborah said on September 27, 2026 at 10:48 am
Mark, write on. Besides having someone or ones to talk to about your situation, what else are you needing? Do you have caregivers who can come in and give you respite and general help? Are there places you can take your wife for respite for yourself for a few hours at a time? It must be exhausting to be on call 24/7 for your wife’s needs. I hope you can get a break from time to time.
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diane said on September 27, 2026 at 1:44 pm
Yes, please keep on talking or doing anything that helps, even a little.
I am a regular reader although infrequent poster but find this space a refuge and thank you all.
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Candlepick said on September 27, 2026 at 2:45 pm
Diane said what I was thinking, too. Wishing energy for all who are doing hard things and hard care-giving.
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