I knew I forgot to do something yesterday. Probably because I was distracted by my chin dragging on the ground, after the Georgia phone call dropped.
I honestly don’t know what to say about it. There’s no shortage of outrage, certainly, and what could I possibly add? This call is worse than the Access Hollywood tape, but again — nothing will be done about it. We might get to see more entertaining breaks in the GOP, but it won’t make up for the terrible damage being done to the country.
I so vividly remember Inauguration Day 2016. I was working, sitting in the living room of a Muslim family in Dearborn, and at the moment Trump raised his right hand and began repeating the oath, I had a near out-of-body experience. How can this be happening? This…game-show host, this huckster, this con man, this sexual assailant becoming president? Now we know, I guess; this country is far worse, far more fucked, than we ever believed.
:::touches earpiece::: Wait, I just received an email from GoDaddy that it’s time to renew my registration of this site’s URL, which prompted me to do some math, and realized that January 21 will be this stupid fucking blog’s 20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY.
I have to sit down now. Oh right, I already am.
I never intended for things to go on this long, but I guess you keep putting one foot in front of the other, and they do. I guess I’d better start planning the fireworks display and celebration for later this month then, right?
Hope your New Year’s weekend was great. Mine was fine. Had an epic NYE – paella with friends, followed by Stevie Nicks twirling in the hostess’ Christmas kimono. Then a chill, relaxing long weekend. Alan’s last day in journalism (for now) is tomorrow, and we leave for Florida at the end of the week.
So sorry to keep this short, but I need a shower.
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on January 4, 2021 at 9:08 am
Delighted that you got Stevie Nicks to come by. That must have been fun! We just sat here with Anderson & Andy drinking wassail.
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Dave said on January 4, 2021 at 9:20 am
Congratulations to Alan for making it to the end. I just realized, this means no more car proms.
I keep looking for an announcement as to what my congressman plans to do about Wednesday. So far, I’ve seen nothing. I suspect that dummy from northeast Indiana has already signed on.
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Peter said on January 4, 2021 at 10:02 am
First off, congratulations on 20 years! Time does fly by when you’re having fun.
And congratulations to Alan on his upcoming retirement. Maybe he can give some pointers to Don John on how to leave office with a little respect and dignity.
And I really can’t add anything of value in commenting on the latest outrage, except to say this: For the thousandth time, Trump, to me, is the epitome or embodiment of the worst boss or client you’ve ever had. I’ve had phone calls like that, and I’m sure many of you have had them too.
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David C said on January 4, 2021 at 10:08 am
Great timing for Alan. Leaving the WTF is Stellantis desk to someone else seems like a good move.
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Mark P said on January 4, 2021 at 10:09 am
Well, it seems there is a high probability that Trump’s phone call urging the commission of voter fraud violates Georgia law. If Georgia were New York, we might expect indictments for the ex-president, but Georgia is definitely not New York, so Trump will skate on this one.
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LAMary said on January 4, 2021 at 10:17 am
I understand Stevie Nicks was twirling and all that at a concert in Manchester, UK in her Rihannon period, was a little overprimed for the event, stopped mid twirl and said, “Manchester, you’ve made my life” and fell off the stage. Not sure on the wardrobe but if it was in the mid seventies it was probably black and flowy for maximum Welsh witch impact.
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ROGirl said on January 4, 2021 at 10:18 am
There’s nothing wrong with recalculating? Are you fucking kidding me? He doesn’t even WANT to be president. How can ANYONE go along with his least fart or whatever else he emits? Fuck him and God help us. Rant over.
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basset said on January 4, 2021 at 10:20 am
Congrats to Alan. I can only imagine, or maybe I can’t, what newspaper editing must be like these days.
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JodiP said on January 4, 2021 at 10:51 am
Congratulations on 20 years! You helped create such a cool community.
Also, congrats to Alan! I hope he really enjoys retirement.
I have lately become enamored of the Rumors album. I was only about 12 when it came out so did not understand all the lyrics. I also had no idea about all the…stuff that was going on at the time.
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Jeff Borden said on January 4, 2021 at 10:51 am
I’m trying not to let the antics of the anti-democracy caucus of the Republican Party get to me, though it’s a big reach for a political junkie like me. The efforts by the traitors in the House and Senate is merely pro wrestling-style theater and will have no impact on the seating of Joseph R. Biden as our 46th president, though every action they take fuels the true believers out there and that’s a scary proposition. When the Proud Boys aka the American Incel Party and its ilk march in the streets of D.C. on Wednesday, I certainly hope they are treated like those who participated in BLM protests. Could those rough and tough toy soldiers keep going through clouds of swirling tear gas? Methinks not.
Steve Schmidt believes the GOP is primed to go the way of the Whigs over the next few years and predicts internecine bloodshed between the old-school Republicans and the tRumpers. Gosh. That would be terrible.
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Dave said on January 4, 2021 at 11:54 am
Jordan gets the Medal of Freedom. So cheapening, an utter piece of trash from a gerrymandered district, getting an award from an utter piece of trash. I see that he would be my congressman if I still lived where I lived for several years in the 70’s and up until 1986, he has all of Allen County, OH.
Marcy Kaptur’s district is also odd.
https://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/2019/05/readers-say-marcy-kaptur-jim-jordan-have-ohios-worst-gerrymandered-congressional-districts.html
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Connie said on January 4, 2021 at 11:58 am
For me one of the worst things about the last year has been finding out how many of my hometown friends are Trumpers. Actually I should say girlfriends. My long ago maid of honor is departing today for Washington DC because “its important.” My grade school best friend and others are cheering her on in the Facebook comments.
And one of my male cousins is absolutely nuts. Hoax virus, masks dont work, hates the governor.
I made a very conscious decision to leave W Michigan many years ago. As I am regularly reminded. At least one of you is from GR. Comment?
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Peter said on January 4, 2021 at 12:01 pm
Oh, and Stevie Nicks – thanks to SNL every time I hear about Fleetwood Mac I think about Stevie Nicks’ Fajita Roundup, which, by the way, is rated #110 out of 192 restaurants in Sedona, Arizona. If I’m restaurant nos. 111 to 192 I’d be pissed that I’m working my butt off during a pandemic and a fictitous restaurant is rated higher than mine.
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David C said on January 4, 2021 at 12:41 pm
I’m the one from GR, Connie. I’ve made a conscious effort to not follow former H.S. friends or even family on social media. For me, it’s better to suspect but not know that they’re full-goose bonkers. I get tense enough reading about crazy people I don’t know. When I go home, I don’t hear much of it. I think they know I’m a crazy libtard but the only push back they get from me is a passive-aggressive eyeroll so I’m no fun.
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Jeff Borden said on January 4, 2021 at 1:25 pm
Dave,
I was born and raised in Lima, Ohio, in Allen County until summer 1964, when we moved to a town about 30 miles south of Cleveland because my dad got a better job there. I was 11-years-old and thought it was the end of the world, but it may have saved my life. I was caught up in the slipstream of college prep friends in high school, which led me to college, too. When I investigated what happened to some of the guys I’d been friends with in Lima, I found two things: one of them is a priest and is now the Vatican ambassador to Japan and another graduated from college. The others remained in that woebegone town. Perhaps they are Jockstrap Gym Jordan voters.
As repulsive as Jordan and his Freedumb Caucus are, none of it compares to his ignoring the sexual molestation of student athletes under his direction at Ohio State. Several have stated publicly Jockstrap Gym was repeatedly told about the pervert who played with their ding-dongs during physicals, but he never lifted a finger to help. He’s a bastard.
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Sherri said on January 4, 2021 at 1:51 pm
If you live in a red area, or are from a red area, odds are good that you are represented by an idiot and/or an odious person, because that’s what the GOP is now. Until she was elected to the Senate, my hometown was represented by Marsha Blackburn. Now, it’s represented by Mark Green, who had to withdraw his nomination as Secretary of the Army after his remarks about transgender people came to light (calling them diseased and evil).
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Suzanne said on January 4, 2021 at 2:44 pm
I live in a red area and yes, Sherri, we are represented by an odious idiot who has a black tongue from licking Trump’s shoes day in and day out.
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Dave said on January 4, 2021 at 3:43 pm
Jeff, my one friend from school, son of a Methodist minister, lived in and graduated from Lima Senior in 1968, after his father was moved (Methodist ministers used to move all the time). He lives today in San Luis Obispo, CA, I’ve had nominal contact with him. He appears to be living a good life. I think they moved to Lima the summer of 1964, myself and another friend went and spent a week with them in their parsonage home on W. Spring Street in the summer of 65. I certainly never thought then that I’d live not far away in Bath Township to the north side of Lima in another 15 years.
My wife has a nearly lifelong friend, she’s now a retired special ed teacher. One would think that she would not be a Trump supporter but the things she posts on Facebook makes us wonder what happened to her. My wife has one first cousin, male, who is even worse. There are people I used to work with who I don’t think ever paid a lick of attention to politics but they sure make foolish remarks in support of Trump. I hope they do go the way of the Whigs, I can only hope I live long enough to see it.
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Dorothy said on January 4, 2021 at 3:55 pm
My husband has no siblings and only one first cousin – she’s a Trump supporter. We just can’t understand why. We visited with her in September when we went to my niece’s babies shower (she had twins) and did not discuss politics. She sees everything I post on Facebook (I ain’t shy in how I feel about that asshat), but she never comments. She had several Trump signs in her front yard. Maybe one day we’ll talk about it but I doubt it. I don’t think she knows that Mike and I are of like minds. He keeps his mouth shut on Facebook and other websites about him, but we sure do share angry feelings when we’re at home together.
Due to Covid our 45th high school reunion was cancelled last year. I had already decided not to attend due to the election year. I’d seen enough dumb and sickening comments from people on our Facebook group page – I knew I’d get myself arrested if I’d gone to the reunion and smacked a few of them right in the mouth. Maybe in 2025 enough time will have passed that I will go to the 50th reunion. If I’m still alive.
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Mark P said on January 4, 2021 at 4:24 pm
The Fulton County (Ga) district attorney released a statement saying that a member of the elections commission had asked the Secretary of State to investigate Trump’s call, and then they could give that information to the state attorney general and her office. The attorney general is a Republican, so he won’t press it, but the Fulton County DA is a Democrat, so she might believe in the rule of law. Wouldn’t that be great? Trump tried for soliciting election fraud by a Fulton County jury. Be still my heart!
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Jim said on January 4, 2021 at 5:13 pm
Suzanne at #17: assuming we are both represented by the “Honorable” Mr. Banks let us not forget how his nose has also changed color.
Brownish-orange is my assessment.
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Diane said on January 4, 2021 at 9:13 pm
I’m claiming the win for the most batshit crazy and dumb Representative.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/04/dc-police-boebert-glock-capitol-454563
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LAMary said on January 4, 2021 at 10:37 pm
Devin “fake cow” Nunes.
https://tinyurl.com/y5dntr5u
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Dexter Friend said on January 4, 2021 at 11:59 pm
Until 2020, the only contact I had with Lima was a train ride from there in 1981, to Philadelphia for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four. One year Fort Wayne Northside High School went to Lima to play a boy’s basketball game. A small riot broke out; a friend’s son played for NSHS and was there. He and his wife ran for their car and escaped. Years later, a riot at the Waffle House out on I 75. In the summer I made several trips to St. Rita’s-Lima and doctors’ and surgeons’ offices with my wife, so a brief visual of Lima is fresh for me. A lady in a waiting room told of a summer riot downtown last summer, but she was a nutcase racist, so I have no idea if it was a riot or a BLM peaceful gathering, with just a few broken windows. There is a YouTube of Ohio’s worst places to live; Toledo and Lima are right near the top, as Youngstown leads the way as shittiest areas to live.
Trump is off the rails for sure. That phone call will not get him in trouble, as we just want him gone, forcibly removed if necessary.
Odd movie recommendation: The quirky “I Brake for Whales”, about a wacky brother-sister pair, grieving for their late mother, a wild-child type young mother and a gay young man who attempted to pray the gay away.
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Deborah said on January 5, 2021 at 12:41 am
We’re back in Chicago, got here a few hours ago. The last few hours on the road were stressful. Fog and lots of trucks were not helpful. I couldn’t help drive because of my vision. But all is well, we’re back.
I had my eyes glued to my phone during the stressful driving conditions for my husband. I got caught up on all the Trump idiocy of late, I think. Wowza, things can’t get much worse, but I know they will.
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Dorothy said on January 5, 2021 at 7:58 am
I would never put myself through the aggravation of listening to 66 minutes of that phone call Trump had with Raffensperger. But I did scan through the transcript. Right off the bat I was laughing at the reference he made about why he was so sure he won. He said his rallies pre November 3 were averaging 20,000-30,000 people. Biden’s rallies? Maybe 100-200. Does that doofus think people were voting at the rallies?! I mean I know he doesn’t believe that – but he bases his assumptions on the dumbest shit. And this just reminds me all over again why it was so amazing that he was elected. We cannot allow him to even incrementally think he has a chance of running, and winning, in 2024.
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Kim said on January 5, 2021 at 8:59 am
Congratulations to Alan. This generation of journos has been on quite a ride.
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Bob (not Greene) said on January 5, 2021 at 9:23 am
I second Kim’s congrats to Alan on his retirement. The past three decades in the biz — and admittedly I’ve spent it almost exclusively at the small-town level — has been a rollercoaster to the point now of skeleton staffs, vacation benefits that have no meaning and a continual squeeze of the stone for more blood.
I dream of the day I can walk away.
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Deborah said on January 5, 2021 at 9:40 am
16 more days. I expect the worst from Trump in those days. Not that he’ll be successful in carrying out a coup, he won’t. But he’ll be throwing everything out there that he can including blatantly calling his base to resort to violence for him. It’s horrifying to think what could happen but I’m definitely expecting it.
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Bitter Scribe said on January 5, 2021 at 9:49 am
This bitter-ender stuff started out amusing. (Remember those “Sore Loserman” T-shirts in 2000? Hoo boy.) But now it’s getting annoying. What happens the next time there’s a close election, for example this week in Georgia? Will the Republicans screaming FRAUD FRAUD FRAUD CHEATING CHEATING have an effect next time?
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4dbirds said on January 5, 2021 at 12:14 pm
Congratulations on 20 years and on Alan’s retirement.
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Sherri said on January 5, 2021 at 2:10 pm
The only way to listen to the Trump tape.
https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1346518253502418944
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LAMary said on January 5, 2021 at 2:47 pm
Between the election fraud bullshit and the truly scary situation with the virus here in LA I feel like I should be living in a bunker. I turn 68 tomorrow. I don’t need this existential noise.
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Sherri said on January 5, 2021 at 3:27 pm
The GOP majority PA state senate is refusing to seat an elected Dem senator.
https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2021/01/jim-brewster-pennsylvania-senate-gop-refuse-to-seat-nicole-ziccarelli/
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Sherri said on January 5, 2021 at 3:42 pm
The latest in Harrisburg:
https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/spl/john-fetterman-pennsylvania-senate-removed-republicans-jim-brewster-20210105.html
It’s not just Trump. The GOP is an anti-democratic party which doesn’t believe anybody else has any rights. We’ve seen it in other states, where legislatures stripped powers from governors in lame duck sessions when Dems won.
At the rotten core is white supremacy, which is why there is no compromise with them, no meeting them halfway. The presidential election of Rutherford Hayes in1876 was a compromise with the reactionary right, when the reactionary right were Democrats, and it ended Reconstruction and began a century of terror known as Jim Crow.
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Dexter Friend said on January 5, 2021 at 6:19 pm
Personal whining: I TOLD everybody 2021 was going to be even worse…OK, anyway, for me , another stab at sanity: the furnace bonked out and my knowledge on that is like nil. So a rush-premium overtime call was issued and a man is on the job…had to go back to the shop for a blower vent w/motor. And I do not give a damn what it costs, I just want heat. Chances are this part will have to be special ordered, so it may be a cold night here at Chez Dexter. But I got a few space heaters…it ain’t the end of the world as I know it. Hey! The man just came back with the part I need. I LOVE 2021! 🙁 🙂
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on January 5, 2021 at 7:45 pm
Huzzah for the HVAC guy who found the right part. Keep that phone number handy, Dexter! He’s a keeper. Glad you got that covered, at least.
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FDChief said on January 5, 2021 at 8:16 pm
Test
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alex said on January 5, 2021 at 11:38 pm
Going beddy-bye.
Stayed up much later than I wanted to. The Georgia races are down to the last 130K votes to be counted — in heavily blue counties. Warnock leads and Ossoff’s about dead even. I think I can rest easy now.
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beb said on January 6, 2021 at 12:21 am
Dexter@36 – Our furnace went out about this time two years ago. Called a guy out and the guy said that thing had burned itself from the inside out. Had to replace the whole thing. We had been thinking of move but after that investment I thought, “not now.”
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Sherri said on January 6, 2021 at 2:16 am
I want to give a big shout out to the WNBA Players Association and especially the players on the Atlanta Dream. At the time they chose to take a stand against Dream owner Kelly Loeffler and back Raphael Warnock, Warnock was polling in the single digits.
Now, it looks like he’s going to be Senator Warnock.
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Dexter Friend said on January 6, 2021 at 2:47 am
Sherri: Fuckin’ A ! And right now at 2:42 AM Atlanta time, Ossoff is looking good, but with a re-count a possibility due to a slim margin.
beb, 9 years ago we had a Bard brand furnace do what yours did…the damn thing was shooting a flame out to the side, a real fire hazard. Basically, it had disintegrated the firewall, fer crissakes. Yeah, that hit me hard, had to put half the cost of a new Bryant furnace onto a credit card which took a few months to pay off. Always something. And I am toasty warm as the blower is working perfectly.
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David C said on January 6, 2021 at 5:45 am
We had furnace problems early this heating season. The furnace guys would come, fiddle around, get it going, say it might be the gas valve, and leave. We went through a couple of rounds of this and they they started talking about us replacing the furnace. So I ordered a valve, put it in myself and we’re good. They seemed more interested in selling a new furnace than fixing the one we had. Can’t blame them for trying, I guess.
Looks like both Ossoff and Warnock both won. Kamala’s going to be busy getting stuff done. I hope. Both DiFi and Manchin have said they won’t vote to get rid of the filibuster for legislation so while Mitch can’t mess with appointments he can still gum up everything else.
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Peter said on January 6, 2021 at 8:08 am
Oh, the schadenfreude I’m having today. I’m bringing popcorn to the rally; oh how our Leader will cry and gnash his little teeth and his little hands.
Sorry for the obscure reference, but in 2013 the Blackhawks were down 2-1 in game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals, and scored two goals in the last 75 seconds to win the cup. We were jumping around like Daffy Duck that night, and I’m jumping around like that right now.
My only complaint is that 500 MILLION were spent on ads for this election – isn’t this the media equivalent of carpet bombing every night? I thought there were restrictions on cruel and unusual punishment…
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alex said on January 6, 2021 at 8:09 am
Dex, our furnace took a shit last year and we didn’t even know it. We had a friend who’s a furnace tech check out my parents’ furnace because it’s old and my dad was going to replace it whether it needed to be or not. Our friend convinced him that the unit was perfectly fine and still has plenty of life left in it.
Then we had her do maintenance on our much newer furnace. She found that the heat exchanger was cracked and she had to condemn it.
Quite happy with the election results in Georgia! I hope that Stacy Abrams’ strategy finds its way into our state and all states where we live under one-party rule and feel helpless to do anything about it.
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David C said on January 6, 2021 at 8:40 am
If they don’t make Stacey Abrams head of the DNC they’re crazy AF (if she wants it, she may prefer to take another run at GA Governor).
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Mark P said on January 6, 2021 at 8:50 am
Peter, we were both so sick of campaign ads we wanted to shoot the TV. There might be five or six in a row. Or more. They bled into each other. The R’s ads were typically apocalyptic lies. Warnock’s ads were the only bright spot. I wanted to rewind and watch some of them.
The outcome is the best anyone could reasonably hope for. Biden’s win in Georgia was a relief but the runoff results really seem to show that something has changed in Georgia. There’s still a long way to go, but we’re on our way.
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