“A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation.”
Today is a lovely fall day. The air is still. Sun and blue sky are here for the meantime as clouds are predicted for later, but outside is so bright right now that even the brown leaves left on the trees are glistening in the sunlight. It is in the mid-60’s and will stay there most of the day. I was out on the deck earlier. I didn’t even need my sweatshirt.
This morning as I was waiting for my bread to toast I got to wondering. Why do we toast bread for breakfast? Who decided that untoasted bread is not for mornings? I’m sure somewhere on line people have speculated, but I’m not going to look. I like a little mystery.
I remember the first time I voted. I was a senior in college. It was 1968. I had turned twenty-one during the summer, and I had registered to vote right away. I followed the campaigns of both Nixon and Humphrey, but I knew for whom I would cast my vote. My candidate lost. In 1972, my next candidate also lost. I was on a roll, downhill.
During my junior year in college, I used to get up in the early hours on Fridays and go to the wholesale fruit market. I picketed for the grape workers. I remember walking the line one Friday in the rain. I was soaked. A man waiting in his car opened his window and waved at me. I went over. He handed me a rain bonnet, the sort my grandmother wore, and told me to put it on. He said he had a daughter my age.
In the fall of 1968, I went to a George Wallace political rally on Boston Common. I was with 20,000 of my closest friends. To say the crowd was unfriendly is almost polite. He raged against liberals. He said the only four letter words hippies didn’t know were work and soap. “They’re building a bridge over the Potomac for all the white liberals fleeing to Virginia,” was one of his memorable quotes.
I will be watching the results though I know some states will take a few days to tabulate ballots; regardless, I’m doing my best. I’ll have my fingers crossed, I’ll knock on wood and throw salt over my shoulder.
keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
November 5, 2024 at 1:57 pm
Good luck dear Americans!
Will watch TV until I’m too tired, first state results after midnight I think…
I forgot to buy American food for dinner tonight so popcorn and beer will do.
November 5, 2024 at 4:10 pm
Thank you, Birgit. I will be glued to the TV. I know some results will take a few days as some battleground states don’t count mail in ballots until Election Day.
November 5, 2024 at 2:21 pm
And now we wait. MI is a swing State so I guess we have a lot to say.
Perhaps this evening the never ending bombardment of hate ads will finally end and we can start to think about the next four years.
November 5, 2024 at 4:12 pm
My Dear Hedley,
I am nervous, just as I was in 2020. The wait will seem endless. Huge numbers of voters usually help democrats. I hope that remains true.
November 5, 2024 at 2:37 pm
Hi Kat,
This morning was cloudy and drizzly, but by noon the sky is clear and the sun is shining brightly. Today is cool with a high temperature predicted of only 67°.
I wondered the same thing about toast. My guess is that before manufactured bread was available, the bread from the previous day was hard and dry from sitting overnight. By toasting it in the morning made it taste more palatable.
You and I voted in that same election and voted for Humphrey. Sadly, we had a string of losses except for Carter. Now it came out that Reagan’s people made a deal with the Iranians to release the hostages right before the election, which doomed Carter’s reelection.
Carter was the most intelligent President we ever had. Being an officer in Hyman Rickover’s nuclear navy was a difficult and arduous experience. Hopefully, he will survive to see the happy result of the voting today, the election of the first woman president of the United States.
I fear that if she wins, Trump will begin his renewal of the big lie about voter fraud. He’s already said that if he wins the election was fair and if he loses it was rigged. This might lead to violence on the part of the MAGA nuts, most of whom are armed to the teeth. Or, it could lead to the Supreme Court interfering to elevate him as the winner. I will also keep my fingers crossed, knock on wood, and throw a box of salt over my shoulder. 🙂
November 5, 2024 at 4:19 pm
Hi Bob,
We are at 63° as it is getting dark. It was a warm day. It was the kind of day which brings out the voters.
That is as good a reason for toast as any. I don’t toast my sandwich bread but BLT’s and club sandwiches have to be toasted.
Carter never got his due. He was far better than depicted. He is also the best former president we have ever had and probably ever will have. He is a good man. I also hope he will see the first woman president.
The Supreme Court dismissed all the suits relative to his really having won in 2020 so I can’t see them interfering in this election which is even safer and more secure than the last. I do expect he will call this rigged if he loses. I also expect uprisings in some places spurred on by Trump’s rhetoric.
November 5, 2024 at 6:04 pm
I just read an interesting article which proposes that Trump may win the popular vote but lose the electoral college vote. That’s what happened to Hillary Clinton in 2016, and to Al Gore in 2000. The Republicans have usually defended the electoral college in the past. This situation might change their minds.
The new Supreme Court, has an ultra right wing conservative majority that it didn’t have in 2020. That was thanks to Trump. They may affect the outcome. We will have to wait and see.
November 6, 2024 at 12:48 am
Bob,
We are, I believe, the only country which uses an electoral college. All others rely on the popular vote. It is time we did the same.
Trump put the three most conservative judges on the court: Gursuch in 2017, Kavanaugh in 2018 and Barrett in October of 2020.