My 18th Annual Thanks/No Thanks List

 As I do every year in the fourth week of November, I pause from the 24-hour news cycle and get introspective. Largely because its overlooked and there's no annoying music, I suppose Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Regardless, I'll try to keep this short and sweet. 

Thanks: I'm on another long-term sub assignment! My third in 13 months, and with the same group of students. I feel like behavior issues have increased, but I appreciate the steady work. I'm also grateful to be in a good district with some support. Beyond that, I'm thankful that our 45th president's sway in the GOP is on the decline. 

No Thanks: the lack of common sense gun control, inflation, lingering supply chain issues, and transmission repairs. You know, the usual crap.

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The 50.5% Solution

Any projection of GOP "red wave" in this year's midterms was exaggerated, or like many GOP claims, baseless. That's not denying that they made a ripple; both houses of Congress were a toss-up several days after the election, and it looks like the Republicans will take a narrow majority of House of Representatives.  On the other hand, the US Senate is secured for the Democrats... for now.

Speaking of narrow, the record number of races with margins under 1% is concerning, especially with some of the candidates that lost narrowly. A fair number of Republican candidates that received approximately 49% of the popular vote (or slightly less) ran on the Big Lie or received wholehearted endorsements from ex-President Trump. At least one losing candidate was actually at the failed Capital siege in January 2021. 

That's not to say this was a banner year for Democrats. If the GOP had its share of rotten eggs, the Dems are heavy on stale bread. A fair number of liberal candidates were elected because the Trump-backed Republicans were either inept or just unpalatable.  Age remains an issue; I've discussed Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden's age in the past, but 89-year-old Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) was just elected to an eighth term. At least we have our first Gen-Z congressman. 

In the end, it all breaks down to the race that garnered the most media attention: the ugly U.S. Senate race between Rev. Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker in Georgia. Neither nabbed 50% of the vote (shades of 2020), and the difference between them was literally in the triple figures, so a run-off will be held in early December. Stacey Abrams is both the reason why a deep south state is suddenly purple and the state's sacrificial lamb, having lost twice to a former Secretary of State that conveniently altered election rules in his favor. Sadly, there's still a possibility the mealy-mouthed Walker can still beat Warnock. 

Next Week: my 18th annual thanks/no thanks list.

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Remember, Remember, The 8th of November

 Election Day is tomorrow. This is my ninth election cycle since I started this blog, and I feel like with each passing decision the stakes have risen. I've grown to resent how the first midterm of a president is an early moratorium on the sitting president; that has taken an uneasy turn, as a president as uniquely vulnerable as Joe Biden could be handcuffed by a GOP that has descended into pseudo-fascism and cult of personality. 

Misinformation has always had a home in American politics. Even before the internet, lies and slander were ingredients in the average candidate's word salad. Now we have dueling echo chambers, with the GOP's arguably being the loudest and more shrill of the two. The events of 1/6 should have been reckoning, a moment of crisis for Republicans at every level; instead, 1/6 "attendees" are running for office, and the majority of GOP candidates think the 2020 election was stolen without any proof. It's saddening and appalling, but the seeds of this were planted over a decade ago with the Tea Party. 

My message remains the same: vote. I beg of you, vote. Your decision in the booth makes an impact. Do your part as an American citizen, and afterwards if all else fails, hope for the best.

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