The Burrow

The Twitterverse kept me up to date on the world's reaction to the charming boring moron and the angry boring moron representing the former social media personality who lives in Florida in front of what the boring one called a diverse group  of Senators. Castor, the charming one, supposedly changed his presentation on the fly because the prosecution's opening was so powerful.  What did they think was coming their way?   Schoen, the angry one, is a religious Jew.  He observes the Sabbath.   This is only important because, while standing at the podium in the well of the Senate, he seemed to be holding his comb-over in place with one hand as he tipped his head waaaay back to drink from his water bottle with the other. It was an odd moment.  The guy barely stops to breathe.  He's hard to follow.  Everything is said in the same harsh tone.  And then he's hanging onto his brains as he exposes his neck and, silently, sips. And then it ...

It's been four full years since he started talking about American carnage.   That's all it took to bring our democracy perilously close to its knees.  Members of Congress did not vote to certify the election of the next President of the United States.  One of those votes they wanted to discount was mine.   I take umbrage with this.   I've always been willing to do some of the heavy lifting required to maintain our democratic norms.  I've protested and voted and written and recruited and advocated and made my presence and my opinions known.  Nobody elected by someone in Nebraska has the right to say that my vote does not matter.  I've done the work (and even if I hadn't); I get to speak  Of course, by saying that I am assuming that we are dealing with the same set of facts.  Living here in the real world, I often forget that there are a disturbingly large number of individuals who barely believe that the earth is round....

I feel marginally safer right now, although the country still feels like it's going to hell in a handbasket.  Order was restored, the people's business is receiving attention, and it looks as if the information that was provided to those who were responsible for the safety of Congress was accurate and timely. Why there was such a lapse between insurrection and control remains an open issue.  So many balls were dropped.  So many calls were not taken.  So many helping hands were refused.  It will take a while to sort it all out, but I have confidence that the work will get done. Why? Because now that the shooting has stopped what's left is the fear, and fear is a great motivator.   Staffs are threatening mass resignations if something is not done - and that something includes voting to impeach the instigator in chief. There are 10 Republican members of the House of Representatives who voted with all the Democrats.  Only 10.  Of the rest, many s...

There's nothing I can say that you don't expect me to say. I need to vent and this is my forum so I'll apologize in advance if this is old news or the same-old-same-old.  It's weighing on my chest and my brain and my heart.  I have to get it out There are conspirators amongst our elected officials, giving tours to terrorists. Two impeachments in one term, both foreign and domestic, just like the enemies he was sworn to protect us from..... and don't get me started on the virus, which has slipped from our consciousness as the numbers rise and vaccine distribution remains a mystery to all but a privileged few... and they don't seem to want to share. I could go on, but why?  I feel better having typed just that much. I'd really like to post about the unexpected bounty of late season tomatoes off a plant that's three years old, some popped warm from the sun into my mouth, the rest nestled comfortably in the pocket of the softest sweater I've ever owned. ...

In the early 2000's Big Cuter walked down the Capitol steps, fuming.  He phoned home from those steps, bemoaning the fact that his interview in the office of  Republican Representative Darryl Issa had devolved into a  How could you have worked for this radical leftist last summer  (San Francisco Supervisor Mark Leno) rather than an exploration of what he could offer this man's constituents.  He went in for a job interview and found himself skewered on the spit of partisan politics.  It was surprising, odd, out of the ordinary, not at all what he (or his parents or the mutual friend who arranged the meeting) thought would happen.   "He didn't listen, Mom.  He just kept shoving more and more paper in front of me, trying to prove his point." We didn't recognize it then, but in retrospect it seems like a very early and very clear sign of the American divide.  I'm right, you're wrong, and there's nothing we can gain by sharing a space. ...

I started out scared, went through fury, and now I'm just sad.  Anybody else out there feeling that way, too?   It's hard to tell from the talking heads or the letters to the editor or the articles online and in the paper (yes, the hard copy, newsprint all over my fingers, actual newspaper.  I'll do anything I can to support local journalism.). I see "leaders" inciting violence and no armed, shielded, baton wielding law enforcement officers holding them in place.  I see one Capitol policeman luring a mob of white guys up the stairs and away from the open door to the Senate floor and I cry.... for his bravery, for his quick thinking, and for the sheer awfulness of these thugs roaming the people's halls. For they are our halls.  They embody everything that's wonderful about this country, everything that my parents drilled into my head with almost yearly visits to DC, to our Senator's office (so Daddooooo could thank Mr. D'Amato for the skating rink a...

Jan 10, 2021 (the weekend after the Capitol was breached) It's important that you know how it feels to be alive right now, in the midst of an insurrection, the first battle of which was fought in our Capitol - inside the actual building - on January 6, 2021.   Right now, domestic terrorists are mobilizing for another battle on January 17th, and another on Inauguration Day, January 20th. Why, you may wonder, would the insurgents announce their plans in advance?  It seems kind of silly.  If the people in charge know you are coming, won't they be prepared to rebuff you, to repel you, to arrest and imprison you for violating the laws of the land?  But these terrorists knew that the main man in charge was on their side.  They could see no security presence, the way BLM marchers saw it when a photo op seemed the correct response to a nation in pain. They were unprepared.  They were absent.  I couldn't understand it. I kept saying,  "Where are the p...

I am unprepared for the full onslaught of Trump-is-the-President angst I thought I'd put behind me.  I was used to breathing freely, confident that change was possible.  With control of the Senate, real progress was on the horizon. I was a happy girl. ***** I can't believe it took anyone this long to realize that he's not going to get any better, that as the time comes for that-which-is-untenable-for-his-brain-to-comprehend, he will explode or implode and the rest of us will pay the price for a long long time. ***** Susan Collins was right - he learned the same lesson from his impeachment that he learned every time Daddy bailed him out, or he sued his foes into submission.  There are no consequences when you are Donald J Trump.   ***** Cabinet members are resigning and leaving us with this mess.   Invoke the 25th Amendment and then walk away,  if you think that meaningless gesture will do anything to polish your reputation. ***** I woke TBG up wit...

Georgia has two Democratic Senators, one of whom sets a new bar for nice, Jewish boys.  Queen T had a good thing happen at work.  Virtual Garden Club with the 5th grade was a rousing success. TBG and I settled down to watch the Joint Session of Congress do the people's business. And then all hell broke loose. Nothing I wrote yesterday seems relevant. My memories, my clean closets, by generalized angst are small change compared to what streamed across my television screen all day.   My plaintive "Where are the police?" was met with my son's "C'mon, Mom, these are white people." I've been scared all day.  My house has never been cleaner..... it was the only thing I could think to do with myself as I watched and listened and fretted and ranted. I felt less anxious when the Senate and the House announced that they would convene tonight.  I relaxed even further when the Leaders said they would stay all night and finish the people's business. I felt a ...

My junior Senator was sworn in yesterday.  Standing by his side was his wife, my former Representative.  It was a happy moment, a deeply personal moment, a step in the right direction at a time when the whole thing seems to be going off the rails. Plus there was my senior Senator's purple wig, worn in solidarity with those women who are staying home, away from salons, and are reluctant to show their un-dyed selves in public.  She's been wearing various colored wigs on the Senate floor since Pandemica began.   Two Democratic Senators from Arizona.  One's a friend and one is delightfully weird.  Both have the best interests of our state at heart..  They may be a bit too conservative for my wish list, but I'm not letting perfect get in the way of what I have right here and now.  That's being an adult.  That's democracy.  It's not exactly what I want it to be, but it's what we've got and what we have to work with.  I'll still be wr...

On some level, I suppose it's not his fault.  On some level, this is a tragic opera playing out in 3 acts - running, Presidenting, the aftermath. He can't help himself.  His father ruined him and his mother didn't intervene.  Read Mary Trump's analysis of his psychology if you want to see it play out.  He watched his older brother crumble under the strain.  He would survive. If there is a positive piece of his character it is that will to survive. But underneath, he has no substance.  Winning is the only thing.  There's no love, unless it's salacious (cf how he can't keep his hands off Ivanka).  There is no empathy, because there is no one who matters except himself. There is no honesty, because reality cannot compete with the horror of loss. And so, the current incumbent is making plans to break America.   It's because his brain is breaking, unable to conceive of losing, of disappointing his father, of not living up to his gold-plated s...

November 22nd..... November 23rd.... November 24th and 25th and the rest of what would have been Thanksgiving but instead was filled with mourning. President and Mrs. Kennedy deplaned in the morning and were covered in blood by the afternoon.  Little kids were happy that school was cancelled; the rest of the world was stunned.  It was dreary and cold and nobody's parents wanted to drive anywhere fun.   The black and white images on the television felt oddly appropriate; bright colors would have interefered with the sadness.   And there was so much sadness. I knew little of The Bay of Pigs or our initial forays into Vietnam.  I knew that the President was elegant and handsome and smart because he went to Harvard.  I knew he was brave because I read PT-109 and I believed every single word of it.  I knew he saved us from nuclear destruction by Russia, via Cuba.  I knew he loved America and would work to keep me safe. This is the book; I rem...

I've been reacting to the temper tantrum being thrown by the current occupant of the White House the way I reacted to my own children's' temper tantrums. But ignoring it is not all there is to do. A friend culled all the ways that you can help Turn The Senate Blue, and I feel the need to pass it along here. I have sent my $3 where I thought it would do the most good. TBG did the same. I don't answer the GOTV calls myself, so I won't make them. But postcards and letters are fun to do, and I've done lots. Stay safe this weekend. Wear your mask. Stay home. Write some postcards. ******* Georgia is hosting elections both in its regularly scheduled Senate race and in a special election for its other Senate seat due to a resignation last year.   Democrat Jon Ossoff will face off against Republican Sen. David Perdue. (Perdue needs to go and keep going) In the Special election, Democrat Raphael Warnock will face off against Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler. DONATIO...

 I'm having trouble with words.  I have been scouring my brain for synonyms - joy is being grossly over used. So I'm sharing pictures today because my brain is on a steady repeat of Happy Happy Joy Joy.   I'd forgotten what it felt like to smile without the nagging thought of the orange menace in the back of my mind.  Now, I can watch the hummingbird baby and grown up play tag between the crepe myrtles.... and there's nothing nudging me.  Nothing at all. Firstl, look at this one of Kamala Harris and Ruby Bridges.  We are all the product of those who came before. And there's this one, which stopped me in my no-longer-doom-scrolling-so-what-should-I-call-it for several minutes.  That's a lot of white men. And then, there's this, what I saw as I drove home with bagels and the brand new good news plastered on my face.  The road to the future looks brighter, has fewer obstacles, is clearer and more focused than it has in a very very very long time...

FlapJilly announced with great glee that she was staying up until 8 o'clock.  Her parents have shielded her from much information about the bad orange man , but she's in first grade now and she needs to be informed, so, bedtime be damned. ***** When Kamala told little girls Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it cannot be  the tears streaming down my face got wetter (which I did not think was possible) as I imagined the impact those words might be having on my own little girl, 6 states away. Her mom caught her clapping at that moment.   We were together, though only our spirits were aware of it at the time.   ***** Today, her face nearly exploded through the Facetime video. Dressed to the nines for Josh's Zoom birthday party, her eyes as wide as they've ever been, she could not contain her joy, delight, surprise, gob-smacked-ness.     Can you believe it?!? She was talking right to kids!!!!!!! ***** And, obviously, the kids were list...

Amidst the general and the local and the in-between, there are the Propositions.  In Pima County, we had two of them. One was a technical change to the language which funds our community college system.  It cost nothing.  It needed to be updated to meet 21st century needs.  It passed handily. The other was Prop. 207.  It passed, too. The implications showed up in my Neighborhood Facebook Women's Group.  Alongside the posts seeking the best New York style pizza or a master cake decorator was this: Anyone have a good recommendation for someone who knows how to cultivate marijuana plants? I will of course be waiting till all legal proceedings are finalized, but I'd definitely like to be first in line for a consultation. Interested in planting in my backyard whatever I am legally allowed. As of this writing, there are 29 comments, referring her to garden groups with the sub-threads she's seeking, offering personal experiences, sharing photos. As Mary McCarthy w...

I knew in my head that it would take all week.  I had no idea how hard it would be in my heart.  TBG has been relentlessly upbeat all day, and that has helped.  My superstitious (or maybe not super but more medium -stitious) self feels that I ought to maintain my vigilant attitude, because if I stop worrying who knows what will happen????? But it's bedtime and I really need to sleep tonight. Arizona is making me smile.  In Georgia, John Ossof is picking away at Senator Perdue, one tenth of a percent at a time.  That's what I'll take with me when I lay my head on the pillow tonight.   I hope today was easier for you than it was for me. 

I have What to Expect on Election Night  podcasting on my phone, which is sitting on my desk next to Lenore the Lenovo.  I'm trying to distract myself by writing this post, but my brain is on a one lane, no u-turn road. My dreams have been incredibly vivid and confusing and sticking with me through the morning.  I'm trying to convince my stomach to accept food.  The hard boiled egg with horseradish aioli is talking back to me.  I don't think it's the egg.  I think it's the election. I listened to the 538 podcast culling the results of the final, before the election, polls.  They started out by saying that Biden has a 90% chance of winning, Dems have a 76% chance of taking the Senate, and there's a 94% chance that Dems will retain control of the House.  That was one sentence.  They spent the next 29 minutes making me nervous about those stats. What to Expect  just told me that very few concerns have been raised by callers to their HelpLin...

I watched the first one, where, as one focus group member said, our President acted like a deranged crackhead .   I flipped my eyes over to TBG watching Joe answer questions on the big screen while I watched Savannah Guthrie scold our President on my phone as I made dinner.  Every giggle from me led to an explanation for my sweetie on the couch.  All the best moments were replayed later for his amusement, but it was fun to share. And so tonight we have a debate with a mute button and a strong, female moderator.  Our President is in full melt down mode as he's holding superspreader events all over the country. Joe Biden sent his best surrogate to a parking lot in Philadelphia while he holed up for debate prep. Our President doesn't need to prepare. His aides, looking for post-debacle employment, are heard cautioning him to be measured and stick to the script.  That, of course, would take some preparation, if not a character transplant.  It's unnecessary...

We drove to the public library to vote today. Not the one around the corner, the one where we've voted in the past, where I've met my friends serving as poll watchers, where I signed my name just below TBG's and walked to the booth with my ballot in hand. I'd smile as I deposited the paper into the slot, nodding thanks to the worker who handed me my I VOTED IN PIMA COUNTY sticker. Nope, not that one at all. Instead, we put on our shoes and drove 5 miles north, turned right onto Naranja..... and TBG came to a quick and unexpected stop.  There was a line.  A car line, moving slowly, steadily down the hill then turning into the driveway and going up the hill, through the parking lot, and around to the front door.   There were smiles.  There were thumbs up .  There were masks and thank yous and a paper reminder of how and where to track my ballot.  TBG pulled into a space so that I could return my library books (any deposit box in the system is fine) an...