Day 280…
Winter starts officially on Monday, but this morning seems to be heralding its early arrival. The temperature here is 30 degrees (-1C) and the heavy grey sky seems ominously still.
A nor’easter is a non-tropical cyclone whose winds come in from the northeast. They typically form when cold arctic air meets up with the somewhat warmer air over the Atlantic Ocean. The northeast coast of the US is where they tend to strike but they can also plow into the Atlantic maritime provinces of Canada.
The one that is heading our way is currently dumping a lot of rain on my sister in North Carolina. As it continues to move north that is almost certainly going to change to snow. The temperature is above freezing down there but below it up here.
It took over half the day, but the President finally tweeted a response to the Senate Majority Leader after he broke ranks and congratulated the President-elect on his election victory.
“Mitch, 75,000,000 VOTES, a record for a sitting President (by a lot). Too soon to give up. Republican Party must finally learn to fight. People are angry!”
The Senator has his eye on the Georgia election. He is going to lose the power and clout that he currently has if the Democrats win.
The Republicans are becoming more and more divided over whether to continue supporting the President or to concede that they lost the election. The Senator in question is betting that he has a better chance of holding onto his power without the President than he does with the support the President-elect.
It is a bet, not a sure thing. If he is wrong and his colleagues continue to throw their support behind the President, then he could end up by himself out in the cold.
There is word this morning that a bipartisan effort to pass some sort of stimulus deal is actually moving forward. There is pressure on them to pass something before Friday evening. If they don’t then the Government will be forced into a shut-down.
Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the second ranking member of the Senate told reporters this morning that they are considering direct payments worth between $600 and $700 dollars. There is likely to be an additional federal unemployment benefit of $300. These benefits would probably expire at the end of March which would put pressure on the incoming Administration to get a new, more comprehensive package passed quickly.
What would not be included in this new package is aid for states and cities. I am not at all clear what that would mean for states’ regular unemployment benefits. The 20-week extension of those benefits is due to expire here in New York in two weeks on the 27th of December. Wherever anyone happens to be within that 20-week additional payment schedule, we are all going to lose those payments after two more of them unless there is an additional extension.
Not only do both sides need to agree on what this interim package will look like, but the President then has to agree to it as well. It will be interesting to see how the Senate Majority Leader’s new stance on the election results effects the President’s willingness to legislate.
While the President digs in his heels and rails into the storm to feed his deluded base, the President-elect made an announcement this morning that I never dared to believe would happen in my lifetime.
Joe Biden presented his choice for Transportation Secretary to the nation.
Pete Buttigieg is not only the youngest person ever nominated to a cabinet position, but also the first openly gay person put forward.
The fact that both the President-elect and the Vice-President-elect talked in such glowing terms about both their nominee for the position as well as his HUSBAND was, frankly, mind-blowing in the best possible way.
Growing up, we heard nothing like that. Ever. From anyone.
Because of the social and cultural stigma still attached to it, it’s very hard to tell what percentage of our population is gay. While a Gallup poll last year found that most Americans BELIEVE that over 20% of the population is homosexual, another poll puts the actual figure at closer to 5%. That means that there are at least over 16 million gay Americans in this country.
This morning Pete Buttigieg, speaking to the nation, spoke about how important transportation has been in his life. He told a story about proposing marriage to his husband in an airport.
Young Me never heard somebody in his position ever tell a story like that publicly.
EVER.
In 1999, then President Clinton announced that his choice for the vacant position of Ambassador to Luxemburg was James Hormell.
Five years before, Clinton had considered him as the Ambassador to Fiji, but the Fijian government objected because Hormell was gay. In Fiji, at the time, homosexual acts were punishable by prison sentences. So, he, instead, named Hormell to the UN’s Human Rights Commission.
When the position in Luxemburg opened up, the government of Luxemburg indicated their willingness for James Hormell to step in. Republican Senators under the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi, however, objected and stalled.
President Clinton took advantage of being able to make a recess appointment, bypassing the Senate, and James Hormell became the first openly gay US Ambassador.
It remains to be seen what happens during the Senate confirmation hearings next year, but regardless of what happens, today the world changed a bit.
For young LGBTQ people, seeing that kind of total acceptance from the highest elected officials in the country might not seem so remarkable. For anyone older, however, it is almost unbelievable. There were a lot of happy tears in our home this morning.
Mayor Pete, in addition to being the first LGBTQ nominee to the Cabinet, is also the first Millennial. He is the ninth person that the President-elect has announced for a leadership position that has broken some sort of a barrier.
We are moving forward. We need to leave these so-called Republicans behind.
There is a genuine need for a conservative point of view in this country. To fully represent the people of this nation, there needs to be an exchange of ideas and debate been contrasting viewpoints.
The Republican Party, however, has lost track of that. They just want to win even if it means throwing out the entire structure of our nation’s government to do it. They have allowed themselves to become irrevocably tainted by this President who is determined to win by any means necessary. They have lost track of the basic fundamental ideals that the party of Lincoln used to stand for. All they are doing is enabling a narcissistic, vindictive, and petty man live out a fantasy of his own creation.
By all accounts, the President is likely to splinter off from the GOP and leave them behind. Whatever happens after this next month, he is already signaling that he is going to set up a base of his own. In these last days, he is turning on his former allies and reaching ever lower into his base for the support that he craves.
When he’s gone, what will be left behind in the GOP?
The Senate Majority Leader standing up to the President at this late date is far too little and far too late.
The person I have worried about for years is Paul Ryan who was the Speaker of the House when the President came to power. He decided not to run again half-way through the term. After supporting the President at the beginning, he then pulled away. He has been dead quiet ever since. I am convinced that, seeing what was coming, he did that to separate himself from what was ahead.
What will be left of the party after the President makes his very messy exit, will be rubble. They will need to rebuild. Without a leader, the Ted Cruzes and Lindsay Grahams will be unable to function on their own.
It will be a perfect opportunity for Ryan to step in as the Party’s savior. I do not believe that we have seen the last of him.
This morning, Michael finally figured out that I had turned off all of the radiators while he was gone. To be fair, even I will admit it is pretty cold in here.
Facebook ads lured me into buying a long almost robe-like acrylic sweater for exactly this kind of day. It is finally chilly enough for me to wear it inside. I will concede that we should probably turn on at least one of the radiators before it gets any colder.
The snow hasn’t started yet, but it’s just about to. We are going to go out and get enough fresh food to get us through the next two days just in case. Yesterday would have been a smarter time to do it, but the time got away from us.
The wind is picking up. The trees are moving outside and it’s rattling the windows as it whips past our building.
For those who end up having to shovel snow, be careful. A great advantage of living up on the fifth floor is that we never have to worry about that.
Keep warm and keep safe.
❤️feel like I am sitting front row center awaiting curtain at a matinee performance...sold out to a full house.... The COVID Snow Blizzard....all star cast