The autumn took the rest, but they won’t take me.
No, it’s not the last leaf on the tree. But it doesn’t have a lot of company.
A cold snap this week brought us a soupçon of snow and temps in the 20s, a superfluous reminder that mid-November is not always shorts weather, even in The Duck! City.
Speaking of truths that should be self-evident, The New York Times has a piece this morning explaining that calling elections rigged and their results fake probably isn’t the best way to drive your base to the polling place.
Casting doubt on the legitimacy of elections might be an effective tool for galvanizing true believers to participate in a primary — or, at its origins, to storm the U.S. Capitol in order to overturn a losing result. But it can be a lousy strategy when it comes to the paramount mission of any political campaign: to get the most votes.
“If you tell people that voting is hard, or voter fraud is rampant, or elections are rigged, it doesn’t make people more likely to participate,” said David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, a nonpartisan group that works with election officials to bolster trust and efficiency in voting. “Why would you want to play a game you thought was rigged?”
Plenty of people already think that their vote carries no weight, makes no difference. Maybe they’re blue voters in a red state — hey, been there, done that — or vice versa.
But when you make voting more difficult than it needs to be, tell the electorate that their ballots might get shitcanned to Area 51 by the Illuminati, and just generally waffle-stomp your own dingus into a thin paste, well … this doesn’t exactly encourage folks to take a seat at the table and ante up.
And if you don’t play, you can’t win.
On a related note, turnout might trend upward if some parties fielded candidates long on defensible policy and work ethic rather than screeching psycho knucklefuckers, pistol-packing “Red Dawn” wanna-bes, and vengeful bored man-babies.
Some movies you only need to watch once. Sequel not required.
Tags: Election Day 2022, midterms
Mad Blog Media 
November 15, 2022 at 11:36 am |
I have marginally confused relatives that have envisioned a reason for not voting in recent times. A funny thing considering that they have also made comments about election problems. It’s a damned shame that their political views partially flow in the direction of conservatism. I “forget” to discuss issues with them because I wouldn’t want to remind them about how voting and government sometimes go together.
Thank you for your very nice image. I appreciate your wonderful blue high desert sky.
On a slightly older news note, I was watching “All the President’s Men” last night and chuckled when there was a news clip in it where the crowd was chanting “four more years”. I was suddenly thinking of a future parole protest outside of the detention facility of the orange buffoon. The crowd was of course chanting “Four more years”. I thought it was an apt moment of humor.
November 15, 2022 at 1:15 pm |
Remember the old gag: “Don’t change Dicks in the middle of a screw — vote for Nixon in ’72?”
I watched “Time Bandits” for the umpteenth time last night. Early Terry Gilliam with two more Pythons; Sean Connery, Katherine Helmond, and a cast of thousands (well, dozens); and George Harrison’s money. I didn’t realize that Harrison’s closing song was a critique of the film (and of Gilliam).
November 15, 2022 at 1:13 pm |
I guess only democrats are smart enough to steal elections. So, if a republican wins, then it’s legit? Dumpster already lying about Arizona. When will someone just say, “Hey asshole, either put up your evidence or shut up.”
November 15, 2022 at 1:19 pm |
Yeah, this has always amused me too. Democrats are stupid, evil, and bent, incapable of managing the Nation’s affairs, yet they can queer an election with a wink and a nod.
As Charlie Pierce has observed, only a Repug victory is legit. Anything else is an offense against God and the Constitution.
November 15, 2022 at 4:43 pm |
Patrick, You forgot to remind us that the Democrats have taught the Elefinks how to do the circular firing squad routine. It is fun to watch McConnell, McCarthy and the mutts at Fox, Breitbart, et al. explain to the deniers that Herschel, Laxalt, and Lake were not choices rational, sane and semi-normal people make. I have doubts about the sanity of allowing the South to rejoin America. Maybe THE BORDER WALL, these idjits want should encompass the deep south with the proviso that if they clear the wall they should have the feet-dry policy we have toward the caribbean refugees. just a thought.
November 16, 2022 at 7:34 am |
Imagine if Dr. Frankenstein had had to face the press.
“Doctor, despite your assurances your monster is going around and about again, making a shambles. Do you have a plan for getting him under control?”
“Uh … next question.”
November 15, 2022 at 10:52 pm |
Zzzzzz…..if the Artemis countdown delay goes on much longer, I’ll read about what happened in the morning. Politics is a terminal shitshow, but can we even get a fucking bottle rocket off the ground after putting NASA’s manned space program on ice for half a century?
November 16, 2022 at 7:31 am |
The Old Grey Hoor had an interesting roundtable with a space writer, former astronaut, former NASA exec, and an astrobiologist. I came away with my suspicion confirmed: that this project is one-handed spit-on-the-ceiling on a grand (and very expensive) scale.
November 16, 2022 at 8:37 am |
Watched “Hidden Figures” for the second time yesterday. I highly recommend it if you haven’t yet seen it. Maybe we need more rule breakers in NASA. “We all pee the same color in NASA.”
November 16, 2022 at 8:56 am |
NASA reminds me of Hollywood — instead of making new movies they release “director’s cuts” of the same old flicks (“Apocalypse Now,” “Blade Runner”) and/or endless franchise horseshit (Marvel, DC, GoT, LotR, etc.).
Or maybe it’s The Beatles, who have been disbanded and 50 percent dead for ages now. Yet they somehow manage to release “expanded reissues” of the same old songs.
So I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that NASA is back to launching giant-ass rockets to slingshot empty capsules around the moon. Fuck me running. We should have had a functional base up there for decades and be making regular visits to Mars and Venus in craft assembled in space, where you don’t have to fight Earth’s gravity to get out of first gear.
November 16, 2022 at 9:37 am |
Well, problem is we, as in US, can’t do it alone. The ISS was a perfect start to launching shit to space from space. But, nationalistic asshole stopped that. Don’t know who said it, but “live in the past, die in the past.”
November 16, 2022 at 9:41 am |
Yes, an expensive firework show it is. I tuned in and watched the thankfully uneventful launch. I thought it a bit humorous when the launch director was going to give a celebratory speech post-launch and her mic didn’t work. There was a few moments of “NASA organization” at work straightening the small problem out.
Regarding old ideas and remakes, did anybody else see the AARP sticker on the rocket booster body during launch or was it just me.
November 16, 2022 at 11:04 am |
I was just worried about the O rings.
November 16, 2022 at 2:23 pm |
Yes, but fortunately the launch temp was a little warmer than that cold morning in what was it, 1986?, and of course, I can’t imagine launch vehicles utilize the same design as that on the shuttle main booster.
November 16, 2022 at 9:47 am |
The twitter rumor has it that Miley Cyrus is going to make a surprise emergence from the Orion capsule later today and do a performance untethered. Something about NASA TV wanting to get more interest in the mission.
November 16, 2022 at 5:12 am |
As Dave Barry might say, “Screeching Psycho Knucklefuckers” sounds like a great name for a band.
November 16, 2022 at 7:36 am |
“Vengeful Bored Man-Babies” isn’t bad either. Maybe a little emo. …
November 16, 2022 at 11:03 am |
My guitar buddy and I thought about calling ourselves the Mohs Bros. Nah.
November 16, 2022 at 2:25 pm |
Or perhaps “We Ain’t Gonna Have the Mohs No Mos Bros”.