Forward

As of Jan. 2025, here is the final vote for President.  I highlight the Kamala Harris vote as Harris and Walz were my preference.   I am only a single voter, but over 75,000,000 others voted as I did.  Individually we lack strength; working together in various ways we are strong.

January 20 is inauguration day.  I am not sure of my writing schedule, but at this moment, I want to offer access to a review of the recent past, and some simple suggestions for the future.  Most likely my inauguration post will be January 18.  It will be a recollection about trading conflict for cooperation.

In the days remaining in January I hope to offer some brief data points which may be useful to you as a citizen.  Just check in once in awhile to see if there is something new.  There is a “weather forecast” of how the incoming administration will act, but until it actually hits we won’t know what the “weather” will actually be.

In the interim, know, especially, who your local Congressperson is and his or her contact information.  Ditto for your U.S. Senators, state Senator and  Governor.

Get to know those who represent you, and communicate respectfully – as you would like to be treated.  Remember, you are not their only constituent.  For example, your congressperson represents about 700,000 citizens including you.  For good or ill, the U.S. Congress is, and state legislatures are, “we, the people”. They are “us”, not “them”.

Know who all of the other elected representatives represent you and their contact information.  Voters are the boss, and also ultimately accountable for their choice.

Attend at least one local meeting, such as City Council, of school board, if for no other reason to see who your representatives are, and how government works.

Be extremely vigilant about mis- and dis-information and be very cautious about what information you pass along to others.  Disinformation is a major crisis in our country, and we have good reason to  expect it will get worse.  If something is too good (or bad) to be true, it probably isn’t true.  If the reporter is known to be dishonest, the safest course is to believe nothing at face value.  This is a matter of common sense.  [The January 13, 2024, Weekly Sift is well worth your time.  I recommend subscribing to this.]

So long as I am able, I plan to continue these blogs, which are frequent and on assorted topics.  Regular visitors know me, some from long experience.  If you’re new, check me out.  I’ll add you to a subscriber list if you request.

Here are links to my last two months posts, most recent first, including if applicable the number of comments (in parens).  I find the comments very interesting and informative and look forward to them:  Jan. 11, The Felon; Jan. 9, Farewell, Jimmy Carter (8); Jan. 8, Pacific Palisades (9); Jan. 6 Politics (8); Jan 4 Larry Long; Jan. 3 Politics (3); Dec. 29 Jimmy Carter (7); Dec. 30 Bob Dylan “A Complete Unknown” (15); Dec 25 “Away in the Manger” (9); Dec 12, A House Divided (7); Dec. 9 Syria and the rest (5)

Next planned post: January 18, 2025.

COMMENTS (more at end of post):

7 replies
  1. norm hanson
    norm hanson says:

    In an Electoral College and non-contest landslide, the voters have made it very clear that they want to have a convicted felon confirmed liar and a five-time draft dodger as the authoritarian POTUS. Nothing more and nothing less than that! Interestingly, some of the people who voted for the man child who would be king are already beginning to complain that the convicted felon is already backtracking on some of his major campaign promises like cutting inflation and ending the war in the Ukraine in one day. It remains so hard for me to understand why so many voters actually believed that he could do that assuming that is why they voted for him.

    Reply
  2. Larry Gauper
    Larry Gauper says:

    Very informative email, particularly on the numbers from the 2024 Presidential election. Appreciate having those stats, Dick. So close in popular vote, yet Trump won because so many did not realize what they were voting for and what they will have to deal with over the next four years. Good advice from you on communicating with our Congressional delegation. Our Senators and one Representative (North Dakota) have no spine in standing up to Mr. Trump, which will be called for over his second (and hopefully, last) term. They need to raise some hell on his stupid ideas and appointments. But they won’t. As Roosevelt said of McKinley: “He (they) shows all the backbone of a chocolate eclair.” All that most former Presidents could do at the Carter funeral is “shun” him. ‘Course, that was not the place for a political brawl. But when he moves into the Oval Office it will be hard to ignore him. We must count on Congress and, perhaps, the Supreme Court to protect us. But that’s like having a couple of pussycats guarding us from a vicious grizzly bear (my poorly constructed metaphor).

    Reply
    • norm hanson
      norm hanson says:

      I do not think that we can assume that the voters did not know who or what they were voting for even though I no doubt used to think that way many years ago as well. Democracy assumes that it is supported by an informed electorate and, as such, we have to assume that voters are informed about and know who and what they are voting for. It seems to me that to for us to think that they are uninformed and do not know who or what they are voting for is a bit presumptuous on our part and perhaps a bid condescending as well. Doing that implies that we and only we really know who and what we were voting for.

      Reply
  3. Patsy
    Patsy says:

    Thank you, Dick, for the facts, the recommendations, and the link to The Weekly Sift, to which I have already signed up. In these times of high emotions when communicators have a tendency not only to vent in strong terms but also to mix together opinion and possible fact in an unclear stew, your providing those aspects of thought and writing clearly differentiated is just what we need.

    Reply
  4. Jeff Pricco
    Jeff Pricco says:

    The vote was close, and much like in 2016 a very small slice of the electorate in 3 or 4 states comprised the difference in the electoral college (vestige of a time when populations were tiny compared to today, and some of course
    had more slaves counted as 3/5th of a person ) , essentially .0012% of all voters decided whether Trump or Harris won by 80 or 90 electoral college points.

    Reply
    • norm hanson
      norm hanson says:

      As they say, close no matter how close, only counts in horseshoes, unfortunately! Trump now has nearly free reign to do all the damage that he can to American democracy given that he has the Congress and the SCOTUS in his pocket. Taht is what the voters wanted by giving Trump an Electoral College landslide aka a non-contest, so we just have to accept that as the reality of things.

      Reply
  5. Carlo Mointgomery
    Carlo Mointgomery says:

    Hello Dick:

    Foillowing is a statement I sent to all and more on the copy list.

    A nationwide hand count verification of the 2024 Election is needed before the President-Elect is sworn into office!
    Should American voters trust computers? Have voting machines been compromised?

    In 2024, cyber attacks demonstrated that outside entities could reprogram and compromise computers worldwide. (Cybersecurity)
    Israel’s detonation of Hezbollah’s pagers, walkie-talkies, and phones showed how manufactured devices could be intercepted and reprogrammed afterward. (Israel’s spy agency, Mossad, spent years orchestrating Hezbollah walkie-talkie pager plots)
    The Volkswagen emissions scandal demonstrated how diesel engines were intentionally programmed to cheat on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) emissions tests. (Volkswagen to Spend Up to $14.7 Billion to Settle Allegations of Cheating Emissions Tests and Deceiving Customers on 2.0 Liter Diesel Vehicles)
    The New York Hush Money trial exposed V.P. Harris’ former presidential opponent’s payment of $50,000 to rig the 2016 polls. (Cohen Hired IT Firm to Rig Early CNBC, Drudge Polls to Favor Trump)
    Ironically, over time, Americans have become complacent, conditioned, and willing
    to accept the results of a computer. Computers have demonstrated they can be compromised. Voting machines are computers and are not infallible. The United States of America needs a process to validate its elections that does not involve computers!
    V.P. Harris’ former opponent agreed with the Georgia State Election Board’s approval of a rule that required poll workers to count paper ballots by hand. He may be correct. (Georgia board’s Trump loyalists OK rule to require ballot hand counts despite warnings by state AG)
    Were V.P. Harris’ former opponent and his tech-savvy multi-billionaire associate clever enough to compromise the 2024 election?
    Democrats must finally accept the fact that American elections have lacked integrity since the 1787 Constitutional Convention adopted the 3/5ths Compromise.
    Cyberattacks have demonstrated that computers can be compromised. Voting machines are computers and can not be trusted.
    The only way to verify the November 5, 2024, election results is to conduct a nationwide hand count monitored by Democrats and Republicans poll watchers.

    I would appreciate your help. If you agree, please share this, contact your elected leaders, and request a nationwide hand count monitored by Democrats and Republicans poll watchers.
    Sincerely,
    C. Subrina Montgomery
    CC:
    President Joe Biden

    President Joe Biden’s Cabinet

    Democratic U.S. Senators
    Democratic U. S. House Leaders
    Democratic Governors
    Democratic Secretaries of State
    U.S. MN House Member Betty McCollum
    U.S MN House Member Angie Craig
    Howard University President 

    Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

    American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

    Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

    The National Urban League

    The Minnesota Urban League

    National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
 The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC)
    Attorney Ben Crump
    National Action Network (NAN)
    St. Paul Pioneer Press

    Minneapolis Star & Tribune

    MSNBC

    CNN

    Reply

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