Will Dennis Rodman be a tour guide?

 Fun place to visit wouldn't want to live there.  North Korea looking to bolster and rejuvenate its international tourism industry since the pandemic.  Already some Russians have seen the sights.  Hmmm...,,,reading just now Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un launching a crackdown on drinking.  There goes the Christian Brothers.  As the price of eggs here continue to soar Trump is thinking condos on North Korea's eastern shoreline.  Kim likes to execute wayward government officials with an anti-aircraft gun from time to time.  It's not on my vacation list.  Neither is the Middle East.  In Germany you can now be arrested for posting insults to politicians online.  In Scotland you can apparently be arrested in your own home for praying if you live too close to an abortion clinic or so I've heard.  Ukraine no.  I think I'll stay home.

The RFK Jr. confirmation hearings

 

Rather intense.  Dems didn't warm up to him but no Repubs really came out against.  Said he's not anti-vaccine but pro-safety.  Not against the measles or polio vaccines or kids getting their shots.  Says he'll keep more in line with Trump's views on abortion mainly being an issue for state control.  Appeared at points to confuse Medicare and Medicaid.  No discussion of roadkill recipes.  Another day of questioning. 

Thoughts?

MAHA vs. The Raspberry Zinger

 Sounds like a Japanese monster movie.

The Jr. influence.  Trump has promised if elected to stop fluoride from being put into our nation's water supply.  I really don't have an issue with that.  Why was it put in in the first place?  I drink a fair amount of tap water and still had a tooth decay on me.  People point to scientific consensus.  Bear in mind though scientific consensus was once in favor of lobotomies and electroshock therapy.   Just sayin' consensus sometimes evolves and isn't etched in granite.  Don't know if RFK Jr. plans to ban fluoride from toothpaste though and we may have to all switch over to Tom's of Maine.  I kind of prefer to not get cavities.

Lots of pro-abortion ads on the TV.  There might be some people out there who are ok with paying higher food prices for the next four years so long as they can arrange for an abortion.  Talking about the Harris voters.  Worked in a library once and the older secretary told me that back in the day people didn't even like to use the word "abortion."  Had a negative connotation.  Now it's like hey abortion.  They say nobody is really for feticide though.  People just do it a lot it seems.

Election Eve.  Just rambling:)

To prognosticate or not to prognosticate

 Normally I would not prognosticate a presidential election this close but I will although not with supreme confidence as there will be millions of Americans default voting against Trump.  It will come down to the economy as it usually does.  Harris can point to this or that positive economic indicator but what people are paying for groceries is still too high.  Too many people still remember the Trump pre-pandemic economy when a trip to the supermarket was more normal.  This remains an albatross for Kamala Harris.  People also have been paying too much at the pump although I went to the station the other day and the cost took a remarkable dip.  What a coincidence!  Most voters are not academics and don't intellectualize that presidents don't really control the price of oil.  It was the Biden/Harris Administration during this time.  Correlation in the public mind and that's usually enough.  That the polling is still this close shows the defects in Trump's personality have had a negligible impact.  Disposable income trumps Trump you could say.  I want more disposable income to buy cigars.  To the undecideds Harris might be different than Biden but why take the chance?  If you vote wrong that's a long four years.  Trendy issues like climate change and trans issues those are more issues for the Left imo not bread and butter for most folk.  Abortion could have a significant but overall limited impact since people's views run the gamut.  It's the economy stupid.

Trump wins.  Not by a landslide but he comes out on top when the dust settles.  My somewhat shaky prognostication.

Why doesn't Oprah fund Planned Parenthood?

 Planned Parenthood is not a self-reliant organization.  They suck heavily from the teat of government.   I mention this because I see on my newsfeed that Vance said Trump would take a chainsaw to PP if elected.  Oh the humanity!  Nobody is saying PP would cease to exist however and it's almost as if the headlines are conflating the two.  St. Jude doesn't suck from the teat of government but relies heavily on private donations.  But PP is a public health group you say.  OK but a mainstay of their business is performing abortions.  Abortion is arguably the taking of a human life etc.  Maybe Taylor Swift can run the whole operation.  Not understanding why it's axiomatic and morally obligatory for taxpayers to fund them in the first place.  Just my view.

Cap'n Crunch causes cancer?

 RFK Jr. is making all kinds of claims about the food we eat.  This seems to have caught fire in conservative media which is usually wary of the potential for a nanny state.  Apparently the federal government is still after him for cutting the head off a dead whale back in the day.  Isn't there some kind of statute of limitations for whale head cutting?  Actress Cheryl Hines is reportedly looking to divorce him over an alleged affair he had.  Maybe it has more to do with the lack of junk food in the house.  Personally I will risk cancer for a chocolate Twinkie.  Meanwhile Melania Trump wrote some book and disagrees with her husband over abortion.  Couldn't this wait until after the election?  Hasn't she ever heard of put it in the 'fridge it'll keep?  Melania your husband is trying to run a campaign.  At least I think he's trying to run a campaign.  Raspberry Zingers are to die for.  Is that to be taken literally?

Kamala Harris' politically alienating campaign

 Yes I realize the automatic rebuttal here that Trump is alienating but she is supposed to be the anti-Trump and a uniter and a healer.  A key part of her campaign of course is abortion but that's a subject that's alienating by its very nature.  It's like if a standup comedian made a night's worth of fat jokes but half his audience was fat.  By emphasizing or over-emphasizing the abortion issue by default you're alienating people who may not even have strong political positions on this but who in their spiritual gut feel abortion is not a great thing.  If push came to shove and they were unemployed they wouldn"t feel comfortable working in an abortion clinic say.  Basically what she's doing is appealing to the default voters in her party's base but who else?  How big is the who else camp that would even be swayed by this?  It's kind of settled into a philosophical issue for many.  Discuss it over a pipe smoking session?  That's enough of a ramble.

Is this post alienating enough?

Kamala Chameleon

 Kamala Harris was once against fracking now she supports it.  She was once in favor of a looser immigration policy now she advocates for tighter border controls.  She now agrees with Trump's idea of no taxes on tips.  You have the right to adjust and tweak your views but this smacks of political opportunism.  Speaking of tweaking Trump is now playing around with the abortion issue instead of just sticking with his state by state approach thus potentially alienating that part of his base.  He wrote on Truth Social a second Trump term would be great for women's reproductive rights.  Maybe Trump nephew Fred is right he's showing early signs of dementia.  The Hulkster can't save him at this point.  His proposal to require insurance companies to pay for IVF treatments is hardly in line with smaller government.  I don't think Trump was ever a true conservative in the first place.

This election can best be summed up as Make America Confused Again.

So now they're called Abortion Access Advocates (CBS News) - not to be confused with AAA

 Disregarding practical advice not to appear too ghoulish feticide a big part of Night 1 at the DNC as expected.  I was mainly watching "Crime Stories With Nancy Grace" about the Matthew Perry death case so only caught snippets.  Some Team USA basketball coach was saying something as I was surfing around the channels.  Didn't catch the Biden speech.  Too late for me as I'm still a working man.  My takeaway from Night 1 - Hillary had plastic surgery. 

I'd rather watch an Omega XL commercial or a Steven Seagal movie

DNC kicks off tonight in Chicago.  Biden to deliver keynote address, Obama the orator on second night and Bill Clinton on third.  Kamala Harris big night on the fourth and final night of course.  Out of all the candidates for her VP pick Tim Walz is probably the most socially radical but doesn't look it.  He looks like the friendly uncle who gives you a 5 dollar bill in the alley after your parents yelled at you.  The economy and the working class will be a big theme Biden's attempted but failed vax mandate on companies with over 100 employees already having been memory-holed.  Immigration, crime and safety, health care.  Trump has the edge on some key issues but Dems are better on health care as you'll be paying less for colonoscopy.  I've heard Harris isn't too swift on foreign policy which is half the presidency.  Of course oiling up the abortion machinery will be peppered in whenever possible. 

I'm gonna check the movie listings.

Is the pro-abortion vote enough to swing the election?

Complex but in the final analysis I'm gonna say no.  The msm would probably say yes.  So far I've seen only one commercial from Kamala Harris, a short tv ad talking about workers and the economy and protecting reproductive rights.  The pro-abortion vote - I would have to say that demographic is fairly sexually active and as my brother likes to say it's like they plan on having abortions (ok not the best way of putting it but you get the gist).  However there are other people out there, quite a few who are not into abortion, who don't like abortion and you don't have to be an official card-carrying RTL member to feel this way.  Also a large portion of the population go to bed every night in cold sheets.  They'll even say they've had nothing going on for years maybe had a bad marriage.  Abortion may not be uppermost in their minds.  Just a ramble and I'll cap it here.

Is Kamala Harris over-emphasizing the issue?

Working-class abortions

 Seems to be an amalgam of Kamala Harris' early TV advertising and probably future advertising as well.  Look for the union label and btw you can have an abortion.  We got you we'll hook you up.

I think with her selection of MN Governor Tim Walz she overestimates the leftness of the American people.  Taking a gamble on PA without Gov. Shapiro's help and focusing on the Midwest.  Dunno.  Maybe she wants to help Trump.

In and of itself the SCOTUS issuing decisions you disagree with isn't grounds for SCOTUS reform

 Don't get me wrong it might annoy the hell out of you.  It might even ruin your day but their job is to interpret the law free from social and political pressure.  Now Biden is calling for reform of the Supreme Court with some type of term limits and a code of ethics.  Didn't know Dems were fans of term limits.  Even in the wake of Roe I don't recall conservatives calling for wholesale SCOTUS reform.  Incidentally the Court in giving Trump limited immunity from prosecution benefits ALL presidents.  It could help Biden if need be or Kamala Harris someday if she were to become president.  This is the type of radicalism a Harris presidency has planned for America.  Safer to stick with the weird party for the time being.

The Dems never met an abortion they didn't like

 While people are still paying too much for food and gas pro-feticide is sure to be a prominent part of the DNC.  Not much into polls myself but early polling suggests a dead heat between Trump and Harris.  I would say her weak area as former border czar is illegal immigration and Trump is already pushing that issue.  This however can be easily offset by Trump just talking smack and not appealing to anybody beyond his base.  It's anybody's race at this point.

Will Taylor provide the entertainment at the DNC?

The SCOTUS TX Abortion Decision

I'll be honest I don't much follow the abortion debate  anymore main reason is it's agitating especially right before you go to bed.  A large
part of society practices abortion, always have and always will so that social fact is agitating so I prefer to think of other things.  I'm tangentially aware of the issue though as Justice Kennedy didn't much care for those abortion restrictions down in TX designed to close as many clinics as possible.  Must be my advancing age, my general social irritability as when presented with the need for abortion these days I'm most likely to go had to have sex didn't you?  (Church Lady id)  Those women activists down in TX they act like they won the World Series or the Super Bowl or something.   IMO the Ole Gray Lady's love for abortion and yes it is love is on another level, otherworldly even.  OK agita;)

Why didn't Yogi say that?

Hillary told Chuck Todd on Meet the Press "the unborn person doesn't have constitutional rights."  I pass a Planned Parenthood on my way to work every day and they have a big banner "Health Care Happens Here."  Makes it sound like I can walk in and maybe they can treat my catastrophic tinnitus and premature waking.  This is not really a pro-life thread, you can discuss what have you.

A SCOTUS twist

With Obama's pick of centrist jurist Merrick Garland to replace Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court I've been wondering.  History is rife with conservative presidents nominating judges who later were less than pro-life but how come it never works the other way, having a liberal appointee who later turned out to be anti-Roe?

Defunding Planned Parenthood

I have sincerely tried to understand this liberal apoplexy whenever the subject of defunding Planned Parenthood is broached but when I've posed the question throughout the years I never get a clear answer or quite often no answer at all.  WHY is Planned Parenthood entitled to or why are we morally obligated to subsidize this organization through millions of dollars in federal taxpayer funds every year???  Even if I were pro-choice I wouldn't automatically come down on the side of the federal subsidy.  There are quite a few organizations in this country who do yeoman's work on the side of good and yet they don't receive such a subsidy and yet it is mostly a Democratic Article of Faith that PP needs to be federally subsidized and if you don't quite morally calculate it this way you're on the side of darkness and devils.  I have to say though I have always found the pro-abortionism of the NY Times editorial board to be quite stunning even with the string of undercover sting videos by the pro-life although I'm supposed to say the anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress. So throw your coins in the fountain here or if you prefer just walk by and glance and give the old Sitemeter an uptick.

Planned Parenthood, fetal harvesting and a roomful of beagles

Liberals have always acted like you're emotionally, morally and spiritually obligated to support Planned Parenthood. Actually that's not true, it's up to you. I'm not against birth control but I am personally against abortion so for me to support Planned Parenthood is a logical impossibility and the extended topic of fetal harvesting is definitely out of the question.  Doesn't make me a bad person. It's a larger issue for me than the latest undercover viral video made by the pro-life group Center for Medical Progress showing PP not in the best light. We can discuss that and folks are sure to bring up PP health clinics are big on breast cancer screenings, STD prevention and whatnot but now we got a little beagle problem on our hands. Let's say your local animal shelter does exemplary work for the most part, placing adoptions of pets, spaying and neutering and shots but in the room in the back they gas beagles maybe once a week. Some will support the shelter 100%, some will support part of the shelter and pretend the other room doesn't even exist and some may not go there at all because they're morally opposed to cat/dog euthanasia on principle. The grisly room in the back overrides everything else for some people. In my view that's perfectly valid and needs to be respected. Ditto those who withhold their moral support for PP because an integral part of their daily work is they do provide abortions. Again I'm not getting why I'm a bad person if I don't support the organization.

Maybe now he can have that philosophical discussion with God about abortion

No judgementalism towards pro-choice politicians intended in the heading here, just thought it would be a good working title. Mario Cuomo, former three-term Democratic Governor of the Empire State - I never liked him politically. I will have to say though he was intelligent, articulate and thoughtful and learned too even if he did pepperize his continuing pro-choice argumentation with bits and pieces of sophistry just for flavor. This came out or evolved out of his thing with the then Archbishop then Cardinal John O'Connor of NY, also the late O'Connor so maybe he can join in the divine discussion too. Cuomo did however impose his personal morality re the death penalty on the state of NY which probably went a long way towards Republican George Pataki taking over the state-helm. At least Cuomo took pains to say he was personally opposed to abortion unlike the son who's like full-bore ahead oil up the abortion machinery. Am I talking about ABORTION too much? Well yeah but my sitemeter's been kinda frozen of late but when I discuss the A-subject every once in a while the commenters who come out of the woodwork who I never heard of before scold me for always talking about The Topic but when I do post on other matters which is most of the time they're nowhere to be found. BB sticks around though. He did do other things as governor besides issue dissertations/philosophical treatises on abortion so gladly discuss. Mario Cuomo 1932-2015 RIP.