Election 2024

So this is where we are. 

I honestly thought we were better than this...

I don't really know what else to say. I'm just so disappointed in my fellow Americans. 

Election 2024

I feel like if I'm going to condemn how some of the rich and powerful act like fools, I ought to also share when they do something positive. Like here -

https://fortune.com/2024/10/29/ceos-america-largest-companies-voting-for-harris-not-trump-leadership-elections-politics/

Jan 6th should have been the nail in Trump's political coffin, and frankly every report of some billionaire contributing to him just makes them look bad.

So here's the opposite. 

This also reminds me of the latest fuss about newspaper endorsements and here's the thing -

I have never changed my mind on who to vote for based on one of these, so perhaps it's true that a newspaper (like, oh, let's just say the Washington Post) shouldn't bother. However... 

That's the sort of argument that should be made in a normal election year. Or even at the very beginning of the campaign, and clearly and publicly saying there won't be one. 

Saying so now? Just days before election day? 

Rank cowardice at best, another thumb on the scale for Trump at worst. 

Yeah, those newspapers deserve all the grief they're getting for that decision. 

If you're worried about Trump and his petty vindictive ness, now is the time to speak out. 

After all, the consequences will be worse if he somehow manages to pull this off (I still don't see how he's got the support, despite the polling). 

Oh, and even if he fails you know he and his people are yet again going to claim the election was stolen. Showing Kamala truly does have support makes it more difficult to convince people that she didn't. 

Seeing How Far the Rot Has Spread

Trump truly has become a litmus test... 

And all the rich fools supporting him, all the newspapers either endorsing him or refusing to endorse anyone, are showing us how far the rot has spread. 

This election should have been a no brainer, and the fact that it isn't is truly disturbing. 

I really wonder what is going through those fools heads. Is it simple greed? Do they truly not understand what makes America great? Is it racism? 

Honestly, I'm less shocked by Trump than by all the institutions and billionaires that are failing the easiest test ever. 

Junk Food Politician

When writing about Jan 6th, I realized that Trump and his ilk were basically taking advantage of people's ignorance about how the political system works. 

At the time I was thinking about the safe harbor deadline, how states certify election results, and various other dull and dry things that the people around Trump must have known, and therefore all the BS about Pence being able to change the results had to have been the worst sort of cynical manipulation... 

And realized how consistently he and his do this. 

Like the tariff discussion at the start of the presidential debate. 

If you were a business selling a widget in the US for $10, and Trump slapped a tariff on the product costing you $1, it does not take a lot of work to realize you can just consider that an additional cost of manufacturing and start selling your widget for $11. Thereby passing the costs on to the consumer and ultimately raising prices in the US. 

And yet he, bold as you please, claimed he'd add tariffs and that no American would have to suffer for it. 

Sounds a lot like 'Mexico will pay for the wall', and all I can think is that his supporters must like the way he lies. 

I will save the long winded and wonky details for all the ways they take advantage of people's ignorance and just say this -

They're junk food politicians. 

Enshittification

It really does seem like online services are just getting worse and worse. 

People have talked plenty about Google, and Microsoft, and social media... And I don't know if it strictly fits the category but my latest exam is Amazon. 

I ordered something that was too small, but when I went looking into a way of exchanging or replacing it with a larger size, I went down a rabbit hole of links that didn't allow me to select that at all. 

I could return it, or replace it with the exact same thing, but could not replace it with the exact same thing but larger. 

I have to wonder if the same holds true for clothes? 

Then I went looking for some place I could mention the issue. Instead it was link after link sending me back to the process I already tried, and apparently there's no form where I could mention that. Anywhere. 

Guess customer service is a joke now 

Bubbles

http://web.archive.org/web/20240815200317/https://www.thecut.com/article/what-its-like-personal-assistant-billionaire.html

An explanation for the previous post

My previous post is just so I had a link to share on social media, because it definitely hits the character limits