Happy Thanksgiving

And to my foreign readers, I hope you have a holiday that is as much fun as this one is for America.

Family/Friends get together.  There are sports to watch.  Different people bring their favorite dishes and everyone contributes to the get together.  Traditions are maintained and evolve.  One of my favorite memories was my 1st Thanksgiving away from the home cycle with friends at 5050 South Lake Short Drive.  We ate way too much and I learned pacing is important.

There is little to be happy about politically except that there is the reality that this election will wake up the Democratic party that it needs to have more balance.  I do believe the Democrats have more balance than the GOP but they didn't demonstrate it in this election and it cost them some key states. Hillary is now 2 mm votes ahead nationally, but her margin of victory was concentrated in the 500 or so counties that produce 65% of GDP and participate in the global economy.  The other 2500 or so counties produced this election result.  Since raising the minimum wage, providing access to health insurance, respecting the rights of all individuals, focusing government policy on education and training people who want to be trained and maintaining infrastructure are all Democratic policies that should resonate in these rural areas, it is clear that the Clinton campaign got overly focused on Trump and forgot the policy message.  For that colossal failure, the Democratic party staff needs new blood. The old ways did not work and if it is not fixed at the local state level by 2020, the gerrymandered advantage that the GOP has will be maintained and there will be no progress.  This is the critical path for the Democrats.

Now what is there to be happy about.  I could be happy about some things Trump has done but since I l believe him to be 100% only about his personal wealth, I don't trust him.  I think the only way to approach Donald Trump and his GOP, is with brute force and zero Trust.  That puts a huge burden on the Senate Democrat's, but they need to pick their battles carefully so a balanced message about the party can be maintained at the local level.  Unfortunately, at least in my opinion, that means a liberal Supreme Court is toast.  Fighting the battle there will not deliver the right message in those 2500 counties.  It needs to be fought in the arena of economic justice because this election was decided by anger at the gridlock that the GOP generated.  So if gridlock is to be the result, the Democrats need to make sure the GOP is responsible for it, unless there is a clear economic message to be gained by the Democrats.

That is the great tragedy of this election.  The leadership of the Democratic Party had a chance to maintain certain Supreme Court positions about justice and eventually reverse some of the more extreme decisions that have given corporations rights that belong only to individuals.  They blew it. As an individual who cares about equality and fairness, I am disgusted by the Alt-Right Supreme Court members.  This election was a once in a life time opportunity for the Democrats to do something about this trends.  Now I will likely be a elderly person before a similar opportunity appears.  Meanwhile, an unknown number of issues regarding fairness and equality will be decided in favor of less fairness and less equality.

Fortunately, I don't work in the political arena.  So I can only blog about it and vote.  I live in a globalized city and can hope that the state I live in manages to maintain access to health insurance for many.  I will focus my concerns on things I can control like my golf game where I got a tip last time out which may make a big difference.  I don't understand why all those instructors didn't mention my need to stand taller.

Anger is exhausting as I previously wrote and the holiday season should be a time of joy and happiness.