Get Your Grump on Thursdays - Was (What's chapping my @ss today?)

[Dave Thompson]

One can argue politics all day long but the qualities of the new president?

Quick Trump story. My wife and I took a Christmas market cruise in 2019 from Basel to Amsterdam. We depart the ship in Amsterdam and hail a taxi to go to our hotel. FIRST WORDS out of the drivers mouth when he heard my American accent was “What the hell is going on in your country?”

I’m still wondering.

I hope we’re not doomed.

[Tom]

Yesterday I couldn't believe how bummed I was when George Bush the Younger was elected. If I only knew how low we could go.

When we went to Sweden this December several people invited us to move there when we told them where we were from.

[sk_tle]

I am not sure if I need to have pity or be angry at US people[1] right now.

[1] I mean collectively, I love you guys.

[taz]

I'd like to point out (primarily to our non-American friends), the current president has NOT received a majority of the vote in any of the three elections he has run in.

I'll leave it to you to decide if that is significant or not. I've decided to remain agnostic on the matter in bicycle forums. (in real life, not so much)

[bigbill]

I'd like to point out (primarily to our non-American friends), the current president has NOT received a majority of the vote in any of the three elections he has run in.

I'll leave it to you to decide if that is significant or not. I've decided to remain agnostic on the matter in bicycle forums. (in real life, not so much)

Which are counting for majority? Trump won the electoral and popular in 2024. Popular by 2.3 million votes. In 2016, he won the electoral, which is the only one that counts, and lost the popular by approximately the same margin as he won last year.

[72gmc]

Which are counting for majority? Trump won the electoral and popular in 2024. Popular by 2.3 million votes. In 2016, he won the electoral, which is the only one that counts, and lost the popular by approximately the same margin as he won last year.

I believe the point is that he’s never received a majority of the votes cast. Pretty sure this round was his highest total at 49-point-something percent of all votes cast.

[bigbill]

I believe the point is that he’s never received a majority of the votes cast. Pretty sure this round was his highest total at 49-point-something percent of all votes cast.

Neither did Clinton, but he's getting a carrier named after him.

[bironi]

It is not Thursday, but...
Garth Hudson passed.
The last member of a great Band, The Band.
I'll do some listening without grumpiness.

[72gmc]

Neither did Clinton, but he's getting a carrier named after him.

Since the 2000 election, a winner gathering less than 50% of the total vote has only happened in 2016 and 2024, but as I look further back it’s a pretty common occurrence.

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/stat...elections/2024

[rwsaunders]

Clinton had Ross Perot to thank for his first win...Trump has hate, racism and bigotry to thank for both of his elections, and the felony conviction is an added bonus. Maybe he'll have a penitentiary or two named after himself.

[takashi]

Clinton had Ross Perot to thank for his first win...Trump has hate, racism and bigotry to thank for both of his elections, and the felony conviction is an added bonus. Maybe he'll have a penitentiary or two named after himself.

Genocide in Gaza was surely a factor. For some voters that was a red line.

[72gmc]

Clinton had Ross Perot to thank for his first win...Trump has hate, racism and bigotry to thank for both of his elections, and the felony conviction is an added bonus. Maybe he'll have a penitentiary or two named after himself.

I had occasion to remember the Perot candidacy last week because one of my kids asked about a third party. That was a time, wasn’t it? I remember being amazed that he just kept not going away. I wasn’t one of his voters but the existence of a third option felt like a good change.

[bcm119]

Genocide in Gaza was surely a factor. For some voters that was a red line.

I can only assume those voters didn't understand the binary nature of our elections.

[burgess1108]

Genocide in Gaza was surely a factor. For some voters that was a red line.

And look what that got them.

[Saab2000]

I had occasion to remember the Perot candidacy last week because one of my kids asked about a third party. That was a time, wasn’t it? I remember being amazed that he just kept not going away. I wasn’t one of his voters but the existence of a third option felt like a good change.

I was one of his voters. I’m not sure I would be today but that was quite a while ago and my world view was different then. I knew I didn’t care for GHWB and Slick Willy didn’t inspire me either. We’ll never know if he would have been an effective president or not. But he sure struck a chord with folks, including myself.

[takashi]

And look what that got them.

Eh, look what the Democrats got the United States.

These are not smart people and this is not a smart country. Not really a surprise we are where we are.

And this is coming from a Dem lolol

[echappist]

Eh, look what the Democrats got the United States.

These are not smart people and this is not a smart country. Not really a surprise we are where we are.

And this is coming from a Dem lolol

Voting Rights Act
Civil Rights Act
Medicare
Medicaid
Social Security
No more denial of insurance on the basis of pre-existing conditions

Two of the foregoing are the proverbial third rails of politics; that shows how popular they are across the spectrum.

The only item of note brought by modern GOP is the establishment of the EPA by Richard Nixon (surely regarded as a RINO today).

Most difficult thing about politics (at least in this country where too many have a short memory and enjoy a high level of baseline living standard) is to have people value and cherish the hard-won rights and privileges. There's very little imagination on how easy some of those rights and privileges can be taken away. I wonder how many of the six will be significantly withered by 2028 (some of these have already been withered).

I was one of his voters. I’m not sure I would be today but that was quite a while ago and my world view was different then. I knew I didn’t care for GHWB and Slick Willy didn’t inspire me either. We’ll never know if he would have been an effective president or not. But he sure struck a chord with folks, including myself.

I think I would personally prefer GHWB, but GHWB (like Nixon before him) is probably too "left" for today's GOP. I do not have the same regard for Reagan (whom I regard as a vacuous b-grade showman).

Are you comfortable sharing why you did not care for GHWB?

[Saab2000]

Voting Rights Act
Civil Rights Act
Medicare
Medicaid
Social Security
No more denial of insurance on the basis of pre-existing conditions


Are you comfortable sharing why you did not care for GHWB?

The points you make are correct and shouldn’t be forgotten. The GOP would repeal all of that if they could.

Why didn’t I care for GHWB? Simple: Gulf War 1

I didn’t feel we should be sending troops into harm’s way to support our addiction to cheap Middle Eastern oil. That said, I get that it’s a complex dynamic but that was the reason at the time. I didn’t support it. And I was even more bothered by the second one with GWB.

[dashDustin]

You guys know I've been through some off the wall shit over the past few years...it's all been topped.

My family's been in/ around Fredericksburg, TX for a long time. And my mom has worked at the courthouse for 25+ years. I grew up in the same house she's living in still.

There are 5 people in this story; my mom (D), my aunt (S), my (maternal) grandmother (O), my cousin (K, S's daughter), and me.

Monday a former coworker went up to my mom and was like "what's the deal with S's ashes being in a box on O's grave?" My mom's like "...I don't know what you're talking about. What do you mean?"

"There's a box on O's grave that says it contains your sister's ashes."

My mom's like WTF.

She leaves the courthouse and goes to the cemetery. It's maybe 2mi from the courthouse. 1.7mi from her house.

She gets to gravesite and sure as shit, there's a box there from a crematorium with a note stating it contains my aunt's ashes, and that she was cremated on 11/22/2024. My mom starts kinda flipping out. She had texted S and K at Christmas and didn't get a response. Following some drama 5 or 6 years ago, this wasn't a total surprise. At the request of my cousin, K, my mom got S to go to a rehab facility. Extreme alcohol and pill abuse. When S got out, she kinda ripped into my mom saying she had no right to do that blah blah blah. My mom was basically like "I saved your ass."

But yeah. Box...ashes....my aunt's name. No clue how long they had been there, nor who put them there. My mom calls me and I spend most of Monday evening googling all sorts of public records, addresses, property tax information, just trying to figure something out. Anything. And got nothing but a whole lot of dead ends.

Cousin K has been unresponsive to texts.

At this point, I'm kinda convinced that someone is playing a fucking disgusting joke.

Yesterday, my mom finally gets a hold of my cousin K.

Turns out S passed away on or around 11/17/2024. Cops had found her in her house following a call from a concerned neighbor. K flew into Austin and spent a month here dealing with the house and S's belongings. Recall I live in Austin. During that time, S was cremated. All of this unbeknownst to my mom and I. And again, this is my mom's sister. And my aunt. My aunt that got me into golf, into cycling, that I lived with before moving to Dallas. Major part of my growing up.

At some point, K thought it would be acceptable to take the ashes down to Fredericksburg and leave them on O's gravesite.

So she did.

My aunt, my mom's sister, K's mom reduced to ashes...left next to a headstone, in the elements, in a black plastic box. Less than 2 miles from my mom. Without a word to anyone.

[echappist]

The points you make are correct and shouldn’t be forgotten. The GOP would repeal all of that if they could.

Why didn’t I care for GHWB? Simple: Gulf War 1

I didn’t feel we should be sending troops into harm’s way to support our addiction to cheap Middle Eastern oil. That said, I get that it’s a complex dynamic but that was the reason at the time. I didn’t support it. And I was even more bothered by the second one with GWB.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.