Janette Howell

 I met Janette when she and Linda both worked for the town of Danville in Contra Costa County in the late 1980s.  She and Anne, her spouse, remained our good friends even after they relocated to Belgium.  We stayed with them when we visited Belgium, and Janette and Anne visited us on the farm a number of times, once sharing a Thanksgiving meal at my sister’s house.  

We frequently discussed politics.  Janette and Anne were liberals, and they made a special trip to the U.S. in November 2016 to celebrate Clinton’s victory.  You can imagine how that went.  I know she was delighted with Biden’s win this November.  Janette and Anne always sent a contribution to aid the annual fundraiser for Democratic Information Center in Carbon County; they were are only foreign contributors, and they always specified the money should be spent on Belgian beer.  

Janette read my blog every night.  Early on she complained that the font was too small, so the fact that you are getting this in 14-point Helvetica you owe to Janette. 

She went to the hospital ten days ago with heart problems.  Belgium medical care is among the finest in the world, and she was treated at the best hospital in Brussels, but after a long and difficult struggle she died yesterday.  She will be missed by everyone who knew her.

9th grader messes up

 In 2017 a Mahanoy Area School District 9th grader found out she hadn’t been selected to the cheerleading squad and would remain on the junior varsity squad.  She was angry, and she sent a picture of her and a friend with middle fingers extended.  She also cursed “school, softball, cheerleading, and everything.”  [The paper didn’t print the curse word, but I have a feeling it might have been what all of us know as “the F-word.”]

Snapchat messages disappear, but one of the recipients of the message took a screen shot and showed it to her mother, who was a coach at the school.  The school suspended the disappointed girl from cheerleading for a year.  She then sued the school district.

The case was heard by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that the school could not punish students for things said outside of school.  The district appealed.  Next month the Supreme Court will decide whether to hear the case.

I’m on the side of the 9th grader.  When I was in 9th grade, I disliked some of my teachers.  I am sure I said things about them that were unkind.  I didn’t do it on-line, of course, but I may have written it in notes or said it on the bus on the way home.  It is what 9th graders do.

Power grab

 Pennsylvania Republican legislators are annoyed with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.  It has a majority of Democrats, and it ruled that no fraud had taken place in the November vote in Pennsylvania.  The Republicans now want to change the way the Court is elected.  

In Pennsylvania at-large elections, either party has a chance to win.  Four years ago it was Trump, this year it was Biden.  We also have one Republican U.S. Senator (Toomey) and one Democratic Senator (Casey).  And after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court drew fair districts for the U.S. Congress, we have 8 Democratic and 8 Republican congress members.  So why is the state legislature so overwhelmingly Republican?  Gerrymandering.

Now Republican legislators are pushing a constitutional amendment to elect the Court by districts.  Then they can gerrymander the districts, pack Democrats into a few districts, and skew the elections Republican.  There is a reason the Founding Fathers put separation of powers in the U.S. Constitution.  They were familiar not only with royal tyranny, but legislative tyranny.  (And at that time the Pennsylvania legislature was setting a bad example.)

The Republicans in the legislature also know that Republicans tend to vote more than Democrats in off-year local elections.  It is a cynical ploy by cynical legislators like our own Doyle Heffley and Jerry Knowles, and it will probably work.

"Curing" ballots

 When you vote in person in Pennsylvania, you are given a ballot which you feed into a scanner.  The ballot then drops into a container, and if a recount is necessary, the paper ballots are available.  Suppose you make a mistake?  Say you accidentally bubbled in both Biden and Trump on your ballot.  The scanner kicks it back, and you are allowed to try again.

Now, suppose you voted by mail, but you forgot to sign the “secrecy” envelope.  In some counties, the Registrar would call you and invite you to come in and sign the envelope.  That was called “curing” the ballot.

Republicans in the Pennsylvania legislature don’t like that.  They think if you make a mistake, your ballot shouldn’t count, although I have yet to hear them complain about re-voting when people make mistakes on their in-person ballots.

This has nothing to do with “voter fraud” or “election integrity.”  Republican legislators know that Democrats vote more by mail than Republicans.  Anything that will depress mail-in ballots will benefit Republican candidates.  That is what this is about.

Another pardon in the works

 My friend Bill, who knows about these things, just sent me word that Donald Trump is set to pardon Betsy DeVos for stealing all those Dalmatians.

Trump and the Covid Relief bill

 Trump will not veto this bill.  He is doing that TV thing where you keep the audience in suspense.  While people speculate about whether or not he will veto, he will be in the news.  He will get more coverage than Biden.  In the end, however, he will not veto the bill.  

Christmas Eve

It is raining, the wind is howling, and, since I’ve been bad all year, I don’t think Santa will bring me any presents other than a sock full of anthracite coal to add to global warming.

What I am doing is counting Biden’s victory as an early Christmas present, and just saying that makes me feel better.   I hope all of you have a great Holiday. 

Noon, Jan. 20

 This period from the election until Biden is sworn in seems interminable.  Before 1933 it was even worse; the newly elected President was not sworn in until March.  The 20th Amendment, ratified on Jan. 23, 1933, moved up the date.  It isn’t soon enough.  Trump still has a whole month to continue his rampage, and it will only get worse.  

In Britain a new prime minister takes over one day after she or he has won the election.  One day!  

Pardon me

 Why is the White House such a polite place to work?  Because everyone is walking around saying “Pardon me, pardon me.”

It’s a “dad joke,” and it isn’t funny anymore.  Today Trump pardoned George Papadopoulos, one of the people caught helping the Russians in their attempt to influence the 2016 presidential election.  He also pardoned four Blackhawk employees who murdered Iraqi civilians.  And he pardoned three Republican congressmen, Chris Collins, Duncan Hunter, and Steve Stockman, all of whom had supported him.  I’m sure Trump identified with Stockman, who was convicted of misusing charitable contributions, a crime with which Trump is familiar.

Rudy will get his pardon any day now.

Christmas Star

 Tonight is the night that various planets line up in a way they haven’t since the Middle Ages.  Even NASA is calling it “The Christmas Star.”  The event takes place in the Southeastern part of the sky.  Or is it in the Southwest?  

Doesn’t matter anyway.  The whole sky is clouded over.  And even if it wasn’t, the light pollution from the Blue Mountain Ski facility would probably drown it out.  I’ll just have to wait another 500 years.

"Remember Me" by Phil Ochs

 Former Carbon County resident Al Zagofsky sent me the words to a Phil Ochs song.  It has a four verses and a chorus.  I’ll just print two of the verses and the chorus, which is repeated after each verse. 

Oh, I am the Unknown Soldier who died in World War Two

I didn’t want to fight, it was the only thing to do.

I was the victim of a world that went insane–

Will you show me that I didn’t die in vain.

Remember me, when the crosses are a burnin’,

Remember me, when the racists come around.

Remember me, when the tides of peace are turnin’,

Remember me and please don’t let me down.

When the Fascists started marching many millions had to pay;

We saw them rise to power but we looked the other way.

It happened once before and it can happen once again–

Will you show me that I didn’t die in vain.

repeat chorus

Swings for and against Trump

 It is interesting to learn where Trump gained and lost votes from his totals in 2016.  A December 8 article in “The Upshot,” an intermittent series in the New York Times that usually involves an analysis of statistical data, lists metro areas where Trump gained and lost.

Four of the five biggest shifts pro-Trump were Texas border cities:  Laredo, McAllen, Brownsville, and El Paso.  Remember when some Democratic candidates talked about opening up the border?  People along the border, including a large number of Mexican-Americans, definitely did not want to do that.  A scary thing for Democrats is that Trump did better in almost every area with a large Hispanic population, including the Bronx, LA, San Jose, and Hudson and Passaic counties in northern New Jersey.  

Three of the top five shifts toward Biden over Clinton’s 2016 total were in Colorado–Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, and Denver.  Some of Biden’s improvements came in urban areas in red states, such as Huntsville, Alabama, Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Lexington-Fayette, Kentucky.  Biden did better in areas with a high rate of college grads.  Interestingly, he also did better than Clinton in areas with military bases and retired military.  Trump still won those areas, but by a much smaller margin than in 2016.

Jim Thorpe's medals

 In 1912 Jim Thorpe won the Olympic decathlon and pentathlon gold medals, but then had them taken away because years before he had earned $25 a week playing professional baseball.  In 1982 the Olympic Committee agreed to return his medals posthumously, but did not take away the medals from the Swedish and Norwegian athletes who had received the gold medals in 1912.

The Olympic officials in 1912 said no written rules existed.  Now a researcher has discovered that indeed there were rules; protests had to be made within 30 days of the award.  That had not been done.  

Interestingly, the people most adamant in 1912 that Thorpe’s medals should be taken away were the Americans.  Was racism involved?  Perhaps.

While I am all in favor of Thorpe getting his medals, I think we also should remember and honor Hugo Wieslander of Sweden (decathlon) and Ferdinand Bie (Norway).  Both men, according to what I read, expressed great reluctance to be awarded gold medals.  That is worth noting.

See Victor Mather, “Seeking to Restore Thorpe’s Gold Medals, More Than 100 Years Later,” New York Times, (Dec. 11, 2020), p. B-9.

Deb Haaland

 Biden has picked Deb Haaland, a Democratic House member and an American Indian, to be the Secretary of the Interior.  That is the Department that has direct influence over Indian reservations.  It is the first time (and about time) that an Indian was picked to head the Department.  I really like this cabinet.

Snow-Bound by Whittier

 This is a good night to read “Snow-Bound,” a long poem by John Greenleaf Whittier, published in 1866.  The poem is about a farm family stuck inside their house as a December blizzard roars outside.  The family sits around the fire telling stories.  The local teacher, who boards with the family, is also a participant.  

The next day the boys have to dig a path to the barn to feed the animals, and days later a group of neighbors opens the road.  Even when Whittier wrote the poem, that way of life was changing, but you can still get a sense of the blizzard if you just step outside tonight for a few minutes.

(The poem is available on the internet thanks to the Poetry Foundation.)

Stop the Steal

 I’ve seen that sign in a number of yards of local Trumpists.  This from a party that 

• strikes legitimate voters from voter rolls,
• gerrymanders every state it controls,
• reduces the number of polling places, 
• eliminates drop boxes, 
• screws up the U.S. Postal Service to hinder mail-in ballots, 
• welcomes assistance from Russian hackers, and 
• threatens violence against women and men who staff the polling places.

So yeah, stop the Republican steal.  

Biden won!

Remember the tense drama when the electoral college voted in 2012 when Obama was running against Romney?  And how about that nail-biter in 2016 when Clinton and Trump squared off?

Of course you don’t.  Prior to this year the electoral college was a formality.   Most people weren’t even aware when the electors met to formalize the popular vote.  

Like everything else connected to our would-be autocrat in the White House, Trump has managed to screw things up, creating a need in some states for the electors to be protected by law enforcement personnel.

In Pennsylvania, as in 47 other states, each candidate picks a slate of electors.  The job is an honor, and party loyalists or local officials or major supporters are selected for the privilege.  In Pennsylvania Trump had a team of 20 as did Biden.  The electors of the candidate who wins the popular vote then cast their ballots.  (Maine and Nebraska allow their votes to be split, but by this time I think everyone knows about that.)

So, no surprises.  No faithless electors.  Nobody shot by “Proud Little Boys.”  Biden, as we have known for over a month, is the President-elect and will take office on January 20. 

Institutional racism illustrated

 The term “institutional racism” is often tossed around, and many people aren’t even sure what it is.  Here is an example.  $174 million in Covid aid was allocated by the federal government to help Pennsylvania schools.  If the normal funding formula had been used, the Allentown School District would have received $5.6 million.

The state did not use its normal funding formula.  Instead it gave all school districts $120,000 plus some money based on number of students.  Under this formula, Allentown received $1.5 million.

Districts with the highest density of poor, black, and Hispanic students received less funding that those with the least density.  Of course they did.  That, my dear readers, is an example of “institutional racism.”

Information for this post is from Michele Merlin, “Report:  State shorted its neediest districts,”  Morning Call, (Dec. 20, 2020), pp. 1, 3.

Predictions for 2021

 At least five states with Republican legislative majorities will roll back mail-in ballot laws.  Pennsylvania will be one of them, but the Governor will veto the bill.

At least two Democratic politicians will be murdered by disgruntled Trumpists.

At least three hurricanes, passing over warm Gulf waters, will devastate the southern coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Scotland will declare its independence from the United Kingdom.

At least two more states will adopt ranked choice voting.

The Republican party will split between supporting and opposing Trump factions.  The split will not heal.

Global warming will continue.

Don't mess with Pennsylvania

 The state of Texas has anti-littering signs that say “Don’t Mess with Texas.” The slogan has become famous.  As of today’s Supreme Court decision slapping down the Texas Attorney General’s silly lawsuit attempting to overturn Pennsylvania’s presidential election results, we have a new slogan, heard on the streets of Pittsburgh:  “Don’t fucking mess with Pennsylvania.”

106 Republicans

 That is how many Republican members of Congress signed a brief to overturn American democracy.  They joined Attorneys General from 16 states who also wish to end the experiment which began in 1787 in Philadelphia.  

Middle Eastern terrorists, the Chinese, and the Russians don’t need to lift a finger.  In our midst are people who will stop at nothing to retain power.  This is an attempt at a coup d’état.  I never thought it couldn’t happen here.  I still don’t think it will succeed, but the fact that such a large faction of American political leaders are willing to try is a catastrophe.  The fact that I don’t think it will succeed shows just how sick this nation has become.

Over 3000 people died from Covid today.  As terrible as that is, we can eventually bounce back.  I do not think we will bounce back from the attempt to overthrow our government, led by a defeated President and supported by a significant number of American government officials.

The Swiss Cheese Defense

 The Science section of Tuesday’s Times had an explanation of how best to fight the pandemic which some experts have labeled “the Swiss Cheese Defense.”  If you look at one slice of Swiss cheese, you can see through a number of holes.  If you stack ten or twelve slices together you won’t be able to see through them.

To fight Covid 19 if you only wear a mask or if you only wash your hands, it won’t be enough.  The experts divide the strategies into personal responsibilities and shared responsibilities.  Personal responsibilities include physical distancing, staying at home if you are sick, washing your hands, avoiding touching your face, and limiting your time in crowds or stores.  

Shared responsibilities would be installing air filters, staying outside, government messaging, financial support, quarantining, and ultimately, vaccines.  You could do all of those things and still get the coronavirus, but it will be extremely unlikely.

Denied

 The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by Pennsylvania Republican legislators to overturn the state’s presidential results in one sentence.  Interestingly, the legislators did not want to overturn the down ballot results–they did well in the legislative races.

Now we have an attempt by Senator Ted Cruz to overturn the results in four or five states that voted for Biden.  There are at least two problems with this.  First, I don’t see how Ted Cruz has standing to bring a legal action.  Second, Ted Cruz is an idiot.

On Jan. 20 I don’t know what Trump will be doing, but I know what Biden will be doing.  He’ll be getting inaugurated.  

Biden's Net Offensive

 Last spring many Democratic strategists worried that Biden would lose out to Trump on social media.  The Trump campaign gurus were positive they could tear Biden apart on the Net.  Brad Parscale, Trump’s campaign manager, called his campaign’s digital operation “Death Star.”

It turned out Biden’s operation was more than adequate, raising record amounts of money.  Biden had fewer followers than Mr. Trump, but the digital messaging was targeted and very effective.  Biden’s operation, just to drive the point home, was called “Rebel Alliance.”

See Kevin Roose, “How Biden Beat Trump On the Net,” New York Times, (Dec. 7, 2020), p. B1, B3.

Wearing Orange

 One of the first rules of hunting I was taught was to be sure of my target.  If you are hunting for deer, you don’t fire until you clearly see a deer, not a shape moving through the woods.

Unfortunately, many Pennsylvania hunters are evidently so eager to bag a deer that they will shoot at just about anything that moves.  Some of them may shoot at a deer, but without taking into account what is beyond that deer, not thinking that a rifle bullet can travel hundreds of yards.

And now we have Sunday hunting, which means I can’t take a Sunday walk in Beltzville State Park across the road from my house without worrying about getting shot, and I am supposed to wear fluorescent orange for the idiots who are too stupid to distinguish between a deer and a hiker.

High School Sports

 Using data from the 2014-2017 years two professors from Lock Haven University examined interscholastic participation in fall sports in Pennsylvania high schools.  Their findings were reported in the latest issue of “Rural Perspectives” published by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania.  They found that athletic participation is statistically related to decreased suspensions in rural areas, increased Keystone Exam scores in urban areas, and increased graduation rates in urban areas.  

Urban districts spend less per student athlete ($134) than do rural districts ($226).  Urban kids also participate less (22%) than rural kids (28%)

Overall participation rate average in the U.S. was 30%.  Pennsylvania was slightly above average with a participation rate of 34%.  Iowa had the highest rate at 57.5%; Nevada was lowest at 21%.  I was surprised that the Texas rate of participation was actually slightly lower than Pennsylvania’s.

Who does a U.S. Senator represent?

 If you asked me that question, I would say “The people of her or his state.”  

If I were an immigrant taking the citizenship test, that would now, under the new guidelines of the Trump administration, be marked wrong.  The correct answer, according to the administration, is “citizens” in the state.  

Actually, the Trump administration is wrong.  Bob Casey and Pat Toomey represent the people of Pennsylvania whether they be citizens or not.  

The test has also been made much harder.  For example there is a question on the 10th Amendment.  Could you tell me what is in the Tenth Amendment?  Could Trump?

The list of things that the Biden Administration has to fix gets longer every day.  This period between the election and the inauguration is way too long.

Snow falling

 We woke up this morning to a light covering of snow on the lawn with snow still falling.  I never understood why old people wanted to move to Florida and miss all the excitement of winter with its sleet and snow and ice.

So I went outside and walked up on the bank behind our house and almost immediately slipped and fell.  I have two artificial hips and one artificial knee, and I can’t afford to break my femur.  I was fine, if slightly bruised.  I understand the danger, but I will not move to Florida, where the highest point of land is only 90 feet above sea level, and Trump won the state in November.  

I will, however, be more careful when I go out walking on snow or ice.  

Improving Pennsylvania's elections

 In mid-November the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a resolution to conduct an audit of the 2020 election.  The resolution focussed on mail-in ballots and passed on a largely party line with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed.  It was obviously a political ploy to cast doubt on the results.

However Mark Pinsley, the Lehigh County Controller, is calling for a non-partisan audit of the election and explains why he thinks it would be useful.  He asks a number of pointed questions.  For example, were there enough poll workers?  Did the security envelope work, or did it just complicate things?  With 67 counties using different methods, which ones worked best?  Was there intimidation at the polling sites?  

Mr. Pinsley has a point.  This was Pennsylvania’s first real test of mail-in ballots on a massive scale, and surely we can make the system operate more smoothly.  I fear, however, that the Republican legislature won’t want to make elections run more smoothly.  They will want to game the system if the past is any guide to their behavior.

See “Why Pennsylvania should audit the 2020 election,”  Morning Call, (Dec. 1, 2020), p. 16 for all of Mr. Pinsley’s questions and suggestions.