November 19, 2023

"In the vanilla-scented office of Abby Rose Spirit, under the glow of Turkish ceiling lights, she tapped her white Skechers on an Oriental rug and listened to a voice she found soothing."

The voice was her psychic, asking "You know how they have those amusement park cars? It’s like you’re in the go-kart and you feel like something is going to smash into you." And the woman, Kathy Nichols, 58, "thought: Navigating life on Wisconsin’s northeastern thumb was stressful enough. Why did she have to worry about the country’s chaos, too? 'It’s overwhelming,' she agreed."

I'm trying to read this Washington Post article about Wisconsin, "In a swing Wisconsin county, everyone is tired of politics."

It's Door County, not my county, so I have no first-hand account, not that anyone has a first-hand account — even in a limited geographical area — of how "everyone" feels. But why is there are front-page WaPo article about feelings in Door County, Wisconsin, and who cares about the ceiling fixtures and ambient odor of the office of a psychic and the footwear of a random client? 

Based on the headline, I gather this means something about what might happen in the election a year from now and whether Trump-o-phobes ought to panic or sit tight. This is a long article. Let's see...
The emerging choices for the 2024 race further sour the mood. Support for Trump in Door County tends to be stronger in the south, a redder expanse of dairy farms, while Biden is more embraced in the north, a bluer enclave of lakefront vacation homes....

So the Democrats are the party of the rich now, and the GOP is the party of the working class. That's an alarming/exciting development, but WaPo wants readers to regard it as all too tiresome to think about. Kathy Nichols, the psychic's client, says Biden is "not super impressive" and Trump exhibits "mean girl behavior." She preferred Barack Obama, who made her feel calmer. 

Anyway, the article goes on to tell us about a few other Door County residents. They seemed to be tired of politics in the sense of being tired of letting politics interfere with their social interactions and their peace of mind. Really, you don't need to be paying attention to politics all the time and there are many better things to talk about with the people you encounter in everyday life. That doesn't mean you won't put some time into deciding who to vote for in the end and showing up at the polls — or mailing in the ballot if that's how you vote these days.

By the way, Trump won Door County in 2016, and Biden won Door County in 2020, and "It’s the swingiest place in the perennial battleground of Wisconsin and one of nine U.S. counties that has backed every presidential election’s winner since 2000."

43 comments:

Paddy O said...

"more embraced in the north, a bluer enclave of lakefront vacation homes"

Because the owners of those homes live in cities that are blue and vote twice? Once for each of their homes?

Rusty said...

Did they interview anybody but chi-chi shop owners? You know they build ships in Sturgeon Bay. They could of interviewed some skilled tradesmen.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

A long politics article that starts out saying everyone is tired politics.

I've never seen that writing device before. How innovative.

Sebastian said...

"So the Democrats are the party of the rich now"

Now? Anyway, they still have lots of welfare state clients and single women on their side as well. IOW, a majority in most places.

"She preferred Barack Obama, who made her feel calmer."

Behold, the American voter.

Bob Boyd said...

Cut the telegraph wires. All that unbridled nativist savagery is upsetting the good people of Door County.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

In Door County
I was a lineman
Forbidden Door to Door
Everybody must have
First-hand Amazon account

ga6 said...

Door is now populated by the very rich and those who feed off them. They share a mindset, voting pattern, similar to the first new rich on the tip of Long Island. Sam Subin must be rolling in his grave.

Bob Boyd said...

At 58, Kathy Nichols can do whatever she wants, but if my psychic tells me she sees a go-kart smashing into me, I'm stayin' away from amusement parks for a while. It's just common sense.

mikee said...

TIL what Turkish lighting looks like, cuz I googled it after wondering why it was important enough to be noted. The story would have a different angle completely if the psychic worked in a room lit by LED pseudo-fluorescent fixtures, or Gaia forbid, incandescents.

Big Mike said...

while Biden is more embraced in the north, a bluer enclave of lakefront vacation homes....

So limousine liberals who are still pissed at Trump for eliminating the SALT deductions.

So the Democrats are the party of the rich now, and the GOP is the party of the working class.

The rich and the non-working poor, yes. But this happened in 2016. Do try to keep up.

That's an alarming/exciting development, but WaPo wants readers to regard it as all too tiresome to think about.

I wonder why that is? Hmm.

The Crack Emcee said...

"Who cares about the ceiling fixtures and ambient odor of the office of a psychic and the footwear of a random client?"

The Reporter and the Editor, Silly. Does the hiring of a witch named Sally Quinn to be the WaPo Religion Editor not clue you in yet? Who do you think is buying all that expensive GOOP shit Chris Cuomo's wife promotes? (Who else can?) Who cared that Ross Apologize to Phoebe's Mom Who is a Cat? The writers and their corporate overlords. Who said "New Age is establishing itself as the
ideology of capitalism" and when? Slavoj Žižek in 2001. And, of course, NewAge was Hitler's religion, taking the world over a cliff, forever.

So, by 2005, the deed was done and we'd entered the Age of Unreason. BTW, that was the same year further warnings, like the Enemies of Reason and and behaving like it. Nothing's been the same since.

Now - after a VP who dated Montel Williams - Democrats are talking about running Gavin Newsom for President. The same Gavin Newsom who slept with his Best Friends wife, and then married a NewAge "empath," in a ceremony presided over by an Author, spiritual healer and "intuitive consultant".

And believe me, THEY definitely care about the ceiling fixtures and ambient odor of the office of a psychic and the footwear of a random client.

The Crack Emcee said...

REVISED PARAGRAPH:

"Who cares about the ceiling fixtures and ambient odor of the office of a psychic and the footwear of a random client?"

The Reporter and the Editor, Silly. Does the hiring of a witch named Sally Quinn to be the WaPo Religion Editor not clue you in yet? Who do you think is buying all that expensive GOOP shit Chris Cuomo's wife promotes? (Who else can?) Who cared that Ross Apologize to Phoebe's Mom Who is a Cat? The writers and their corporate overlords. Who said "New Age is establishing itself as the
ideology of capitalism" and when? Slavoj Žižek in 2001. And, of course, NewAge was Hitler's religion, taking the world over a cliff, forever.
?

So, by 2005, the deed was done and we'd entered the Age of Unreason. BTW, that was the same year further warnings, like the Enemies of Reason and How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World detailed how Hillary, Bill, Tony, and Cherie, etc, were dabbling in the occult and behaving like it. Nothing's been the same since.

Now - after a VP who dated Montel Williams - Democrats are talking about running Gavin Newsom for President. The same Gavin Newsom who slept with his Best Friends wife, and then married a NewAge "empath," in a ceremony presided over by an Author, spiritual healer and "intuitive consultant".

And believe me, THEY definitely care about the ceiling fixtures and ambient odor of the office of a psychic and the footwear of a random client.

Joe Smith said...

"In the vanilla-scented office of Abby Rose Spirit, under the glow of Turkish ceiling lights, she tapped her white Skechers on an Oriental rug and listened to a voice she found soothing."

It's Asian!

Is everyone in WI a racist?

Most people are white so I guess that answers the question...

Bob Boyd said...

Who cares about the ceiling fixtures and ambient odor of the office of a psychic and the footwear of a random client?

It could have been worse. They could have described the ambient odor of a random client's footwear.

Paul Zrimsek said...

Say what you will about the old-fashioned pith-helmet pieces the establishment press used to run, but at least the reporters actually went out into the bush and observed the strange ways of the natives at first hand. Now they just sit on the veranda of the Raffles Hotel and sip mint juleps.

gilbar said...

not that anyone has a first-hand account — even in a limited geographical area — of how "everyone" feels.

spoken like someone that doesn't believe in "psychics"!
Next, you'll be telling us that diluting a homeopathic remedy DOESN'T make it more effective!!!

TRUST the science.. i mean the scientists.. i mean the shamans

Narr said...

Oriental rug?

That's racist, straight up.

n.n said...

Pendulum politics.

n.n said...

WaPo et al rhetorical style guide advises emotionally appealing reporting, or, pethaps, it's just journalistic flare to exorcise their creative side... just the facts, ma'am.

Wilbur said...

Who are bigger fraudsters, professional psychics or pro astrologers?

When I learned the Reagans had a serious association with an astrologer, my opinion of them dropped more than a little.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

New Age click bait served up as Sunday morning Crack MC bait. This could not be more in his wheelhouse unless Althouse posted a hot link to one of his videos.

(Side note: my iPhone updated to the latest OS last night and is surprisingly good at anticipating my word choices, an ability it didn’t exhibit very often over the last few months. But now it’s insisting I type every letter of “COVID” as if it’s part of great national push to embrace a mass amnesia about the egregious abuse of our rights we endured during the fake pandemic.)

Whiskeybum said...

A good deal of those northern vacation homes will also be flying Bears/Cubs flags. What does that tell you?

Gerda Sprinchorn said...

"Navigating life on Wisconsin’s northeastern thumb was stressful enough."

Any idea why life in Door County might be considered abnormally stressful? I would have thought the opposite.

Sounds like its just a lazy journalism trope.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

"In the vanilla-scented office of Abby Rose Spirit, under the glow of Turkish ceiling lights, she tapped her white Skechers on an Oriental rug and listened to a voice she found soothing. The voice was her psychic, asking "You know how they have those amusement park cars? It’s like you’re in the go-kart and you feel like something is going to smash into you." And the woman, Kathy Nichols, 58, "thought: Navigating life on Wisconsin’s northeastern thumb was stressful enough. Why did she have to worry about the country’s chaos, too? 'It’s overwhelming,' she agreed."

Will she be going down to the Trans-Lux later to hiss Roosevelt?

rcocean said...

So, this is just an article echoing the one about David Sedeais, Trump is out of office, Biden is terrible, so lets just forget about politics and go fishing. I guess Biden really IS doing a bad job. THe WaPo can't convince people that Biden is a positive, so they're defaulting to "Hey, don't care", just close your eyes and vote D in November 24.

Then if Trump is elected, we can go back to screeching like hysterical morons about Trump destroying America or becoming a Dictator.

rcocean said...

BTW, I never trust these idiotic "People in X feel Y" pieces. The reporters go somewhere and talk to six people and use quotes from them to support what they wanted to write in the first place.

RMc said...

When people say they are "tired of politics", what they mean is they're tired of those awful people who disagree with them.

Joe Bar said...

As a person of Asian/Oriental persuasion, I give you permission to use either term. The WAPo is still RACIST, though.

EAB said...

I live in Door County - the north part. About 20 minutes north of Sturgeon Bay, the county seat. The described split is true…retired wealthy tend to vote blue. As well as the loyal union types. Anyone who finds living here stressful is the kind of person who just finds life itself stressful. Virtually every business outside Sturgeon Bay, the county seat, is locally owned. People are busy and work hard…just like a lot of places.

It’s funny. I go to Madison and Milwaukee and I can feel an almost oppressive political focus. The “blueness” in the atmosphere is noticeable and inescapable. It’s the type of place where I've spent most of my life - where everyone assumes everyone they meet has the same viewpoint. In contrast, up here people do the normal complaining about Washington but it’s not a huge topic of discussion. And I can’t really tell you with certainty most folks’ politics. One thing I disagree with in the article. Although the overall gay community may be small, it’s highly visible and active. Bailey’s Harbor, which once was the most blue-collar town, sports the most pride flags.

walter said...

"Story by Danielle Paquette and Sabrina Rodriguez
Photography by Carolyn Van Houten"

Howard said...

She likely expresses wider American feminine angst because many have lost their tribal support system. The atomization of societal intercourse causes a disconnect from indigenous archetype. Thus the patronage of soothsayers and heelers. The real solution is to join a bowling league.

Josephbleau said...

"In the vanilla-scented office of Abby Rose Spirit, under the glow of Turkish ceiling lights, she tapped her white Skechers on an Oriental rug and listened to a voice she found soothing. The voice was her psychic, asking "You know how they have those amusement park cars? It’s like you’re in the go-kart and you feel like something is going to smash into you." And the woman, Kathy Nichols, 58, "thought: Navigating life on Wisconsin’s northeastern thumb was stressful enough. Why did she have to worry about the country’s chaos, too? 'It’s overwhelming,' she agreed."

This is like listening to NPR on Saturday afternoon, except on NPR you get to listen to 15 seconds of Spanish guitar playing after every paragraph.

Rabel said...

There are pictures. Obviously Kathy has been having great difficulty dealing with the stresses of everyday life in Door County, Wisconsin.

Her coping mechanisms involve Psychic readings and cheese.

Lots and lots and lots of delicious Wisconsin cheese.

Maybe some of those fried cheese curd things too.

Will Cate said...

Loath as you are to add new tags, I nevertheless have another one to suggest:

"Trying To Read"

Jamie said...

EAB, my family roots are in Baileys Harbor - I still have family there. My great-uncle built the golf course in town. When I used to write letters to my maiden great-aunts who took care of my great-grandmother until her death, it was sufficient to address the envelope with their names and "Baileys Harbor, WI."

Only 2 pieces of the family still live there now, but we have a family reunion in Baileys Harbor every 4th of July weekend that ranges from about 50 to maybe 150 attendees. Lately the family photo sessions have started including a picture of all the gay and lesbian couples in the family - the oldest ones my beloved aunts, now around 70yo and together since their 30s, the youngest in their early 20s. I know my aunts' politics and can make a stab at the politics of the other LG couples (no one in that cohort has kids at this point), but I don't know about the rest of the family.

Jamie said...

Also - I don't understand why anyone fries cheese curds. They're the world's best cheese all on their own.

gadfly said...

You will be happy to learn that there are indeed some 3,000 adult sturgeon in Door County's Sturgeon Bay, but ice-fishing for 40,000 of these large fresh-water fish would be easier in land-locked Lake Winnebago stretching between Appleton and Fon Du Lac. Grab your spear, gear, and beer, load up your SUV, then drive out on the ice.

gadfly said...

Trump received less than half of Door County's 20,000 votes in both 2016 and 2020 when third-party votes were included. Libertarian Gary Johnson received close to 1.5% of the county votes in 2016 and Trump had less than 49%.

So what is all this BS about dairy and orchard farmers (dependent upon government-imposed milk pricing and farm bill giveaways) vs owners of fancy vacation homes? I would think that the part-time residents on the north end of the Door Peninsula would be required to vote elsewhere.

gadfly said...

Jamie said...
Also - I don't understand why anyone fries cheese curds. They're the world's best cheese all on their own.

All cheese starts as curdled milk using bacteria. As for fried curds, you likely eat more cooked cheese known as processed cheese than any other kind since it stands up to heat on a Mickey D grill.

EAB said...

Jamie - what a wonderful treat to have a reunion in Baileys Harbor! The new park on the water is beautiful, by the way. Our next door neighbor (and my husband’s best HS friend) is a BH guy going way back and still considers himself such even though he now lives in Egg Harbor. I have a PO Box, so all it would take is my name and zip code to get an envelope to me….

Jamie said...

Gadfly, what's your point? I was saying I love cheese curds, unfried. They were always my favorite treat when I'd visit my WI relatives as a child - "squeaky cheese," my grandfather called them.

What are you going on about?

Jamie said...

you likely eat more cooked cheese known as processed cheese than any other kind since it stands up to heat on a Mickey D grill.

Also, speak for yourself.

And also, "standing up to heat" is not why fast food places use processed cheese. They use it for cost reasons and because it melts smoothly. [eye roll]

Jamie said...

EAB - I don't make it to our family reunion every year, but I love it when we can get there! The main event is usually at the farmhouse home of one of us - a cousin of some degree whom I confess I forgot about, so I guess I have three pieces of family still there, not two. Another set of cousins has a lovely place on Kangaroo Lake where they host lunch, dinner, and boat parade viewing/participation on the Fourth itself. Breakfast (with the rest of town) at the firehouse on the Saturday. Mass at Stella Maris on the Sunday, offered for all of us who have passed. A golf tournament at Maxwelton Braes, which as I mentioned my great-uncle founded but the family no longer has any ownership in. It's a super fun time!