November 4, 2020

At The Who Won Cafe...

 ... you can write about whatever you want.

82 comments:

Jon Burack said...

This is VERY disturbing. Can anyone weigh in on this?

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/11/massive-voter-fraud-in-wisconsin.php

A turnout of 88%. I do not believe this for one minute.

Readering said...

Majority Leade ran judicial appointments. Impressive set of judges.

POTUS selected who conducts election litigation. Dumpster fire.

Brad said...

What a nightmare. I was hoping it’d be decisive either way. Not this.

Political Junkie said...

Counting finally stopped in GA. Appears Trump won. Yay. He has to win PN next, but that does not look promising.

Shouting Thomas said...

The campaign of fraud and deceit finally succeeded. Trump won the election, but lost to the fraud.

Trying to take some positives out of this. Note that the rioting, looting, arson and cop killing have stopped as they no longer serve the Democrat’s needs.

I’m hoping that, similarly, the virus panic subsides and everything opens up, since the panic is no longer politically useful.

Politics is useless, except as a form of entertainment.

Whiskeybum said...

I read an article a few day ago that said some universities were planning to give students a day off after the election in case Biden lost, for some kind of emotional 'mental health' reasons. Ignoring for the moment the absurdity of college-aged students of today being coddled in this manner, something else sticks out in this administrative action: why was no similar consideration given to any students who supported Trump in the case that Trump lost the election? Did the college administrators really think that zero college students actually supported Trump, or did they think that those students could just go pound sand if their candidate lost?

Sebastian said...

Yes, Trump was a very imperfect vessel. Yes, he should have governed better. Yes, his handling of Covid hurt.

But he also did an amazing job confronting a sustained assault by the major institutions of American society and mobilizing almost as broad a coalition as seemed feasible at this time, all with energy and good cheer. He deserves credit to go with the blame.

Milwaukie guy said...

Well, I sold off my S&P Index fund today. We're looking at a big clusterfuck here.

Dammit, Trump couldn't win above the margin of fraud.

I'm going to get back to Proud Boys to see how my membership app is doing. Gird your loins.

Narr said...

@Whiskeybum850pm--

Maybe they realize that Trump-supporting students are mostly mature, and not whiny-ass babies about every little thing.

Narr
Probably not, but it's a theory

Jupiter said...

The lying, cheating, God-damned, dirt-bag Democrats are trying to steal this election. They have gotten away with it before, with the help of their co-conspirators in the MSM, and they think they can do it again. Fortunately, their corruption is manifest, and their credibility is utterly shot. I no longer believe anything they say, and there are plenty more like me. I will believe Trump lost this election when I hear him say so. It's way past time Republicans stopped going along and started playing hardball. The entire election staff of multiple counties belong in prison.

Buy ammo.

Jupiter said...

"What a nightmare. I was hoping it’d be decisive either way. Not this."

It was decisive. Trump won. That's why "this".

Shouting Thomas said...

I'm going to take a long hiatus from politics. In fact, I have been for most of the past year. Back to business.

Arguing over the resolution of this massive exercise in vote fraud and election theft is pointless, in my opinion. It's not going to be reversed.

All the arguments pro and con have already been made, and everything from here on out will be repetition.

Marshall Rose said...

Trump was not a cause, but a symptom.

What comes next is going to be worse.

Jupiter said...

They are covering the windows at the vote-counting center in Detroit, and they won't let Trump's people in. They think they can steal an election the way they steal a big-screen TV. Just run away with it, and no one will stop them.

Jupiter said...

"Did the college administrators really think that zero college students actually supported Trump, or did they think that those students could just go pound sand if their candidate lost?"

Oh, for Christ's sake. They thought -- correctly, as it happens -- that missing a day, or a week, or a year of the BS that is handed out in most of their classrooms would not be much of a disadvantage to anyone, as long as they get the shitty, little piece of paper. They may also have realized that the ones who voted for Trump are capable of dealing with injustice without losing their minds.

WA-mom said...

Ann Althouse, we desperately needed that one Wisconsin vote to save Western Civilization. I don't think it's too late to drop it off from what I've been reading.

Big Mike said...

A Canadian blogger I follow wants to know why it is the case that a Democrat gets off the hook for criminal activities while Republicans that the FBI knows to be innocent — meaning Flynn and Trump, I presume — can be harassed by that same FBI for years on the specious charges. He doesn’t actually say it, but I gather he thinks the RCMP would have more honesty. I wonder whether he’s right?

Gospace said...

Jon Burack, there's a lot of things in Wisconsin that need to be looked at. 90& or so voter turnout is possible, but unlikely. As I said in another thread- a comprehensive audit of all votes cast would likely show 1% or more voters were dead before they received their ballots. Here in NY we've told the Board of Elections several times our eldest son is a Texas resident. He was still in the election book when we voted. Voter rolls are NOT kept up to date anywhere. And that's another thing about the 90%- since rolls AREN'T updated, it's probably closer to 100% than 90.

Of course, it is easy to get 90% turnout when some wards have a 200% voter turnout.
https://mkecitywire.com/stories/564495243-analysis-seven-milwaukee-wards-report-more-2020-presidential-votes-than-registered-voters-biden-nets-146k-votes-in-city

Admittedly, a small number- but it does raise some suspicions there might be fraud going on....

Then there's the story around that over 100,000 Wisconsin ballot had only one vote recorded- for Biden. A few here and there, randomly scattered throughout the state- is normal. For both sides. 100,000 is 3% of the vote. And since the vote was so close- 6% of all Democrat votes. That's huge. If true, if those one vote ballots are randomly distributed throughout the state, maybe perhaps it's not fraud but a real statistical outlier. If they're concentrated in one county or city- then it's evidence of fraud- and the ballots should be thrown out. But do really believe that 6% of Democrat voters in the state only filled out a vote for President and left the rest of the races blank? I don't.

It was predicted mail in ballots and early voting would create chaos. It has. Entirely foreseeable and it was foreseen.

Election Day should be Election Day, in person, with proof of ID, with purple dyed finger after casting a ballot. Absentee ballots only for military and diplomatic personnel. If you can't arrange your life to be able to vote on Election Day, too bad, so sad.

William said...

We have fallen into some loop in the space time continuum. This is not the most important election ever but rather the endless election. It will go on forever and ever. For all eternity, O'Brien will ask us how many electoral votes do we see as he throws up endless permutations on some computer screen. We cannot give the right answer because there is no right answer only a quick, shifting number that flits across the screen. It will never be over and it will never stop.

Kyzer SoSay said...

I think it's pretty clear that Trump won the election. The media and leftist political operatives are doing their best to muddy the waters, but wait until the lawsuits are filed and the ballots are challenged.

We can expect that Trump's legal team is going to be absolutely cutthroat. Between incorrectly marked ballots, late returns (at least in states where that still even matters), mismatched signatures, or straight-up dead/ineligible/fictional voters, I fully expect that Trump will close the gap and come out on top.

This doesn't even address the documented and (by now) widely seen and saved videos of shenanigans in Michigan and Pennsylvania, where Republican poll watchers were denied access, GOP lawyers were ejected from polling places, and of strange cases and coolers full of . . . something . . . were brought into ballot counting places in the wee hours of 11/4 - right before several states saw massive, near-or-absolutely vertical jumps in their Biden vote counts (with 0 votes for the other candidates in the entire batch).

I could be wrong. Maybe the votes are all 100% legit, squeaky clean and fairly cast and counted. If so, and the recounts can confirm this, then good for us - we managed a nice clean election. Anyone wanna take bets on that being the case? I don't.

Maybe I'm wrong, and Trump and his lawyers will end up rolling over and abandoning challenge options and recount strategies. Maybe the fire in their belly is extinguished. But again, the man did 100 rallies in 30 days, and I don't think the coldest waters under the Ross Ice Shelf could put out the fire in his heart. If he is to lose, it will be to go down fighting.

Sally327 said...

Maybe the Hispanic vote increase on the GOP side will cause the Democrats to rethink their open borders policy.

I wonder why there are Islamic terrorist attacks happening in Europe, I mean I know why but the timing, does it mean anything as to what is being planned here possibly.

There has been so little said about foreign policy, So odd!

I predict that if Biden wins we will be told that Covid 19 is not that bad and we just have to get on with our lives.

Chris of Rights said...

I have been running the numbers, and I think the Trump camp has a legitimate case for Arizona.

There appears to be about 400,000 votes outstanding, perhaps even a bit more. Trump would need about 240,000 of them to take the lead. That would be about 60% (3/5) of the vote. They have been getting closer to 67% (2/3) of the election day vote so far.

If my count on the outstanding votes is correct, and that 2/3 ratio continues to hold, Trump should sneak across the finish line in the lead.

There are a couple big IF's there. There may be quite a bit fewer than 400,000 votes still to be counted. They may be in more Democrat leaning areas, so Trump may not get the necessary 3/5 of the vote.

So, I am not saying that Trump is definitely going to win. I am saying that there is good reason to expect that it's going to be really really really close.

I will state flatly that if my numbers are anywhere close to accurate, then Fox and AP should never have called this state. It would not surprise me at all if the final margin is a few hundred votes.

narciso said...

A bunch of new republicans boebert in co, meijer replacing amash in this selection

Milwaukie guy said...

I also noticed today that Ace is talking about starting the Fox News boycott.

I've been waiting for Ace to pull the trigger on that. I leave Fox on all day to build up their ratings, so when I stop watching it will be a bigger drop.

iowan2 said...

This is VERY disturbing. Can anyone weigh in on this?

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/11/massive-voter-fraud-in-wisconsin.php

A turnout of 88%. I do not believe this for one minute.


Looks like our host finds herself at ground zero in a political nuclear storm. Just like the dems recall Walker fiasco.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Jon Burack said...
This is VERY disturbing. Can anyone weigh in on this?

The analysis is flawed. He is comparing turnout as a percentage of registered voters this year to turnout as a percentage of eligible voters in previous years. Apples to oranges.

(Eligible voters are citizens old enough to vote who are not specifically excluded, such as felons. It is not limited to registered voters)

bagoh20 said...

I have Mexican national friends. They are even more dismayed than I am by all this. They ask me how this is allowed to happen. They see the videos, and they say "that's even illegal in Mexico, and would not happen there". They look up to America as a beacon of lawfulness and justice. That sounds corny, but they actually believed that, and they counted on us to show the world that a nation of laws is possible. That's why they want to live here, for the lawfulness. I'm embarrassed and have no answers, except that we just are not what we used to be.

They all thought Democrats were the "good" party, but they don't believe that anymore. They hated Trump four years ago, but now they see him as the victim, a kind of martyr to the corruption they thought this nation was above.

320Busdriver said...

Check out project veritas’ call from Traverse City postal worker. Was told by sup to segregate incoming ballots today and postmark with yesterday’s date. Next level cheating.

narciso said...

Bon appetit


https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=vyMHkkB5gXg

Butkus51 said...

You know what tyrants do? They cheat on elections. I guess this clears Trump of the tyrant moniker.

Enjoy.

lb said...

Are there any protests planned over the voter fraud in Milwaukee? I am going to take my Covid infected self and head down there tomorrow to do a Dem move and get something going. Why shouldn’t we riot? Seems like it’s ok on the other side.

Static Ping said...

Given that Wisconsin apparently has 90% turnout, I suspect someone voted for Ann. Perhaps more than once.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Whiskeybum said...

I read an article a few day ago that said some universities were planning to give students a day off after the election in case Biden lost, for some kind of emotional 'mental health' reasons. Ignoring for the moment the absurdity of college-aged students of today being coddled in this manner, something else sticks out in this administrative action: why was no similar consideration given to any students who supported Trump in the case that Trump lost the election?

Because it's not about mental health, it's about facilitating a riot?

OSU '92 said...

Ok Ann you know this state better than anyone. Is the WI Vote legit? Seems at least a tad “irregular” that Biden raked in 10s of thousands more votes than Hillary. In 2016. Must have been his high energy campaign that juiced turnout.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Whoa!

James O'Keefe @JamesOKeefeIII
·
2h
BREAKING: Michigan @USPS
Whistleblower Details Directive From Superiors: Back-Date Late Mail-In-Ballots As Received November 3rd, 2020 So They Are Accepted

“Separate them from standard letter mail so they can hand stamp them with YESTERDAY'S DATE & put them through"

Video at the link: https://twitter.com/jamesokeefeiii/status/1324174186366074880

pacwest said...

What a bunch of bullshit comments. First off, the numbers don't back up the whipped dog routine going on here. Second, how did it get to the point that the fraud that the Dems aren't even trying to hide become acceptable in any manner whatsoever? Lucky for us Trump isn't going to roll over so easily. This isn't even close to over. I will never bow to what has gone on.

stan said...

Professor,
Are your Democrat friends laughing, bragging or smirking? Surely everyone in the state knows just how badly they cheated?

tim in vermont said...

"POTUS selected who conducts election litigation. Dumpster fire.”

Yes. It’s much better for the winners of a disputed election to investigate any fraud that may have led to their victory. This idea that the other side should have a voice in it of any kind is obviously a “dumpster fire” from the point of view of the people committing the obvious fraud.

Lots of people have already said this, but one of the reasons we like Trump so much is that he fights. You same guys where bashing Gore for giving up too easily.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Here is more good news
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/11/covid_testing_weve_been_duped.html

Drago said...

Readering: "Majority Leade ran judicial appointments. Impressive set of judges.

POTUS selected who conducts election litigation. Dumpster fire."

What a bizarre comment.

What's wrong with the experienced litigation team (expected to argue before the Supreme Court) comprised of:
Pat Cipollone
Jay Sekulow
Alan Dershowitz
Ken Starr
Robert Ray
Pam Bondi
Jane Raskin
Eric Herschmann

I fail to see the "dumpster fire" in there.

But then again, I do recall all the historical ignoramuses (a group which includes readering as a proud member) telling us the Trump legal team had no chance against Andrew Weissman's pack of wild-eyed "whiz kid" henchmen and we all know how that turned out, don't we?

PaoloP said...

I never saw such a massive fraud in a western country.
Your country is deeply corrupted.

PaoloP said...

After the batch of 23,277 votes in PA, ALL for Biden, it's time to take up arms.

This is a coup d'etat.

doctrev said...

Good Lord, I didn't post here even once on election night. Some of the commenters are fascinating, but the fact is I have absolutely no need to throw a comment into the ether and hope that someday it's posted. No way Jose. Discord and SocialGalactic are worth infinitely more to me.

Lewis said...

What I want not to see - I'm drunk, I only talk to you when I'm drunk _ always correct - I have my spats, my tucsedo, my bowtie. what I want to see is courage - I sit in my room, coward, awaiting the enevible gloom - What am I. a three biscuit tune?I want to dioe but in a noble enterprrise, like my grandad who ended up in a swamp with a bicycle on his arm and a bar of chocolate in his pocket. Guess What he did? He eat the chocolate.

StephenFearby said...

Red State
More Info on the Funny Numbers in Michigan, Thousands of Votes May Now Be Coming Back to Trump, James

By Nick Arama | Nov 04, 2020 8:00 PM ET

Arama notes these two tweets (by different people):

"Trump did not lose #AntrimCounty in #Michigan. It is now confirmed that 32 other counties use the same software as Antrim County. He will get 6,000-plus votes out of Antrim. What about the other counties with the same software?
11:55 AM · Nov 4, 2020" (Twitter seems now to have blocked this account.)

"UPDATE: The Antrim County Clerk’s Office in Michigan told me the election program it used (Election Source) had issues and the office is now reviewing 16,047 total votes. The source I spoke with said she believes 33 other counties used the program. #postelection2020
1:03 PM · Nov 4, 2020"

https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2020/11/04/275159-n275159

ElectionSource was previously in the news in Michigan (not in a good way) during the 2018 election year:

When Websites Fail: Behind the Wayne County Voter Website Disaster

ElectionSource Says:

President of Grand Rapids-based ElectionSource, Jeffrey DeLongchamp, says the results fluctuated due to the large file size containing Wayne County results. He said the file was so “large that it caused a 15-second delay in processing old and new data. This caused results to be doubled at times.”

Wayne County Commissioner says:

Wayne County Commission vice-chair pro tempore Jewel Ware calls for an investigation. She states that the website glitches are “extremely problematic as the voting process should be error-free as well as voters should know the process is without issues.

Motherboard posts an electrifying article about the vulnerability of voting machines in Michigan, titled, “Security Seals Used to Protect Voting Machines Can Be Easily Opened With Shim Crafted from a Soda Can.”

...In the article, Matt Bernhard, a grad student at the University of Michigan and voting machine security expert, discusses the ease with which he can manipulate voting machines. He even has multiple videos where he shows how he opens different kinds of “plastic tamper-evident ties used in Michigan” in a matter of seconds.

This connects to ElectionSource in the following way: Bernhard found the types of seals and certificates used to secure Michigan’s election equipment and ballots on the Secretary of State’s website.

He then ordered two types of election seals, several paper seals, tamper-evident stickers, and election certificates from ElectionSource’s website. Bernhard said ElectionSource failed to inquire as to whom the seals were delivered. They did not ask why the items were needed nor did they ensure the transaction was to an authorized election official.

“Election Source didn’t ask him why he needed the items or conduct due diligence to ensure it was only selling to authorized election officials.” – Motherboard, October 16, 2018

The article shows a glaring issue for Michigan voters – voting machines are highly vulnerable to manipulation. They can be accessed by the public, election seals can be purchased online, and security ties can be cut (even steel locks can be easily opened in about 5 minutes, Bernhard notes.)

NOV 1, 2018
The Detroit News reports that Wayne County officials “are dumping” ElectionSource – only days before the November election.

Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett states, “Less than a few days before the election, ElectionSource has not completed the improvements and at this late juncture we are not going to utilize something that we haven’t been able to thoroughly test.” (source)

https://www.artonicweb.com/learn/wayne-county-voter-website/

tim maguire said...

One thing I’ve learned from the Trump experience is that the media still has more control over the public narrative than I thought possible in the internet age. Despite the fragmentation of the media environment and the suspicion with which nearly everyone, left and right, approaches the news these days, their ability to quash inconvenient facts and perpetuate debunked stories is far greater than I thought it would be.

Political Junkie said...

Sebastian at 8:54 - Agree.

Humperdink said...

Daughter asks: "Is Bide'n going to be president?". My response: "Don't know, not worried, the Supreme Court will decide this". Thank you Mitch.

Marcus Bressler said...

A few thoughts:

Just watched a video from CNN at least acknowledging that Trump may, indeed, come from behind and carry AZ.

Win or Lose, Trump should start the "You're Fired" routine now that legitimate voting is over. It will make the Saturday Night Massacre look like a blood blister.

When I comment on a post, I check the "Email comments" feature so I can check back later in the day or evening. For a while I was getting nothing, then just the after-the-fact Althouse comments. Any ideas from those more blogger-literate than me?

tim maguire said...

tim in vermont said...
"POTUS selected who conducts election litigation. Dumpster fire.”

Yes. It’s much better for the winners of a disputed election to investigate any fraud that may have led to their victory. This idea that the other side should have a voice in it of any kind is obviously a “dumpster fire” from the point of view of the people committing the obvious fraud.


IMO, the process should be as non-partisan as possible. As always, Trump picked accomplished professionals, who unfortunately have to be ready to see their reputations dragged through the mud by the media due to their association with him. That Republicans are able to find such talented people is itself an achievement.

Birkel said...

RE: Trump's handling of the China Flu
What, pray tell, could he have done better? Are there any specifics?

Should he have asked people in an Oval Office speech to maintain a six foot perimeter and wear masks everywhere? And if he did not order it, wouldn't he have been accused of not issuing his power to order it?

And if he had ordered it, wouldn't he have been called a tyrant?

What thing would our thoroughly corrupted press have allowed was Trump's good response?

Two mornings after the election and the local news has not mentioned China Flu. It lead the 5am and 6am shows every day for months. But now it is magically no longer news. What explains that, beside my answer of corruption?

Quit accepting the lies (what they call Narrative) of the Left. They are dishonest.

AllenS said...

If Biden eventually wins, there will be a complete surprising Communist Chinese Lung Flu Disease magically going away.

AllenS said...

Oh, and the oceans will stop rising, and the earth will be completely healed.

wildswan said...

High Noon.
Even if you don't like Trump you should be concerned that the Preidential election is being stolen before your eyes. A citizen has power because a citizen has a vote. If you allow a Presidential election to be stolen merely because you don't like Trump then you are throwing away your own citizenship. Soon an issue you care about will come up for a vote and that election will be stolen also by the same means. The election is being stolen in the cities. In Milwaukee there are precincts in which 200% of the registered voters voted (273, 274) and there are about 90 precincts in which 90% or more of the registered voters voted. This by itself is a sign of corruption. Milwaukee has an unpurged registered voters list and an unpurged list contains names of voters who have moved. In areas where many renters live it was estimated by UWM professors that 60% of the population had moved in and out within 5 years. This was during the dispute over ID in voting. Such voters would be burdened by constantly having to get new drivers licenses in order to vote, it was argued. But the point here is that on an unpurged list out of every hundred and sixty voters only a hundred can be assumed to be real voters living in that precinct so that it is mathematically impossible for hundreds of precincts to have 80 or 90 % of those on their list vote without cheating. But in Milwaukee hundreds of precincts are showing such percentages. It isn't a case of one or two precincts where some unusual situation prevails. It's many. And this has handed the Dems a wad of votes with which to outvote the rest of Wisconsin and hand the state to Biden. This is a situation which should be investigated. The journalists and media "reporters" of this era like to pose as brave souls like southern journalists opposing the grip of the Klan. Hah. They'll do nothing. All the same Trump's cause is the cause of everyone who wishes to be a citizen with a vote - not a serf, peon, peasant, slave or simple coward. Today they steal the election, tomorrow they loot your house.

tim in vermont said...

"I also noticed today that Ace is talking about starting the Fox News boycott.”

Nobody has to boycott vomit flavored milkshakes.

tim in vermont said...

"ust watched a video from CNN at least acknowledging that Trump may, indeed, come from behind and carry AZ.”

Tucker should go to CNN, and CNN should go to straight news, it actually seems like CNN owners want it to make money. The Murdoch children will be fine with Fox being reduced to a vector for favors to powerful Democrats.

effinayright said...

From now on (at least until they take me to the gulag) I will always refer to the Dems as the "Democrat Crime Syndicate", coz that's what they are.

Ray - SoCal said...

Ann’s should check if she “voted”...
https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/MyVoterInfo

iowan2 said...

Voter turn out is something easy to verify. There is a name of a registered voter attached to each ballot cast. That list should already be on a searchable data base.
The reason it is not, means its, only to facilitate voter fraud.

Chuck said...

Tweet of the day, from Windsor Mann:

“If voter fraud were real, Trump would be doing it.”

https://mobile.twitter.com/WindsorMann/status/1324337231125950464

Known Unknown said...

"After the batch of 23,277 votes in PA, ALL for Biden, it's time to take up arms."

I have been told that "batching" or "batches" are normal. However, there's not just one race or issue on the ballot, there are other tabulations that need to be made at the same time, making the concept of batching for one candidate or the other impossible, no?

We don't need no stinkin' batches.

Known Unknown said...

“If voter fraud were real, Trump would be doing it.”

The GOP doesn't own the political infrastructure in large urban centers that seem to have the most discrepancies in any given election. Think about it.

Also, GOP tends to vote day-of. Mail-in favors Democrats. Mail-ins are easier to manipulate.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

“If voter fraud were real, Trump would be doing it.”

The GOP doesn't own the political infrastructure in large urban centers that seem to have the most discrepancies in any given election. Think about it.

Also, GOP tends to vote day-of. Mail-in favors Democrats. Mail-ins are easier to manipulate.


Also, Trump wouldn't do it.

Drago said...

LLR-lefty Chuck: “If voter fraud were real, Trump would be doing it.”

Known Unknown: "The GOP doesn't own the political infrastructure in large urban centers that seem to have the most discrepancies in any given election. Think about it."

Oh, LLR-lefty Chuck knows all about democratical voter fraud and Chuckles spent several years on Althouse blog asserting with more vigor than Michael Moore hits a buffet that there has never been any voter fraud in the city of Detroit and LLR-lefty Chuck was outraged that anyone would ever have the unmitigated gall to even suggest such a thing.

If you stick around Althouseblog long enough you will come to see that nothing agitates LLR-lefty Chuck more than criticism of democrats or their policies, particularly by military veteran conservative politicians and black conservatives.

Its with black conservatives that the real inner ugliness of LLR-lefty Chuck most manifests itself with over the top racist diatribes.

But hey, that's our Chuck!

jim said...

It sure will be nice, in a few months, to never be forced to think about Trump again. Sure, I'll check once in a while, but it will no longer be force feeding.

I'm feeling better already.

Gospace said...

wildswan said...
In areas where many renters live it was estimated by UWM professors that 60% of the population had moved in and out within 5 years. This was during the dispute over ID in voting. Such voters would be burdened by constantly having to get new drivers licenses in order to vote, it was argued


You have to change your driver's license when you move in order to be able to legally drive. Or to cross borders if you've gone through the trouble of obtaining an enhanced license as I have. There's a set- but different- procedure in every state for doing this.

Also, in many large cities, particularly NYC, Chicago, and SAn Francisco, there are a significant number of adults who don't have licenses. In boot camp in 1973, of the 80 or so people in my company, the one recruit from Chicago and the two from NYC didn't have licenses. According to my sons who went through boot camp- it was the same way more than 20 years later.

Lewis said...

My grandad - what did he do? All I remember is his Chesire cat grin. What did he do? He killed people. You had to kill people in those days. What a luxury that we don't have to?

Lewis said...

Perhaps I read to much of Gibbon the 'decline and fall' - you see nobody 'learns' from history - it's all a repeated circle of want and waist. I don't that = what is inevitable - want and waist - I'd rather die than see history repeating itself - if I don't die of boredom.

Lewis said...

Poor, naked wretches, where so e’er you are,

That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,

How shall your houseless heads, and unfed sides,

Your loop'd and window’d raggedness, defend you

From seasons such as these?

King Lear Act III, Scene IV, Lines 28-32.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Getting a new driver's license in Washington State takes 5-minutes and can be done online. You can update you address via the States Express system, order a new license for $10 and update your voting information all in one session. So, don't try and argue that it's burdensome to move your address and update your voter info. There's no reason picture ID can't be required to vote.

Lewis said...

Oh hot hands upon your cruel chest =
You are a bastard who leaves by the sea
Illegitimate, a rascal -

No one likes you and yet you go towards
What you call love - a disaster
Piling up against you a tsunami of choices

Bravery is a kind of second choice -
You don't want to be brave, do you?

Lewis said...

To be left alone, not to think, not to be!

Lewis said...

Brutalities.

How many times have we heard her say
“Bring him back! Bring him back!”
Or the constant calling of a name
(Spring bird without mate);
And we,
Helpless before the incomprehensible tragedy,
Singing (duet)
“What’s wrong?” and “What can we do?”
The ache and impotence of rage
Thus then became the first limit of age.

And now,
When we have spiralled
To the wider (maybe limiting) view
It comes to seem that that ‘great tragedy’
Was the farce that broke the cow.

And all that ache and strain and pain
(Burning in a bottle)
Was it (in our wide, wild children’s eyes)
The last ditched nobility of a twitched body
Singing: “John, John, John, John!”

And now:
“Mother, mother, mother, mother!”

Lewis said...

Shadow Of Identity.

Sentence of mine
With its long vowel,
Soft, affluent memory
Whose candle contrast
Of bright, irrepressive years
Sings a weakened song
Of identity, fatal lure:

A mind's green rock fading grandly;
And, here, irreversible masts of straw,
The spewed tatter tossed on endless,
Flat foot, trampled beaches:

Young, who laughed merely,
Was silent, dumb:
The extra, added shadow
Of a summer or autumn day
Lingering like memory.

Lewis said...

Moments.

Set in the lingered
Pivot of preparation
Each moment passes
With a senseless silence,
Detained, expectant,
‘Whose vast countenance is’
A ragged roof of stars.

This tramp life deserts me:
Now and then glazed moments,
Unmeasured penetration, forgetful
Of certain disgusts, tastes:
Habit formed flickers
Washed on impatient pools
Of misplaced want.

Deserted, sense of self
Is packed in the film flamed
Bubble of eye, is lost
In the washed refuge of sea:

Space of vortexed cartons
And cans, place of whispers,
Centre of blown, discarded lies:
At moments indifferent, absorbed.

Lewis said...

Picture It.

The farce of a young man playing the prodigal son –
It’s a tired act to follow: a self proclaimed wordsmith
Weaving a web to catch a fly: it took six years
“But she just walked right through.” “It was thin air to her.”
Now, the last act, he works to a proper sentiment
And dies. Tragedy. Move on to the next case.

A girl, tenuous grab of life, she tries hard not to slip,
Forces ignore her – it is to hard to find foot space.
What could she do without all those clothes?
Keep the characters strict and few and so pass through life
Singing the two songs. Edge between with lyrical politeness,
Last , ‘but a presence in the air’, stubbornly,
Till on her ninetieth birthday she falls into her soup.
And the words so well prepared. Tragedy two.

Let the final picture form: world where everywhere
There are mirrors, each face but a looking glass
And each endearingly peering in the others face.
Picture the ‘empathy’, the moments of ‘shared passion’,
The ‘care of the self’, see the ‘theatrical’ parents,
Feel the ‘ambition'. Each one circling
A dedicate task stuck in the centre
Of their ‘selves’ and called ‘soul’: picture it.

Lewis said...

The Age Of Darkness.

The chatter on the wind is the irritation
Of the street: drunks or illiterate poor
Claiming back bitter heritage of dark
Or barbaric recompense of pillage.
The habited Romans on their destined sword
Of solitary circlings; burnt books,
Artefacts in whose flames is seen the death
Of some peculiar, personal march
To some incongruous goal. Not sacrificed
But burnt with the words and flaming tongue
Taking all in a lying confession
Of confounded biographies.
The time heralded on an ox skin drum
And thus brought to a passive, anonymous march,
A prayer of strangers.

Lewis said...

Labyrinth.

The street is a thought
Redeemed by its being empty.
And though I expect you
It is only now as sleep
Its knowledge of forgetfulness:
Soft on the pavement, a bruise
Before the blows of emptied halls,
Uncertain cries, the poverty of clubs –
I expect you like you your drugs
A pleasure more in keeping
With wished for happiness than
The reality of a wide awake buzz.
Or, you a child, one of the many,
Lost in a Minoan fold,
A labyrinthine fantasy,
A Minotaur expecting
Your Perseus, your Ariadne?

Lewis said...

Thank you

Lewis said...

Anne, thank you for allowing my stupid poetry to be seen, you're noble and good and I abuse that - I'm sorry. Forgive me?

Lewis said...

The Apology.


                      .I.

The heat folded in an airless layer.
So you see my seeming arctic heart
How foolish this tearful child and babbling eye
Which is drunk and staggers,
Broken below your stairs.

We never could lift up our waxen wings
Or lifted did not the hateful, burning accident
Dissolve then drown its flesh? You and I
Adrift among the pillared trees,
Charred in our two dreams wary sleep.
We float on the lazy but then unstoppable streams.

So, to be left in the arctic land,
Here, where the bell broods hollow.
Among the clattering ice
Of your eyes dream
Never where we so formed
Nor oned like our lips seal.

Then darling (you permit me thus?)
I have fought the darker things
That instant light extinguished,
That here with fortune rise.
And age but the second tide.
Oh, perhaps sensed beneath the skin
Youths wild but aesthetic bone.

Then how we might laugh, how dream
As the tedium formed stalagmites
Count our mortality.
Blushes for the flesh
And a pointed limestone world.


Yes. But love? Words that patter on the floor:
It will not utter, it will not speak, disclose.
Our memory will blow like dust in the common wind,
Absorbed in a million pores it will forget itself.

.II.

I have fought this long hard day to contain you
But you where ever braver than I:
Will I always, thus, fall under your hammer
Auctioned at the obscurest price?

And how, then, do the ages tell
You from your dalliance,
Those ages that could never tell
Old bones from new dust.

And how then, pray, will you find
A companionable skeleton
There for me to commune
Through it’s blown skin ribs?



                   .III.

Our talk has a fungal form
Or metaphysic and directed down
From some ill hell it wiry swells
Like creeping ivy through the gloom.
Sad and distempered a fiery rage
Infects its veins and illuminates
A wistful steam that pales the face.

And, how, across this space,
That when I look stretches dizzy,
As if with ambition coils the Earth,
Can we again drown the cold
In ignorant passion?
Our desires recoil and wrap
In frigid, spiritful fire
Till love is all but a little,
Indistinguishable, sanctuary flame
For how long burning?

If the branches here do touch
Can the steal there then melt?
And, if inflamed, would you despise
The uncontrolled, fast beating heart
Or, then, mourn ices wavering
Or unwished loss of our loved
Stone, statuesque, seeming godhead?



                        .IV.

Caught in the webbed distraction of a gaze
Buzzed impossibilities, Utopic dreams.
Your breath dragged at a thousand coattails
Saying seeming unity. I was aware of slurs
Genetic tales drowned in its inaction.

And you said: ”Then this sole point I put there?”
“Our land marks, thus devised in the conscience,
Display an open world, inessential.
Such mortality and such the way its tunes
Out echo as the corpse the body.” So thus I.

Lewis said...

A Winter Poem


i

My right hand in her left hand – so they say.
Those best word we had and yet neither
God nor man could join us. But this
Is pointless, to see one smile and break and be angry
Because you could never tell what it meant.
To want the resurrection, now – why disturb
The dead? We only joked because we enjoyed
The others pain. Or guilt


ii

If I see you again and every night
Am I then better? Will I become good?
Will I love their souls, even broken?
Or laugh in a new birth? I am a bitter, bitter man,
A hollow world that falls away, a sun
That has left me in darkness, the vision
Of even others happiness I must decry.
O god, O world, , O woman – if one smile
Could disturb these stone why not
Again and again and again?


iii

Ten thousand cuts, ten thousand blows, a beating
And then to stand all night, to stare at a corner,
To joke, maybe, with your friendly betrayers
And then watch them march into death, your left
With a word, like a photograph, which says “This face is harmless.”
I don’t wish to be in this world. You wish to be
Unhappy, don’t you? You have no right to that.


iv

Dirty and unshared and in a miserable room
Winter has written our desire upon this wall
Because I am what you, perhaps, must want,
This writer. A liar, true, a thief, also, a pornographer,
A self-hater, a wanter of mans destruction,
All these things and more.
Love which bringeth understanding.


v

The eloquence a persuasion of God –
To ‘believe’, I suppose, was what I meant.
Or not to believe but to know. Because an Angel
Pressed against me. I felt his lips.


vi

No joy talking to oneself, being alone,
No joy, again, in sex, no joy in delight
Over a face seen again, no morning
Waking because you had kissed me,
No love in tears or smiles or that said “I love you.”
No love for me or you or this morning,
Just damnation, the coldest fire that could ever burn.


vii

If the streets were colder, only colder,
I could force back a time when hand in hand
I caught something of your smile.
Extremes, they say, can produce illusion
Which I could grasp, never let go
Of your presence, however mad.


viii

Chalk on the pavement
Water is a sore destroyer
Whatever trace people leave
The city will illuminate
The very same world
Even on the last day
The pavement will be laid
Sorrow or joy do not counter
What is permanent
This the same rain
That rained before

Choose merely now, then,
Forget our yesterday,
The darling face, the nay
Against belief, remember
The street must return
Shouts that defy or plead
And you, before you sleep,
Must try to make room
For tomorrow
By listening to this rain,
Today.