wowsa

reject straightlining

The Republican National Convention lit up Milwaukee between 15 and 18 July. Senator JD Vance became the Party’s 2024 vice presidential nominee 5 weeks ago today before he and FPOTUS led placard-totting crowds on the convention center floor advocating mass deportations on day one. The attacks on various Democratic candidates sounded as if the conventional hall were in a time warp. On the evening of the 18th, the FPOTUS displayed his immigrant wife, children, and team before the adoring delegates as if celebrating genuine election results on 5 November among a tiny segment of the world.

What a difference a single weekend can make, much less five weeks of events.

As we all awoke on Sunday, 21 July, profound disgruntlement, disappointment, and dread over President Biden’s determination to remain atop the 2024 Democratic ticket ran rampant. Unbeknownst to all but a single digit number of people the president notified of his change of mind, Biden would issue a global tweet at 1345 terminating his candidacy.

While Biden did not endorse his hand chosen vice president in the same stroke, the pent up energy for a new generation, a bi-racial woman, and a new team overflowed as people appalled at Donald Trump’s apocalyptic ramblings and threats envisioned a campaign open to a manifestly different candidacy.

All of this happened over the past five weeks or 35 days. Thirty-five days.

Straightlining that Republicans felt so about 35 days ago proved incorrect; will Democrats make the same mistake?

Any time anyone tells us he or she is positive about the trajectory in our world, be skeptical. Actions create consequences in small and huge ways. Biden could have stayed in the race but did not. Trump could have chosen a candidate less prone to ridiculous insults to a significant constituency. Biden could have passed away in 1988 when he suffered a major embolism or JD Vance could have succumbed to the fentanyl crisis himself. The Roberts Court could have rejected the partisan appeal to protect FPOTUS from time in court or Nancy Pelosi could have acqueisced to Biden’s candidacy in light of her work with him over decades rather than boxing him out through a television interview.

All of that means we do not know what the next 77-154 days will bring. We can see trends but those projections do not guarantee the outcome. People play into this world more than they realize while cynicism, frustration, and money seem to preclude the average person from making a difference. Things happen, often unexpected, unforecasted, and quietly, rather than always front and center for everyone’s attention.

Thank you for reading Actions this morning and any other day. I welcome any and all feedback so please chime in. Thanks especially to the subscribers whose financial support enables me to read an absurd number of sources in thinking about these questions.

It was another glassy sunrise on the Creek following impressive rains yesterday and overnight

Be well and be safe. FIN