I've been trying to avoid dwelling too much on politics

 

"Hail! Hail! Freedonia, Land of the free and the brave."

Around 90 years ago, the 4 Marx Brothers made a movie called "Duck Soup" which lampooned the lead up to war and the absurdity of fighting that war.  I wonder what witticisms Groucho would say if he were still around to see the Orange Snowflake make a mess of America and the world.

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Only a fool would take the GOP speaker of the house seriously when he blamed the House of Representatives' shutdown on Zohran Mamdani's run for Mayor of NYC.  How could a man from an opposition party, not involved in the Federal Government be the cause of the shutdown?  Sadly, this is the level of lunacy that passes for GOP logic these days.

As I see it, we will have some interesting pain points for DC politicians coming up as I write the entry:

• 11/01/25 - SNAP Benefits (Food Stamps) & ACA Healthcare Subsidies End.
  
  This is going to hurt poor people, especially in the GOP run states.  Families will not have the funds to buy enough food for their families, nor will they be able to pay the healthcare insurance premiums coming due in 2026.
   
• 11/04/25 - Election Day.
  
  Although there will be no nationwide election, several local elections may indicate how disenchanted people are with what's going on in Washington, DC and tell us who they blame for the impasse.
  
  
• 11/05/25 - The Shutdown becomes the longest in American History.
  
  It will be over a month since the last full paycheck for virtually all Federal workers (save for the Post office).  Given that most people in America live paycheck to paycheck, and that they are 3 paychecks away from financial disaster, the pain becomes very real for most government workers.
  
  
• 11/21/25 - The day the GOP's Continuing Resolution Bill expires.
  
  This is an interesting date.  The speaker of the house has kept the house out of session, so that the newly elected representative from Arizona can't be sworn in.  Why is this?  He doesn't want the 218th vote to be cast, so that a house resolution makes it to the floor, calling for the Epstein Files to be released.
  
  If the house stays out of session, there is no Continuing Resolution bill for the senate to approve, so the House GOP line that the Senate Democrats must pass the bill to reopen the government.  At this point the speaker has a hard decision to make: Does he keep the house shut down and be THE cause of the shutdown?  Or, does he bring the house members back in session, and see the Epstein File resolution pass?  
  
  

Sadly, the Democrats in the Senate caved before this entry was to go live.  In one sense, this is a good thing, as the GOP didn't decide to "Go Nuclear" and eliminate the filibuster. (I did not support this option, as I was "all in" on the shutdown.)  At least, we'll get some movement towards releasing the Epstein files, now that the congresswoman from Arizona has been sworn in.

 

New York City has nominated a Muslim Socialist for Mayor

Zohran Mamdani, a name you'll be hearing more of over the next few months.  He recently became the presumptive winner of the of the Democratic Primary nomination for the NYC Mayoral election taking place this fall.  Why is this important?

America's "Leftist" party has had to move to the center to capture voters who have been abandoned by the GOP and the MAGA cult that hijacked it.  Unfortunately, the Democrats do not excite many people due to the lies spewed by the GOP and their propaganda outlets.  Whenever people like AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) and Bernie Sanders hold meetings in "Red States" friendly to the Orange Snowflake, they get a large vocal audience which supports Democracy and wants to fight our Oligarchy.  The question is: Is this a fringe movement?

I think the recent NYC election which made Zohran the likely winner of the NYC Mayoral election (rarely do people other than Democrats win the election here) also is a reflection of a sea change in American politics.  Gone are the people who would support Andrew Cuomo (NYS's former governor) because he is an experienced, but flawed leader.  Most NYC residents want real change.  If Zohran wins, he owes little to the traditional Democratic Party machine.  But he will have problems because no one owes him anything. 

How much of a liability is this?  Given that the city is too big to fail, I figure that it can survive 4 years with an incompetent mayor, as it has done in the past.  Yet, it signals a great opportunity for people on the left, as it means that there is a strong message that can be used to fight the GOP - if only more people could jump on the bandwagon.  As much as I am an economic conservative, I am a social liberal.  And I think that this primary election could signal a sea change in American attitudes taking place soon.

 

Keep your fingers crossed.