I don't know what to think about , Dad most of the times he says he doesn't personally like Trump and then he'll say that whatever Trump does is bad but then kind of try to downplay or minimize whatever it is so it's not that bad or the Left is just as bad so it's both sides are to blame.

And I lied I didn't basically hang up on him, I literally did that.

I did text him and say what I did was childish and wrong and I'm regret what I did and that I love him. I was going to say "but I'm really upset about whatever" but then it doesn't really matter because what I did was rude and I should have ended the conversation earlier or not brought up topics but I did.

My dad won't change. I think I keep hoping since Mom did he will, but he is not going to. He's still the same man who went to Mom when I was 16 or 17 and said he was worried I was going to grow up to be a feminist.

ltc is in bed TCG is home, and thank goodness I made extra margaritas last night.

I've been able to avoid thinking about the election for the most part because of health woes for my mom and cats. Mom thinks she had a pancreatitis attack Monday night like the one that put her in the hospital years ago. Since it only happened the one night so far and she'd been having problems due to a hiatal hernia, I'm fervently hoping it was just the latter acting up when she had some acidic/oily salad dressing after a couple weeks of avoiding such. Both my cats are sick with what the vet thinks may be feline calicivirus, Jackson with a mild case that we're hopefully nipping in the bud and Molly badly enough that she's been at the animal hospital for a week and is currently on her second round of IV antibiotics.

Meanwhile the one healthy cat in the apartment is bouncing off the walls without the others to pester, and focusing his puppy-like need for attention on me 16 hours a day. Oh, and a workman my landlord hired demolished the back deck without warning this afternoon, so I have to find places for my plants to get sunlight yet avoid passing skateboarders, drunks, and homeless people with full bladders by tomorrow morning. (Kudos to the super, who built a sturdy set of steps to the back door from scrap wood in 20 minutes after surveying the wreckage. I'd have thought that the work of at least a full day for one man, even a very handy one!)

Those are not pleasant distractions, Matt. Health~ma all around!

Reading the results of the Wisconsin district races is infuriating. Dems win all their races by 30+ points and the GOP all of theirs by a comfortable 10%. So many "wasted" Dem votes by our ridiculous gerrymandering.

Gerrymandering in Wisconsin is criminal. 60 percent of the votes cast are Democrats and yet the state assembly is just 36 percent Democrat. After 2010, they did a number on the state and we are fucked for decades.

I have to go back to work tomorrow. Even when this is over, it won't be over. I'm tired.

askye, that sounds agonizing. I'm so sorry.

Related to your argument about Covid, I happened to look at the Johns Hopkins Covid tracker this morning at about 7:30, and then again at about 4 this afternoon, and in less than 10 hours over 1,000 Americans died. One of the worst death rates since the pandemic started.

Definitely one of the things that helped heal my relationship with my dad near the end of his life was our mutual loathing of Trump and his growing realization that, even though he was considered conservative by Bay Area standards, he was really a moderate Dem in the eyes of the entire rest of the country and if he wanted his old GOP back his only possible hope was to start *voting* like a moderate Dem. (Of course even his old genteel GOP was problematic in a billion ways that I could have hammered on, but I had to pick my battles to keep him moving forward--and I won just about every one I picked.)

If he'd been a Trump supporter or even a flabby apologist, I'm absolutely certain our relationship could not have survived.

Gerrymandering in Wisconsin is criminal.

2022 midterms, ISTG we're going to have to put as much energy into state-level races as House and Senate.

{{{{Buffistas}}}}, continued ~ma.

I'm bummed that ranked choice voting didn't pass in MA. I was hoping it would be a good aid to wider democracy.

Health~ma for all of your loved ones, Matt.

JZ, I had a similar experience with my dad toward the end of his life. He was a nearly-life-long Republican, but he was also a science teacher with a healthy respect for math and reality. He voted for Bush senior but he then voted for Obama the year before he died. My sister actually took longer to peel from the Republican crazy machine, but the combo of Trump and a granddaughter who needs a world that’s not on fire to live in seems to have done the trick.

{{Buffistas}}

Matt, health~ma all around. Reasonable theory with your mom. Now that I rarely eat some things if I have them on occasion I pay a price. Bodies be annoying.

Gerrymandering in Wisconsin is criminal. 60 percent of the votes cast are Democrats and yet the state assembly is just 36 percent Democrat. After 2010, they did a number on the state and we are fucked for decades.

The state fight is one that has to happen. My own district in the state was taken by the GOP again, for the same reason. I have to say the WisDems did a fabulous job with the fundraising efforts. They had some great events. I hope they keep up the effort.

Just so tired. Everyone in my orbit is on edge and exhausted. It is rough.

Sweet story I don't know if I shared about working the polls this year. I have voted in this precinct for 35 years. For countless elections I looked forward to seeing my neighbor Calvin. We would joke about living 1/4 mile from each other and seeing each other 2-3 times a year depending on the election calendar. Calvin passed away last year so I knew I would be missing him this past election. Well, when I got our emails with instructions there were three people included on the precinct group email (8 of us) with the same last name as Calvin. I told DH it had to be relatives but I didn't recognize the names. When we arrived at the precinct we found that it was Calvin's older son, his wife, and daughter. After his dad died the house passed to his children, including a younger son who graduated with my son. Ted and his family moved into the house from Canada. With the upcoming election they decided to volunteer in his memory because it was important to him. He regretted that he had lived away from his father for so many years and I let him know how it warmed my heart to seeing him picking up the torch.