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Praetorium Honoris

Thursday, November 7, 2024

Didn't Expect That

PxHere

It's pleasantly surprised I am.

After the doldrums of Tuesday, I wasn't really optimistic. I expected something more along these lines ...

Still, it's a long way to the 20th of January ...

As an old Navy ROTC instructor of my acquaintance might say, "Stand by for heavy rolls ..."


Things could still go sideways.

Don't want this
Source
Overconfidence is not your friend.

Wait until January, then we'll see.

But I do feel much better now.

Regular posting will resume shortly. Whatever "regular" means ...




Editor's Note: For those of you just arriving on Earth, I'm talking about the U.S. elections held on Tuesday, the 5th of November, in the Year of Our Lord 2024. (None of that CE/BCE shite for me, thanks.)

50 comments:

  1. The fat lady hasn't sung for the left yet, there is time for them to pull all kids of mischief. Given their level of morality they are capable of the worst possible behavior. I will not get too hopeful until he is inaugurated.

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    1. They’d better not cheat! They can try any challenge available through the legal system, but, if they cheat…well a certain Beetles song comes to mind. I think Tuesday’s results demonstrated that the American people are fed up with the BS.
      I seem to remember something I said several years ago.
      “ I, xxxx, do solemnly swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against ALL ENEMIES foreign AND DOMESTIC and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.
      I haven’t been informed that that oath no longer applies, therefore…
      Just sayin’
      juvat

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  2. The ability to win or lose with dignity

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    1. Politicians with dignity? Where?

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    2. Trump spent most of his victory speech thanking all the people who worked for him and supported him. Very little about himself. Then again, he's not really a politician, so...

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    3. Compare/contrast with the delayed "concession" speech.
      Stand by for heavy rolls, aye; our ship IS coming about, at long last and none too soon for we were headed for the rocks!
      Boat Guy

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    4. That "concession" speech was virtually unwatchable, I had to switch off after just a couple of minutes.

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  3. Was surprised myself waking up yesterday with the national result.....no floods, fire, famine. Agree with James save for one small substitution....remove "morality" and replace with "immorality"...... :)

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  4. My wife and I were edgy, but confident. I turned on the news at about 1600 local time, and we pretty much had nothing else on Tuesday evening and Wednesday. Pleasantly surprised at the scale of the win. A bit nervous about the House, it's tighter than I had hoped.

    Yesterday all the news we watched seemed to be nothing but a DNC debrief and planning session. ALL the talking heads bewailing and bemoaning and bewailing The Fate of Our Democracy. Almost every segment mentioned several times, "Convicted Felon" and "the January 6 INSURRECTION!!!" not mentioning the Lavrenti Pavlovich nature of the show trial and ignoring the four years of civil war waged by minions of the DNC (I usually call them the BLM Red Guards and Antifa Sturmabteilung), and saying "the racism of the GOP" as if were axiomatic that the GOP is built on racism and all Republicans are racist, or RAAAAACist. There was also a lot of talk about the UNEDUCATED women voting against their own reproductive rights, or UNEDUCATED Latinos voting against immigration, or some other UNEDUCATED victim class voting against they own self interest, with the implication that "uneducated" i.e. without a sting of letters after their name indicating college degrees, means stupid - not ignorant, but outright stupid. Some, in examining the mild drubbing, came close to Getting It, understanding that the stinking, deplorable, irredeemable, freeloading, troglodytes, clinging to their guns and religion in a cave in Podunk are fed up with being ignored, with being dictated to, with seeing their civil rights chipped away at with a felling axe, with tax dollars being spent on illegal aliens while our citizens are sleeping on the streets, and that in this election they rose up and yelled, "ENOUGH! Enough of the policies built on the sands of Lysenkoism, with putting every fringe left, crackpot idea into effect, with making America weak. ENOUGH!" One, I think it was Van Jones, mentioned the constant changing of terminology, which he admitted confused even his august personage, and changing it mostly so that only the Inner Circle and those in the know could smugly correct the mouth-breathing, knuckle dragging, racist conservatives.

    I also prefer BC and Anno Domini, but I see nothing wrong with Christian Era and Before the Christian Era. (evil grin) It really annoys a certain class of people, when they try to correct me on the 'proper usage' to say, "OK, if you prefer Before the Christian Era and Christian Era, I can use that."

    Dr. Tyson on that subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDsheyTtK6k

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  5. I think they believed all that stuff they made up about Trump! They don't remember that he did this job before and the world did not end??? The power of the MSM is amazing!

    I do not believe it is over, the next couple of months before the inauguration ought to be interesting .

    The rolling seas.. I was on the USCGC Gallatin (along with a helicopter) for 14 days in the early 80s, I was sleeping in a 30 man berthing area in a top bunk, my feet faced toward the bow of the ship. One night I woke up feeling like I was falling backwards, then I fell forward a bit and just stopped, the whole ship shook (shook pretty good too!) & then mellowed out again... I went back to sleep.

    FWIW on that deployment I went up to the bridge (as a TAD Airdale, I was a tourist) and was talking with the QM and noticed the floating compass bouncing all around, I mentioned that. She pointed out that the floating compass was not really moving, it was steady, the world around the compass (the boat we were on) was doing the moving. That was a tough one to grasp...

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    1. To quote Yogi Berra, "It ain't over 'til it's over."

      As to being on a ship at sea during a storm, experienced 30 foot seas, 50 knot winds, on a cruise to Bermuda. It was interesting, though not as interesting as your experienced. The Missus Herself didn't care for it at all.

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  6. Two more points -
    It occurred to me last night that my wife and I, and I suspect many who read this most excellent of blogs, were able to do on Tuesday something not done for three quarters of a century - cast a ballot for the same candidate for POTUS for the 3rd time.

    Next, before we get too caught up in THE CRUSHING VICTORY!!! we need to keep in mind:

    "Sixty! We got at least sixty!"
    "That leaves only three thousand, nine hundred, and forty."

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    1. A number of people are starting to realize that if they hadn't futzed with the process four years ago, DJT would be on his way out in a couple of months. Not on his way in. Seems poetic somehow.

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  7. Maybe Trump "losing" in 2020 had an upside- that we could really see behind the Dem curtain for 4 years and realize what a s#1t show their party has become. Lot of damage in their wake though, so it's definitely not a net gain with that realization. If I may, I might make a post out of the post-mortem, but I know we're all tired of politics.

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    1. I'm reading "Churchill - Walking With Destiny" and have just reached the invasion of Czechoslovakia. The echos of Winston's "Wilderness" years to today have been very strong.
      /
      L.J.

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    2. Tuna - Go for it (the post that is).

      As for your upside, yes, it did expose the bastards.

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    3. Tuna, that would be a great post. And Churchill's experience might make an interesting backdrop.

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  8. Pft, no green water on the bridge windows. Ah, for a Knox, 1200# and a single screw in the North Pacific in winter.

    There are 74 days before inauguration, plenty of time left to further "fortify" the bureaucracy.
    /
    L.J.

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    1. The North Pacific in winter, I literally shivered when I read that.

      Seventy-four days, lots of time, perhaps too much.

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    2. Maybe, but the ones pulling the strings have two lame puppets now- Biden sees those around him as traitors, and Harris has no power whatsoever. Biden's too busy building his list of who to pardon now anyway.

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  9. "Quiet on the bridge God damnit!" Capt. Alvin Seitz. He sailed the Murmansk run several times on liberty ships during WWII as a JO. He liked quiet on his ships and boats, not all that chatter.

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    1. That is a lot of chatter, I tried listening to what they were on about, too noisy to make out.

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  10. Sarge - While genuinely pleasantly surprised at the outcome, I was not terribly shocked. The former and future Resident worked as hard on campaigning as I think I have ever seen (nothing more "common man" that working at fast food or driving a garbage truck). But I also think that behind the scenes formerly, a lot has been bubbling to the surface as well. People in all kinds of areas and interests are now aware of the fact that they do have power, both through the vote and through their pocketbook and through their patronage.

    Here is, to me is both the funny thing and the opportunity: After January, the world will not end and all terrible things predicted will not happen. The Former and Future Resident - if he is wise - will make a Presidential level speech and then get to work. Those parties that took a chance on him by voting for him when they had not previously supported such a candidate will hopefully find that the fundamentals of American Values, so long valued and distorted out of shape, work pretty well when put into practice. Done correctly, this could send the nation down a very different path.

    (And, as I am a Christian, I feel completely justified in using the terms "B.C." and "A.D.". After all, they speak to a fundamental date in my religion. There is nothing "Common" about that.)

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    1. There is a chance here to right the ship, here's hoping that happens.

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  11. Wednesday morning was a most beautiful day, with months of stress, doubts, fears, worry and nightmares lifted.

    That storm is behind us, but now the real work of governing begins. We desperately need truly aggressive reforms, the must urgent being ending deficit spending and paying off the $36 trillion in shaky debts held by our citizens, the Chinese and Lord knows who else. The ONLY way that can be done is by massively cutting the size of the federal bureaucracy, cutting programs and laying off the people doing unnecessary functions in govt jobs. Javier Milei level cuts... and more.

    We need to see vetoes of spending bills, and a willingness to "shut the government down" to get what is needed, regardless of what Upchuck Schumer and the lying discredited media tell gullible people.

    But, don't let the dangers of battles ahead detract from the sweet taste of victory of this week.
    JB

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    1. Dunno as how I'm in a great big hurry to pay off debts to the chinese; service them, sure. And yes, we need Millei-grade reductions; I think Mr.Musk has some ideas about that sort of thing.
      I want a housecleaning of the IC, DoJ and our GO/FO ranks. Every 3-and 4-star needs to defend their job and conduct of it. Remove the "right" of "public employees" to unionize.
      All the caterwauling of left is must that; the man has a track record, and he did NONE of the bad things they are accusing him of planning.
      If the left wants to continue F'ing A, I want them to Increase our Find Out.
      BG

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    2. No telling where that "Increase" in the last sentence came from. Verdammt computer.
      BG

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    3. BG #1 - "Debts" to the Chinese? Paid for in Korea, 1950 - 1953.

      Housecleaning, AYE!

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    4. BG #2 - I dunno, increasing the "find out" part might be just the thing.

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  12. I've enjoyed reading all the twitter posts from crazy box wine cat ladies about how She! ran the bestest and most competent campaign ever and had the hugest turnouts at her rallies. Drop some facts on them like Trump's busy 2-3 rallies a day schedule with 5K being the smallest and the largest over 100K and for some strange reason I get blocked from their feed.

    Same with all the people calling Trump and his voters racist because blacks didn't vote for the black woman and latinos voted for the guy who wants to deport all the latinos and then I enjoy pointing out that saying blacks can only vote for blacks and latinos can only vote for illegal immigration is the very essence of racism. And then I get blocked from their feed.

    I even commented on Barbara Streisand's feed. Nicely. And got blocked.

    Ahahahahahaha.

    As to the wonderful video, yeah, rough seas are rough. fight Mother Nature daily. And have been in a small boat where the trip out was calm and the trip back was riding the Vomit Comet while having my inner ear spun like a psychotic gyroscope on speed. One of those trips where when you get back to dry land, about an hour later all you can do is sit, not lay, still for hours until said psychotic gyroscopic meth-addicted inner ear settles down. I much prefer gentle seas...

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    1. 1. Yes, there are many crazies out there.
      2. Never turn your back on the sea.

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    2. My father was an Army passenger on an LCI (158 feet long with a flat bottom) from Oran, North Africa to southern France that hit a storm. His diary noted "We were bobbing around like a cork. I thought that we were going to turn over. A lot of the boys were pretty sick".

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  13. As a female, white, with both high school and college diplomas, and with a clear and sharp memory of the 70's and 80's quota systems as well as price controls and inflation, am highly insulted to think that ANYONE should be voted for due to their sex, or their skin color. That is discrimination!! Period!! Full stop!!!
    Would I like a female to be president---sure, providing they have sound well-thought-out policies that continue to support and grow this country. Just having to pee sitting down isn't a good enough reason. Plus, that attitude is embarrassing, and completely devalues all of the hard working, very intelligent women who currently work in politics, as well as everywhere else in this country, of all party persuasions.
    Do I think Trish James and Kathy Hochul both need to go at the next election or at the very least be seriously primaried? You betcha!!
    Because they both proved in the past 24 hours that they are both too ignorant to be allowed to speak. If ya vote for Trump you are unAmerican??!!?? Seriously??? James committed "lawfair" once on Trump and is ready to do so again??? Seriously?? How DID that work out for ya this last time??!!! The last time ANY Republican got such a large percentage of votes in NYS was forty years ago when Reagan was voted in. And before that, it was when Dewey, who was FROM New York, ran against Cleveland, and ultimately lost.

    Women's issues are "how do I afford to keep a roof over my head, food on the table, and pay for my meds", "how to I afford to buy gas to put into my car so I can get to my job?", and "is it safe to walk outside at night, or take the subway into the city, or not have my kids grabbed off the sidewalk". In other words, to quote James Carville, "It's the economy stupid!!" Drill baby drill!!! Followed closely by the surge of illegal immigrants/complete lack of border controls, and the overall entire "Nanny State" manner of government that is going on these days. Kathy Hochul obviously missed the memo where her job title was declared to be "Governor of New York State", not "Mother of New York State"!!! Harris can say she didn't ban fracking, because they didn't, but the certainly pulled back all the leases that would have allowed/encouraged fracking/oil drilling to occur. And the dirty little secret is oil is the lifeblood of not only our economy, but the world's economy.


    I am just so glad Trump won. If he can stay off the cell phone/Twitter stuff, and focus on how to fix what is wrong going forward, I am hopeful that things will be much better in a year or so...then of course comes the question of who comes next...cause I think the Dems need an extended time-out for a couple of rounds of elections to help them remember that they work for We the People, not the world elites.

    Suz

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  14. Amen, Suz.
    God has this. He has said America WILL be saved. However, we still need to keep praying.
    You all be safe and God bless.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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