As Smoothie as Trump
Ever since Wednesday morning, every time I show up at the office there’s Rea, eyes red, spontaneously bawling over Clinton’s electoral defeat.
On Thursday morning, on my way into the office, she texted me to ask if I could bring her a green smoothie from Stellar Brew.
Shouldn’t you make it a red smoothie in honor of the President-Elect? I texted back.
You know, they produce some fairly obscene emojis these days …
When I see people during election weeks, they always say, “Geez, you must have a lot to write about this week,” assuming that I have a lot to say about national politics, which I don’t.
I do think that the nation, as Hartley says within these pages, is sick of its royalty. Tossed a Bush in the primary and Clinton in the general. Dynasties over, as they should be.
After all, W. was half of H.W., in pretty much every respect. John Quincy Adams (6th President) was a shadow of John Adams (2nd President). There was nothing to suggest Hillary would prove the exception.
Hartley sent me a text on election night saying, “Wait ‘til Trump shocks his supporters by stating welfare and social security are ridiculous and we can’t afford to continue these programs.”
My reply: He will pull a Reagan and spend money like water … he won’t cut that stuff. He won’t cut anything. He’s gonna spend like the casino developer he is because that’s the one thing everyone in Washington can agree on – pork.
I have no idea what sort of President Trump will make. I do have this weird feeling that he won’t complete his four-year term and I couldn’t tell you why. Just a hunch.
One stat which might help explain Trump’s win (courtesy of Mike Lofgren’s book “The Deep State” which pretty much explains the powerlessness of the modern Presidency in the face of entrenched Washington and corporate interests. A great read). Since 2009, 95 percent of all personal income growth has gone to the top 1 percent.
If you preside over a “recovery” and look around and pretty much everyone is still sick, no one’s gonna want to rehire you as a doctor, regardless of your resumé. They’re gonna try the quack down the street selling his magic elixir formula, and can you blame them?
Looking at the precinct breakdown of John Peters’ victory over Tim Fesko in Mono County’s District 4 race, what was interesting was that Peters not only extended his advantage over Fesko in Bridgeport (beating Fesko by 100 votes on Tuesday in Bridgeport, 29 better than he did in June), but he actually made inroads on Fesko’s home turf.
In June, Peters lost the Antelope Valley by 30. On Tuesday, he lost it by a mere 23 (203-226).
The only place where Fesko improved was in Mammoth, where he lost by 12 (as opposed to 16 in June). The overall margin was a decisive 54-46 percent. I thought it would be closer.
Getting into the spirit of political upheaval, the Chairman of Mammoth’s Planning and Economic Development Commission, Madeleine “Mickey” Brown, resigned last week.
As she said when I spoke to her on the phone, “If you don’t share the same vision [with Council], it’s time to go.”
What she then said echoed a theme I’ve heard many times over the past fifteen years, which is that there is a fundamental problem with how Mammoth is structured, with revolving staffers and politicians. “There’s no continuity,” said Brown, whose resignation ironically contributes to the lack thereof.
