RUINATION

Donald Trump wins the presidency in stunning upset over Clinton

A Nation on the Brink

The brink of dawn or darkness? Here are this morning's charts from Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight website, which has been tracking everything assiduously throughout this overlong and overugly campaign (click to enlarge):

The interesting thing is that despite all the hooting and hollering and hoopla of the last six months, these last-minute figures are all just about exactly what they were at the beginning of June.  So what does that say about the futility of these never-ending presidential campaigns?  After untold millions of campaign dollars spent, and an eternity of talking heads screeching away, it is still going to be a close shave in the popular vote - and who can say for certain what the electoral college result will be?

Just as important, and more ominous perhaps, is the tightness of the division of the Senate.  Many GOP senators have already proclaimed that they will never confirm any Supreme Court nominee that Hillary puts forward - so boys, you better pray the Dems get at least a majority of one there.  It is nowhere carved in stone that this brief flowering of gay liberation and gay rights, occurring rather miraculously in the space of a single lifetime, must last forever and always - what the majority giveth, the majority can take away, too.  Remember that, fellas.

My truckbuddy Frank telepathically somehow managed to sum up my feelings at this point, in a short post on Reluctant Rebel entitled, "Tired and Weary of It All."  I'm sure many others must be feeling the same way.  It's hard to feel any hope for better things now, as I did in 2008 - even if Hillary wins, the fascists and fundamentalists and know-nothing thugs will continue to disrupt and obstruct every good thing she attempts - so where the country goes from here, I am afraid to think.

But we must not let them walk away with an easy victory at the polls tomorrow.  

Sunday Drive: Bach, Air on the G String

I think we can all use a few moments of quiet reflection today, in the face of the momentous election. Here is Bach's great work of perfect tranquility, always a tonic for the soul, as performed by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the late Sir Neville Marriner conducting:

Waitin' for the Weekend

Lennie and Pearl

From HRC, a sweet little campaign ad for Roy Cooper, North Carolina Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial candidate:



Ironically, in 2014 Lennie and Pearl sued Cooper in his official capacity in Gerber v. Cooper for the right to marry - and won.

Here's a short bio of the couple made a couple of years ago on their first wedding anniversary:

Sunday Drive: Danny Boy

The classic ballad beautifully performed by Celtic Woman:

Waitin' for the Weekend

Randy Rainbow: The Nasty Woman

Earworm alert: listen with caution.

Sad . . . Failing . . . Dumb!

The New York Times yesterday published a two-page spread listing all 281 people, places, and things that Trump has dissed (from once to many times) since he began running for president.  Remarkable evidence of a 10-year-old's mind at work.  I imagine in many circles, people are anxiously scanning the list for their own names - perhaps they will consider a diss by Trump to be a badge of honor, rather like being named on Nixon's enemies list was, once upon a time. 

Click here to view the whole list.

Braggadocious!

M. P. brought this hillarity to my attention.  It's already had a bajillion views on Facebook, but in case you fellas are techno hermits like me and haven't seen it yet . . .

Waitin' for the Weekend

Don't think I've posted any cowboys here in a long time, so I'll make up for that now: