Two Weeks to Go

 

We are having delicious weather here in Texas, since autumn finally arrived last week.  The night temperatures dip down into the 40s, but the days are sunny and warm, with highs in the 70s:  lovely.

Time sure is speeding along now; seems like Biden dropped out of the presidential race just the other day, and suddenly here we are in October.  Election Day, November 5th, is two weeks from tomorrow.  Here in Texas, early voting began today, and we hope to get to the polling place sometime this week.  Have you voted yet?  The sooner, the better - this is not the time to procrastinate.  You never know what might happen between now and Election Day.

I have read that election officers all around the country have strengthened and tightened security procedures this time around. I can tell you that where we live, all the elcction staff and volunteers are remarkably kind and helpful folks, and early voting is a breeze.  They seem to have all the latest technology going, though still using paper ballots, as they should.  And they are using numbered ballots this year, so you can memorize your ballot number and look it up later to be sure it was counted.  An excellent idea.  So I feel very confident in our local voting office:  real patriots quietly doing a fine job.

As everyone knows, or should, the polling shows a dead heat, a virtual tie, between Harris and Trump.  The ABC-538 forecast, which is refreshed daily as new polls come in, actually shows a slight advantage for Trump today:

Click to enlarge.

And here is the interactive election map, which you can play with at the ABC/538 site listed in the top sidebar of this blog: 

Click to enlarge.

I haven't tried to blog all the election news here, an impossible task. And there's no point in my obsessing over every he-said, she-said thing. The essential thing is to vote, not talk, not worry, not fuss and fret over all the what-ifs. That does no one any good.

Oddly enough, now that the election is approaching, I don't feel the same drama in the air that I did in the last two presidential elections; is it just me, or does it seem to you like a dull re-run of a show you didn't like the first time you saw it?  I do earnestly pray that the Democrats win the White House and both houses of Congress, so I'm going to cast my ballot and keep my fingers crossed. This little reminder to my truckbuddies and drive-by readers is about the limit of what else I can do. 

So if you love this country, and want to keep it worth living in, get up off your duff and VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO. And tell your friends and neighbors to do the same. Give them a ride to the polls if they need it. Be patient with the old, the timid, and the dithering. Hope for the best, and remember the sacrifices our forebears have made in the last 250 years to keep this country on the right path.

The democracy you save may be your own.

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Sunday Drive: Cara Mia

His voice was an American treasure, and still a thrill sixty years later. Jay and the Americans perform their hit record on Shindig, 1965. 

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Waitin' for the Weekend

You cold?

 

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Take the Keys Away!

Coach had this to say about Trump's impromptu dance party the other day:

 

What I say: This is not the behavior of someone who is eager to win an election. It's more like someone who thinks it's already in the bag, and votes aren't necessary. Just sayin'.

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Note to My Truckbuddies

In recent weeks, I've noticed that several blog links in my sidebar have stopped updating, although the actual blogs themselves are continuing as usual.  I've tried reloading the links and also clearing my cache, but nothing seems to fix this problem.  So I've made a new heading in the sidebar, "Blogs of Note," where I will post the main links to those blogs, starting with the ever-popular Joe.My.God.

If anyone has a clue how to make the old links work again, please let me know in the comments here.

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James Carville: Pay Attention, Please!

Electoral vote forecast, 10/13/24, from 538/ABC News.
Click to enlarge.

Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville, who was Bill Clinton's campaign manager, sounds the alarm on Trump's fascist plans for America - including using the military to round up his political enemies.

Trump declined to be interviewed on 60 Minutes last week, and has told friendly interviewers that he does intend to carry out his threats, as Morning Joe reports:

 

This report by Medhi Hassan a year ago is still a chilling forecast of the evils to come if Trump wins re-election: 

 

All these reporters and commentors tell us to believe that Trump will do just what he says he will do. It is worth noting that Hitler also spelled out everything he would do in his screed Mein Kampf, published in 1925, eight years before he came to power in Germany. Perhaps a lot of Germans who read it then just laughed it off. 

But it's no laughing matter. Be afraid, be very afraid.

VOTE BLUE, NO MATTER WHO!

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Sunday Drive: It's My Party

Lovely Lesley Gore, who resembles a favorite cousin of mine, sings her first hit song on the Ed Sullivan Show, October 13, 1963 -- sixty-one years ago today.

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Obama Rips Trump in Pittsburgh Speech

A few highlights: 

 

The full speech: 

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Waitin' for the Weekend

You hungry?

Austin Masters

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Trae Crowder: A Hurricane of Lies

The Liberal Redneck recaps the lastest rightwing lies about weather, money, and politics:

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Welcome Autumn!

Kevin at Cavalcade of Food shows off his newly redecorated show windows for auntumn.  I'm posting this especially for M.P., since it's his favorite season, and he's already started the vibe with an orange tablecloth and orange candles for our Sunday dinner this past weekend.  He'll add more decorations as the weeks go by, culminating with Thanksgiving dinner, his favorite meal of all.

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Sunday Drive: The Glow-Worm

From 1952, one of the Mills Brothers' best-loved hits, and a favorite of your Head Trucker's.

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Waitin' for the Weekend

It's time to wind it up and get unwound.

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Trae Crowder: It's a Wild World

The Liberal Redneck recaps last night's VP debate between Walz and Vance.

CBS provides highlights from the hour-and-a-half debate:

 

Rachel Maddow and other political commentators react:

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Jimmy Carter at 100

 

Former President Carter celebrated his 100th birthday yesterday with a gathering of family and friends at his home in Plains, Georgia. Since leaving the presidency in 1981, Mr. Carter has lived out his Christian faith by engaging in numerous charitable and social projects, most notably through the nonprofit Carter Center in Atlanta, dedicated to advancing human rights and alleviating human suffering around the world. He is a very fine man indeed, and has set a shining example for all who aspire to the White House. God bless him.

And of course, as has often been said, behind every great man is a great woman.  Rosalynn Carter was a stalwart partner to Jimmy who also left her own mark on his White House years.  An excerpt from an interview with the Carters on the occasion of their 75th anniversary in 2021:

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Sunday Drive: Dream a Little Dream of Me

Ella and Louis are the magic.

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Waitin' for the Weekend

Well, howdy!

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Trae Crowder: The Self-Inflicted Shame Parade

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Pete on Politics in 2024

An interview with Ezra Klein of the New York Times. Gosh, how nice it is to hear an intelligent man talking on the internet. 

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Sunday Drive: Brahms, Waltz in A-Flat

We heard this lovely tune played last night in the movie Old Acquaintance (1943), but neither of us could remember the name of it.  After some searching, I found it - a nice tune to begin the first day of autumn with.

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Coach Fixes His Truck

I love it:  this is a brilliant piece of campaign advertising.  The monologue might have been a little better written, but the point is clear:  Walz is a regular guy, a man of the people, and the Democrats care about all us ordinary, middle-class folks.  Unlike the other guys.  Sure, it really doesn't have anything much to do with the issues - but it is a very appealing portrait of Walz's humanity and decency,  

It's an old, old strategy in the US of A.  All through the 19th century, parties loved to paint their candidate as a true-blue American, born in a log cabin, a drinker of hard cider, not fancy French wines, a real man of the people, not some rich, out-of-touch snob from the big city who doesn't care about working folks.  The more things change . . . 

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Waitin' for the Weekend: Art Lesson

Is it art or anatomy?  You decide.

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Trae Crowder: Plumb Ignorant and Truly Insane!

The Liberal Redneck recaps the week in MAGA politics:

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Cavalcade of Food: Visit to the Rambler Ranch 1960s House

Samantha and her Flair

Ralph and Kevin from Cavalcade of Food visit the Rambler Ranch House in Colorado, full of groovy 1960s decor, furniture, and appliances.  Ralph also bakes a Mexican Wedding Cake in a 1964 Frigidare Flair oven just like the one in Samantha's kitchen on Bewitched - remember?  The recipe is in the video description.

Your Head Trucker remembers that 1960s stuff very well, although it's not my favorite period, aesthetically or otherwise.  And I don't know about other parts of the country, but shag carpeting was not a thing in the Deep South until the 1970s.  But it's a fun fantasy for the owner and his visitors, and maybe for you, too, if you don't mind some shaky camera work.  Enjoy.

P.S. - Your Head Trucker used to have a recipe for that cake.  It was delicious, and a big hit at get-togethers.  I'll have to dig through my old cookbooks and see if I can find it again.

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Sunday Drive: You're Only Lonely

We close out the summer with this haunting tune by singer-songwriter J. D. Souther, who penned many hits for the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, and others.  He was born in Detroit but grew up in Amarillo, and this song has a certain poignant sound just right for a long drive across the wide-open Texas prairie, thinking about loves lost or found.  

Here Souther performs it at a Farm Aid concert in Austin on July 4, 1986.  Enjoy. 

 

If you prefer the purity of the original radio version, here it is:

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Waitin' for the Weekend: Steve Kelso

A treat for my truckbuddies:  a few carefully edited minutes of the 2002 Colt Studio film Waterbucks, featuring the great Steve Kelso.  His portion of this film is one of the most beautiful, dreamlike things your Head Trucker has ever seen, and I recommend you watch it before summer slips away.

The film is still available to watch or purchase at the Colt Studio website, if you go look for it.

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Election Convictions, Predictions, and Fictions

Screen shot from Voice of America report at a debate-watching party in a restaurant.  The video can be seen on Wikipedia here.

Well, despite my reservations expressed in yesterday's post, all the left-of-center journo types are still shouting hallelujah over Kamala's performance, and the repubs are crying and whining about "unfair moderators" - "it was three against one" - so I guess the debate was a win for Kamala.  It still bugs me, though, that she evaded several very direct questions about her change of mind on certain policies, and offered no coherent, large-scale plan for her presidency.  And though she expessed her commitment to democracy and the rule of law, there was no stand-up-and-cheer moment, no clarion call to arms, which  I suppose is what I was hoping for.

Election campaigns are always more show than substance.  Even some of our greatest presidents got into the White House not solely because they were wise and honest men, but because they were great showmen too.  

But for someone who had no idea of campaigning for the presidency two months ago, I think Kamala did her best - and did it damn well.  She's smart, articulate, experienced in national politics and foreign affairs, and, I believe, sincere in her allegiance to the Constituion and all that we expect a president to do and be.  And of course, she is the only candidate we've got - the only candidate worthy of the office.  So I support her 100 percent, and I hope all my truckbuddies will, too.  A victory for Trump and his legion of snarling trolls would mean the end of the American experiment, and I hope I don't live to see that.

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There's been so much commentary since the debate that I couldn't decide on a video to post today, so here's a potpourri you can choose from - some serious, some ridiculous, but each one has a noteworthy nugget or two of information or reaction.  A snapshot of America at this historic moment.  Enjoy.

 

You'll be amazed when you see what a sexy hunk this old guy was fifty years ago; and he's still going strong - mentally and physically:

 

And just for laughs, here's a very creative re-do of the debate - I won't say musical, because it hurts my old ears, but very creative nevertheless:

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First Harris-Trump Debate, 9/10/24: Who Won?

Screen shot from the ABC News telecast of the debate.

The first debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump took place last night at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, hosted by ABC News and moderated by reporters David Muir and Linsey Davis.  The debate was televised live with no audience in the hall.  The Boston Globe gives some highlights of the nearly two-hour debate:

 

In case anyone who missed it wants to watch the whole debate, it's available from ABC News here.

What I Say: I was disapointed in Kamala's performance; I say that knowing she must have been under tremendous pressure to perform well, and no doubt prepared arduously for this debate. All the talking heads on the Left are jubilant this morning, saying she "cleaned Trump"s clock" and suchlike. She spoke well, and she got in a few zingers, true. But five minutes in, I was shouting at the TV screen:  Answer the question, for God's sake!

To me, the whole thing was rather like watching Eleanor Roosevelt debate Al Capone. She was nice, and he was nasty. She came across as very smart, very articulate, and very high-minded, which warmed every Democrat's heart.  She did not descend to Trump's level, which was right; but time and again I thought her answers were vague, evasive generalities that changed nobody's mind or vote.  (Where is Joan Crawford when you need her?)

What would have changed minds and votes? I don't know, exactly. I just feel that Trump's rhetoric was simple, direct, and forceful - things any old shitkicker could understand, and many would cheer. Harris's approach, on the other hand, was to my way of thinking a bit abstract, a bit muddled, a bit lofty, a bit Elizabeth Warren-ish. That don't sit well with the plain folks, and there are millions of 'em.

Yes, Kamala said a lot of things to Trump's face that all of us sensible people have wanted to say for years; but what did that accomplish? Criticism rolls off him like water off a duck's back. What did Kamala say that made anyone want to vote for her, as distinct from voting against Trump? 

Now, maybe I'm all wet, and she really did trounce him in the debate. But I was listening expectantly to hear something that would get the attention of the folks who live all over the very red state of Texas - and not just the rural areas, either. And I didn't hear it. 

Perhaps I am too critical;  I do dearly want Harris and Walz to win this election, and Trump to just blow away like the tumbleweeds far out in the West Texas nothingness.  Maybe Kamala did do just fine; but maybe my down-home intuition is right.  I guess we'll see what happens.

What did you think of the debate, my truckbuddies? I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  

P. S. -- Whoa now.  That David Muir is a fine journalist.  Never heard of him before, but I sure did like what I saw:  smart, strong, suave, and not too bad looking, either.  

Actually, I thought both he and Linsey Davis did an excellent job as moderators, despite Trump's continual mike-hogging.  They both fact-checked him a number of times, in a calm and dignified way.  Excellent.

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What We're Watching: Hauser in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall

Hauser is a great favorite of M.P.'s, and I like him too.  He played this outstanding concert of classical and popular music last May in London with guest artists Caroline Campbell, Aida Garifullina, and Lara Fabian.  As M.P. says, he's a superb cellist and a real showman to boot. Quite a treat for music lovers.

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Message from the Princess of Wales

Catherine, Princess of Wales, in 2022

 

Two years on, yesterday, from the death of Queen Elzabeth II, the Princess of Wales has released a charming and remarkably informal video message announcing the end of her chemotherapy treatments.

It's lovely to see a happy family at leisure.  I'm sure all people of goodwill join me in wishing them the very best.

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Sunday Drive: In an 18th Century Drawing Room

The Reception by Arturo Ricco
Click to enlarge.

I'm sure this charming piece is a swing version of a classical tune, but I can't remember what the original was.  Little help, fellas?

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Waitin' for the Weekend

Damn, now who's calling?

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Trae Crowder: We're All in This Together

The Liberal Redneck wonders why working-class people support Republicans who don't give a damn about them.

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The Pork Boys Do M.P.'s Birthday

Owing to spells of illness and sundry domestic crises, we had to put off M.P.'s birthday dinner until last Sunday, which turned out to be a nice, peaceful day here in Texas, the temperature outside merely a balmy 90 degrees.

As per our custom, M.P. - resident cook and chef extraordinaire - asked your Head Trucker to prepare the birthday repast, featuring a childhood favorite of his:  Cajun chicken fricassee over rice, accompanied by sweet peas in butter sauce, fried garlic corn, and toasted garlic bread.  And I am always glad to have a chance to cook for M.P. who, as my longtime truckbuddies know, routinely serves up so many delicious meals for me.  M.P. really loves to cook; he thinks and plans and even dreams about it all the time.  It's his glory and chief delight in life, and he is entirely self-taught.

Your Head Trucker's talents in the kitchen, as in all other areas of life, are few and small.  But I believe I can safely say now that I have mastered the fricassee.  When I first made it for M.P. a couple of years ago, he pronounced it delicious, saying it was just like his mama made it.  But this time, after I've improved the recipe a bit, he declared it excellent and perfect.  He even said with a guilty grin (shhh!) it was better than his mama's!  You can't get higher praise than that.  So now he has given yours truly the accolade of Honorary Cajun with Two Stars, which I shall bear proudly.

Enough talk, here's the pictures - I do wish I could hand you boys a plate.  It's plain cooking, all right, but it will fill you up.  Click the pics to enlarge.

M.P. likes to use a seashore theme for our summer Sunday dinners.  This week, he crafted a whimsical lighthouse out of empty seasoning jars.

Our pretty Sunday dinners, not to mention birthday and holiday meals, always feature wine and candlelight and some festive theme of M.P.'s devising.

Sweet peas and butter on the left, gen-yew-ine Cajun chicken fricassee on the right.  If any of my truckbuddies want the recipe, let me know in the comments and I'll post it.  (First you make a roux . . .)

Fried garlic corn topped with parmesan cheese on the left, plain white rice on the right, fluffy and moist.  And just so you know, the stovetop was spotlessly clean when I started cooking, three-and-a-half hours before this picture was taken.  I can cook or clean, but not both at the same time.

Toasted garlic bread, hot out of the oven, ready to serve.

Lightouse on the rocks.

Alas, your Head Trucker's talents do not extend to cake decorating.  But it's the thought that counts, right?  M.P. was delighted with the strawberry cake, the cream cheese icing, and the watermelon wine.
(Try it, you'll like it!)

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Sunday Drive: The Lord's My Shepherd

This metrical version of the beloved Psalm 23 was a favorite of the late Queen's.  Mine too.

 

Today I add this reflection from Forward Day by Day, the Episcopal quarterly of daily readings and prayers.  I used to read them most days when I was new to the Church; now I dip into their website once in a while when I need a little inspiration.  I found this reading deeply moving.

Click to enlarge.

Despite what you may have heard on television or read on the intertubes, this is the Christian religion: to love our neighbors as God loves us.  God is Love.  That is my hope, my faith, and my belief.  And there's nothing wrong with that.

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Waitin' for the Weekend: Volare

Let go and fly high!

If this tune doesn't make you lift your feet off the ground, you'd better see a doctor -- there's something wrong with you, boy!

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Trae Crowder: What a Time to Be Alive

Trae reflects on last week's political happenings.

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Guys Having Fun

A random collection of mostly shirtless guys from the last century.  Delightful.

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Sunday Drive: Happy Days Are Here Again

The original "President of Joy" with wife Eleanor and daughter Anna,
arriving in Warm Springs, Georgia, October 1932

 

The one song I didn't hear played at this week's convention was the one they absolutely should have played - the Democratic theme song since 1932.  Shame on them! The original version:

Barbra Streisand has made the song her own ever since the start of her career; here she sings her version for a fundraiser at her Malibu home in 1986, followed by "America the Beautiful":

 

Bonus: Newreel footage of FDR accepting the nomination at the Democratic Convemtion in Chicago in 1932 at the lowest point of the Great Depression. Delegates had reason to be cheerful about nominating Roosevelt: along with fostering economic reccovery, he was also committed to ending Prohibition (repealing the 18th Amendment). So that was a convention of "hope and joy" too, for more reasons than one.

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Waitin' for the Weekend

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DNC Day 4 Highlights

PBS provides highlights of the fourth and final day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago:

 

Former Representative Adam Kizinger, a Republican Air Force vet and a helluva patriot, spoke passionately about putting country over party:

 

And Kamala Harris made history with her rousing acceptance speech as the first black female candidate of a major party: 

Read a fact-check of Kamala's speech at Politifacts

And that's all, folks!  What a grand spectacle it was.  I've never seen anything like it.  Everyone at the convention was certainly electrified - let's hope they and we can keep the joyful momentum going for 75 more days until the election.

And your Head Trucker will remind you all of something not much talked about this week:  Presidents do not make laws.  Congress does.  So we have make sure we elect a Democratic majority in the Senate and the House - otherwise, the cult party will just stonewall Kamala as they did Obama and Biden.

VOTE BLUE, NO MATTER WHO!

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DNC Day 3 Highlights

See Politifacts for fact-checking of statements made by Walz and others
at last night's convention.

Hope and joy are here again!  It was a great night for speaking and cheering at the Democratic convention in Chicago.  PBS provides a short recap of the evening:

 

CBS News Face the Nation provides full speeches by handsome Hakeem Jeffries (he's gay, really?!!), Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Oprah Winfrey, my man Pete Buttigieg (looking and sounding very presidential), and Coach Tim Walz:

Ya know, fellas, this is the most fun we Democrats have had in years.  What a blast!  We should do this more often.

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DNC Day 2 Highlights

See Politifacts for fact-checking of statements made by Obama and others
at last night's convention.

One month ago today, President Biden announced he would not seek the Democratic nomination this year.  What a difference a month makes!  From the doldrums of something like despair, the Democratic Party is now "fired up and ready to go," in a phrase made famous by former President Obama 16 years ago.  Your Head Trucker's political memory stretches back to the election of JFK in 1960, but I've never seen such an electrifying turnaround before.  

As Michelle Obama said in her speech tonight, "there's magic in the air."  It all makes for a grand show, a political spectacle, though substance is a bit lacking.  But that's American politics:  who would choose to study for a test when there's such a great pep rally going on?

PBS provides highlights from the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

 

NBC gives provides the full speeches by Doug Emmhof, Michelle Obama, and Barack Obama.

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DNC Day 1 Highlights

See Politifacts for fact-checking of statements made by Biden and others
at last night's convention.

The Democratic National Convention in Chicago got off to a rockin' start with speeches by Democratic notables, including Hillary Clinton and First Lady Jill Biden, a tribute to civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, a surprise appearance by Vice President Kamala Harris, and a real give-em-hell speech by President Biden, which ended with a four-minute standing ovation from the audience.  PBS gives a quick look at the highlights of the evening:

CBS's Face the Nation gives a longer summary with more excerpts from many speakers:

Tonight's speakers will include former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, second gentleman Dough Emhoff, and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

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Sunday Drive: Over the Rainbow

Edited screenshot from depositphotos.com

Eva's exquisite rendition of this classic has been on my mind lately. I never tire of hearing it.

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Waitin' for the Weekend

Goddamn, it's hot.  Everybody in the pool!

Uh-oh.  SHARK!  Everybody out!  Look here! (NSFW)

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Trae and the MAGA Matrix

Trae discusses the election outlook and what to do about it.

BTW, don't be fooled by the redneck act.  Trae is one smart sumbitch;  and you can find the definition of prima nocta here.

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Men Exposed (1999)

An HBO show-and-tell about dicks. Highly interesting.

 

I happened upon this doco the other day, coinciding with a mix of memories, feelings, and reflections I've been having lately about my life as a gay man.  At the dawn of my seventies, I have a greater perspective about many things that used to worry or trouble me - as well as a few new things to think about (old age is a surprise). 

Perhaps I will share some of those thoughts and new realizations with my truckbuddies in days to come; suffice it to say, I feel much better about myself nowadays than in my lonely, troubled youth.

To be content with what we are and what we have - especially those things we cannot change - is the path of wisdom and the well of peace.  In this frantic "more and better" world, "good enough" is an overlooked blessing.

Rejoice in the day, for the night is coming.

The best tool is the one that fits all your needs.

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Sunday Drive: I Get Around

Ah, the sounds of summer - 60 years ago (!) and still just as fine as ever.  The Beach Boys performed this hit on the Ed Sullivan Show on September 27, 1964:

The crazed modern world has nothing to compare to this.

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Waitin' for the Weekend

How's this for a fashion statement?

Click to enlarge.

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Trae Loves Tim

Trae Crowder is excited about Kamala's VP pick, and why shouldn't he be?  I agree with everything he says here.  So listen up now.

P.S.-- M.P. has signed up for Ground News and says he likes it a lot, much better than the default news he was getting on his computer.  I'm afraid to change my settings, you never know what unintended consequences that will bring.  But I scan a lot of different news sources anyway.

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Kamala Picks Walz for VP

A winning team - I do hope.

Of course Kamala picked Walz.  Just as I advised her to do a couple of weeks ago.  

Walz is a crowd-pleaser; now the campaign gets into high gear with a full ticket.  I like Walz; he's a regular guy, a good neighbor, a happy fella.  But is there anything more to him than the popular coach who fires up a pep rally?  We shall see.

NBC News:

CBS News:

Sky News (UK):

 

Former Speaker Pelosi on Morning Joe:

Update, 7:45 p.m.:  Walz's speech in full at the Philadelphia rally where he was introduced by Vice President Harris as her running mate today:

Tim Walz on guard for America, ca. 1982.
A man who knows how to handle his gun is OK by me.

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