Actually, [Rudy Giuliani’s melting hairline] was a perfect sequel to the press conference fiasco at the Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Philly — you know, the one between the sex shop and the crematory. That one betrayed the comic incompetence of the Trump legal operation. This one poetically exposes its inner corruption. In a way, I think Giuliani is doing the country an unwitting service by turning a vile conspiracy theory into a national punchline. Bret Stephens, Opinion columnist in the New York Times.

In the headlines, on the radio, on my computer, everywhere, the drumbeat of fear and loathing has been going on and on, seemingly forever; Trump, 200,000 dead, Trump, Covid, Trump, Wayne County, Trump, Covid, Trump, Trump. My relief has been watching Lewis Hamilton race. He just won his seventh championship and I wanted to write about it but I am caught in a sort of limbo of Now. Every day, the seductive drumbeat of today’s headlines pulls me back into the urgency of the constant Now. Today, at last, it feels like we are moving off the knife-edge between democracy and a Trump autocracy, it didn’t feel like that the day before yesterday or the day before that, those days felt more dangerous. For what seemed like weeks, day after day, the world felt precariously the same.

Way back on last October 25th, Lewis Hamilton won the Portuguese Grand Prix. In doing so, he passed the great Michael Schumacher to become the winningest driver in the history of Formula One. Watching him celebrate with his race engineer and then hug his dad – watching with about a four-hour time delay from 5660 miles away, I should be clear – I teared up. That was a surprise. I didn’t expect to be that moved. I tried talking about it in my blog but, as moved as I was, I couldn’t escape the limbo of Now. The daily drumbeat of fear and loathing crowded out almost everything else. Then, last weekend, Lewis won the Grand Prix of Turkey on a wet slippery track, on a day when his car was only sixth fastest, to become the World Champion for the seventh time and I knew I wanted to say something, or, at least, acknowledge it.

Two days ago? it seems like weeks, GSA Administrator Emily Murphy finally acknowledged – sort of – the transition from President Trump to President-elect Biden allowing her to release several million dollars for the transition. After four years, that often seemed longer, the nation’s attention was on somebody other than Donald Trump. Although, I have to say that even that always-before-routine task was given a Trumpian twist with Murphy referring to the President-elect as Mr. Biden in a long whinny letter in which she said that I have always strived to do what is right…I came to my decision independently just before Trump said that he told her to release the funds.

Right after the election, Michele became afraid that Trump was going to try a coup. I agreed but I was not very concerned that he would be able to pull it off. I think that Trump is just too inept to pull off something like a coup. Watching Rudy Giuliani’s slap-dash attempt was even more amateurish than I predicted. I realized that not only is Trump incapable of doing a good job, he is incapable of finding someone else to do it.

Now the attention is turning to President-elect Biden and his Cabinet picks. When I first started reading the names – Ron Klain, Antony Blinken, Alejandro Mayorkas, Avril Haines, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, John Kerry – not knowing any of them, except John Kerry, I was slightly annoyed. Then sort of elated; these are functionaries who have been doing the grunt work in past Democratic Administrations, not politicians looking to make a name. Now they are the bosses, known and reliable, who will hopefully do their job without drama. Hopefully is the operative word here, hopefully, their job will not be a return to almost constant drone strikes.

The exception is John Karry, the first Presidential Envoy for Climate,  who will, hopefully, bring some clout to working on the Climate Crisis.

The work we began with the Paris Agreement is far from done. I’m returning to government to get America back on track to address the biggest challenge of this generation and those that will follow. The climate crisis demands nothing less than all hands on deck.

It’ll be an honor to work with our allies and partners, alongside rising young leaders in the climate movement, to tackle the climate crisis with the seriousness and urgency it deserves. Tweets by John Kerry @JohnKerry Teresa’s husband, 28 years representing Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate, 68th U.S. Secretary of State, now fighting the climate crisis. Proud Bostonian buildbackbetter.com/the-administra…

In a just world, Tecopa, California would be in Nevada. It is only about an hour and a half from the Vegas Strip and, it has a definite Nevada vibe. Going the short way, Tecopa is about eight hours from home (and we didn’t go the short way). The problem, if you want to call it a problem, was caused because, unlike the East Coast states, the state borders west of the Mississippi were drawn by people who did not have an intimate relationship to the land. The people in this area are not mask-wearing liberals like Coastal Californians, this is Trump territory. But it is also the Mojave Desert and, besides being the driest and most extreme American desert, the Mojave is the wackiest American desert and the Tecopa area fits right in.

We started our trip by going over Tioga Pass and then down 395 to Big Pine, then we turned left to go around the top of Death Valley and south to Tecopa in the dark. Diving through the burned-out forests of the western Sierras was sad, the air was full of smoke and the landscape had a desolate feel but the air cleared before we got to Toulamee Meadows and the east side of the Sierras was clear and bright although we could see the smoke hanging over the mountain tops to the west. We ended the day at the Villa Anita DV where we would be for the next three nights.

As I sat at home, Wednesday and Thursday, compulsively checking and refreshing the New York Times, LA Times, and Fox News websites, my email continued to grow as if the election hadn’t taken place. Strangely, today, Friday, my email requests for political contributions seem to have almost come to a halt.

Somehow, I have ended up on Trump’s campaign donor list and I am, if not thrilled, at least happy for it. It is nice to see how the different Campaigns campaign. I’m going to presume that Trump has a pretty good handle on his supporters so, while it seems to me that he is talking down to them, I assume that neither he nor his supporters feel that way. A couple of weeks ago, I heard Anthony Scaramucci on the Bill Mahr Show and he opined that Trump would not fight the results saying that Trump does not like conflict and I was convinced he was right, now I’m not so sure. The first two emails, below, are from the President himself and the third is from his son, so you can decide.

Stephen,
I need you.
The Left will try to STEAL this Election! I’m calling on YOU to step up & FIGHT BACK. Your support is critical right now. We must protect the integrity of this Election.
Can I count on you?
Please contribute ANY AMOUNT IMMEDIATELY to the Official Election Defense Fund and to increase your impact by 1000%. >> CONTRIBUTE $250 = $2750

Stephen,
Did you see my press conference from the White House last night?
If you count the LEGAL votes, I easily win the Election. If you count the ILLEGAL and LATE votes, the Radical Left can steal this Election from us.
I’ve won many critical states, despite historic interference from Big Media, Big Money, and Big Tech. Democrat-run cities, like Detroit and Philadelphia, two of the most politically corrupt places in America, cannot be responsible for deciding the outcome of this race.
They’re trying to STEAL this Election.
Remember, they’re not only trying to STEAL the Election from me – they’re also trying to steal it from YOU.
I promise you my team is fighting around the clock to DEFEND the integrity of this Election, but we cannot do it alone. We need EVERY Patriot, like YOU, to step up and make sure we have the resources to keep going.
We can’t let America be disgraced by this. I need YOU to FIGHT BACK!

For some reason, unbeknown to me, I’m not getting any frantic Biden requests for money. I suspect that they are out there and I’m just not getting them but it is very possible that the Biden Campaign actually planned for this to happen. But, I want to be balanced, so here is a money request from AOC.

Steve, we did it!!! Our opponents raised over $13 million from Trump donors, corporations and billionaires, but we still re-elected Alexandria to Congress with a groundswell of support. And that’s not all we did. Thanks to your help, we cemented our movement’s values and vision into a gigantic, growing force in the fight for working-class families across the nation. Specifically, because of your support, we:
*Delivered 80,000 meals
*Donated more than 100,000 masks
*Organized over 3,600 volunteers
*Fundraised $1.1 million to provide COVID-19 relief to excluded workers and families in-need
*Empowered our communities through workshops on childcare collectives, eviction defense, workplace safety and more
*Launched a virtual homework helper program to support students and families in our district
*Organized a $1 million census outreach program, which resulted in over $52.6 million returned to our district
*Recruited over 1,000 volunteers to help get out the vote in key swing states
We couldn’t have done that without you!
Progress doesn’t happen without your work. We appreciate you more than words can capture.
But listen. We can’t skip a beat. The work we have ahead of us is deep and transcends elections. It always has been. We are called to do it.
Donald Trump’s premature claims of victory are illegitimate, dangerous, and authoritarian. We need to organize like crazy to count the votes and respect the results.
And as long as working-class families are under siege from corrupt politicians and greedy corporations, we have an obligation to do everything we can to level the field.
This struggle will continue to be a challenging one. But right now, we are showing that we have the grit and determination to overcome the odds. A better world is not only possible – she is in our hands.
So yes, we should take a moment to celebrate what we have worked so hard to achieve – and then get right back to work.
If you are able, we hope you will contribute $27 to help celebrate – and continue our ever-evolving work to fight for the working-class. This victory truly belongs to you, the movement.

I did send her $27 in case you are wondering.