The US was majority-white back in 1968, and despite the racial and economic divisions of the time, most voters thought that things were fundamentally pretty good and that the politicians had their interests at heart, even if the righties of the time thought they were too left-wing and airy-fairy.

Also, love him or hate him, Richard Nixon was a far cleverer politician than the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Fast-forward to 2020. The country isn’t so white anymore, the good times are over, most people are scared about their future, and most people realize that Donald Trump doesn’t give a rat’s rump about them.

supposedly taking away American jobs, she should get off her privileged white backside and use her back and hands to bring in the harvest from the fields and orchards.

Nor just for just an hour or two, not just for one day—THE WHOLE BLAMED SEASON.

During the last decade or so of the Cold War, I voted for Republican Presidential candidates. I hated doing it and I could already see the Republicans moving away from centrist sanity on domestic policy, but they did seem to have the edge on foreign policy and the military.

After eight years of Dubya and nearly three and a half years of Individual One, that pool of expertise and the Republicans’ willingness to use it is done, finished, ended, and gone, gone.

Ending the Open Skies agreement is yet another sign of how things have shifted to the worse.

Anybody who thinks that the Republican Party still can manage foreign policy and military affairs is either woefully uninformed, self-blinded, or so blinded by prejudice and ideology that they have become willing dupes of unfriendly foreign powers.

could ever hope to be.

(Seriously, Senator Warren’s speech still reflect her Oklahoman upbringing and her Middle American credentials in a way that the scammer in the White House couldn’t hope to match on his best day).

We may find out this summer.

One of my quirky personal beliefs is that I have a (usually unreliable) sixth sense. I don’t cause things, I just report them. But check back here around mid-July.

Here’s the thing, bright boy, those rallies you want to hold are going to be are going to be great places for spreading COVID-19. Your Dad’s followers’ political affiliations don’t matter, your Dad’s followers’ fervor for Jay-zus doesn’t matter, and their hatred for so-called “lib-yards” doesn’t matter either. The COVID virus doesn’t care.

Your rallies would attract hundreds of adoring fans sitting cheek-by-jowl and the virus will spread around. Many of your followers will contract it, many will be financially ruined and more than a few will die.

And here’s the irony, Eric: most of us Libs are going to spend the continuing months doing what we can to protect our health and that of our loved ones. And come this fall, we will turn out to go to the polls, mail in our ballots, and put an end to your Daddy’s Presidency.

Your Dad won a lot of swing-states by slivers. Many of those slivers have been consumed by the COVID-19 wildfire. A lot of us hate what your Dad has done to our country, and remember that some of our ancestors pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to keep this country free. . And the Corona virus doesn’t care. But we’ll vote anyway.

and integrity at face value. My assumption is that they don’t possess either trait, and to convince me otherwise would take a lot of hard work—lasting months and years.

I hadn’t thought much of Lindsey Graham since he was a congressman trying to impeach Bill Clinton for far lesser offenses than the current occupant of the White House has committed. My opinion of him hasn’t changed.

could be so dangerous?


When the invisible hand starts writing “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin” on the walls of Mar a Lago, then Individual One really needs to start worrying.

If I were a little more superstitious, I’d believe that either God Almighty allowed Donald Trump to be elected President of the US as a scourge for our sins (A punishment we might have avoided had we elected the church-going Methodist grandmother) or that Donnie signed a pact with Satan to preserve his health at least through Inauguration Day next year.

In any event, I dearly hope Joe Biden is preparing at least one folder in case the guy with the horns and pointy tail calls Donnie home and Joe finds himself running against Father Pence this Fall.

I’m a Democrat and have vehement feelings about Individual One; that’s why I’m a DU supporter. And, I regret to say, most O scale two and three-railers I know have opinions well to the right of Center.

OTOH, I think Lionel is pushing their luck with this set. Maybe we’ll get to see how marked-down they’ll be on-line and at train shows like York.



In the meantime, I’m thinking about a wonderful Woody Guthrie song called “Little Black Train.” I invite Trump-loathing modelers and railroad enthusiasts to listen to it (Even if a “Little Black Train” commemorative set probably wouldn’t sell. ).