In a Cartoon-like Denouement as Befitting the End of This Particular Era

 Headline: Tiny Trump faction bemoans 'pathetic turnout' at Michigan capitol before Electoral College vote.  (-Mlive.com)

I like "Tiny Trump faction." We should embrace this, as it is all a matter of perception anyway--newspapers can create reality if you let them, but in fact we all create our own reality. So . . . Tiny Trump stands defiant, if impotent, as the camera pans back and we see that there is a big country, after all, before us, full of farmlands and prairie and cities and factories and high tech corporate campuses and people talking and arguing, but still standing, cue the Bugs Bunny after-the-storm music* and the clouds part and golden rays illuminate the landscape. 

*Rossini's Bill Tell Overture

Finish This Story?

 The most Bob ever saw at one time was seven. Or maybe it was eight. He never could remember precisely; only that it was a lot, and it scared the shit out of him. 

[ . . . ]

Perspective

A frequent, or ongoing discussion in our house is about Trump’s motives, methods, game plan, end-game, whatever, and in particular whether or not he is actually sort of dysfunctional due to his runaway narcissism, or if he is “dumb like a fox,” or if it is some combination of the two. 

This ridiculous Texas lawsuit sort of sums it up. It is so incredibly outrageous, I keep thinking he is (successfully) throwing up a smoke screen for something else, at this point, and wondering just what might be behind it. And the usual explanations are starting to sound like rationalizations. 

I'm sitting here in Independence, Missouri, and I can barely figure out what the city council is doing, let alone what might be driving all the fantastical headlines about this season’s national election that are floating to the top of the Internet. And while I’m fighting to maintain what I hope is a sane viewpoint, Trump, it seems, just keeps doing what he’s doing. 

Who is NOT on the radar nowadays?  Who is keeping a very low profile, quietly doing what they do? I wonder if the real story lies there, while we all run around in circles. 

Memento Mori

 "Memento Mori," so the legend goes, is what a slave accompanying a returning victorious general in ancient Rome would whisper in the general's ear as they paraded through the city.  "Remember you will die." Supposedly it was meant to remind the general that he was mortal, and to not get too cocky. Later in history, in a Christian context, memento mori was meant to convey the idea that one should turn one's attention to the afterlife. It became kind of a theme, and carried on into early America and young women's sewing sampler patterns. 

A Thought

 We have all been trying to figure out why in the world Trump and friends are filing all these stupid, hopeless lawsuits regarding voting issues. There are some explanations, like, well, he's a narcissist, or, maybe he has the crazy idea that the Hail Mary pass will work--who knows? And why are so many Republicans backing him, when to do so at this point will surely damage their own credibility. It all really does defy reason, that anybody would be willing to look THAT stupid and pathetic.

What I thought, this morning, is Trump and gang are simply doing what they always do, what they always have done, which is to create the narrative, control the front page headlines (I think we still have those, don't we?) so that ALL we are talking about is how stupid and offensive these challenges to the democratic process are, and NOT . . . something else. 

But, what? 

Psychological Profile

Here is a psychological profile at one time supplied by the CIA:

"His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.: (CIA)[8]

Another remark, in regards to the same subject, in a study conducted by Henry A. Murray:

"Never to admit a fault or wrong; never to accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time; blame that enemy for everything that goes wrong; take advantage of every opportunity to raise a political whirlwind."

Neither of these statements were about Trump, though they could have been, if only prophetically.  They were referring to Adolph Hitler. 

Phun w/Photoshop

 One of my mindless hobbies is photography, so over the years I've come to use Photoshop to the extent that I finally decided to pay the monthly subscription and always have the latest version. I know--it's a waste of money, but so is bass fishing, which I forego in favor of just about anything.  

One of Photoshop's latest innovations is something called "sky replacement." It is just a menu item, with some options. It is AI powered, so it is fairly capable of working without any human help, though there are myriad options if you want to further mess with it. Otherwise, the whole operation amounts to a couple of mouse clicks. I'm really not a big fan of all the over-photoshopped pictures I see all over the Internet, but this is still kind of fun. 

All that said, I was reading Paula's blog this morning and saw a picture of a sunset behind a hotel that she had posted, with the remarks that there weren't any clouds to make it interesting, and, "Meh." And so to remedy that, (even though the original picture is pretty nice) I submit the following. Adding here that if she took this picture with a cell phone, I'm jealous, because my iPhone 6 doesn't take nearly this good of a picture. 

Here is the original picture: 

The original picture

Here is my first revision:

Palm trees in downtown Kansas City?

Here is another version:

Fake sky.