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The Future is Female

From our friends at Mock Paper Scissors:

Anyone who thinks that the future is not female needs to look at this graph:

That's off the hook. Women are going to promote Vice President Kamala Harris to President Kamala Harris.

There is also an enthusiasm gap, per our pals at Electoral-Vote:

This year, Democratic enthusiasm is through the roof, with 78% of respondents saying they are more enthusiastic about voting than in the past. With Republicans, it is only 64%. Enthusiasm usually translates into high turnout from the party's base.

[…]  The current Democratic enthusiasm is the highest ever recorded for either party for a general election, even more than it was to elect Barack Obama in 2008. This almost certainly means Democrats are enthusiastic about having someone to vote for, not just someone to vote against, and could be a predictor or a very high turnout and a blue wave. The only time enthusiasm was slightly higher (79%) was during the 2008 Democratic primary. Republican enthusiasm has never been above 70%.

And even Wingnuttia is seeing changes that they —no doubt— do not like:

Nearly 30% of respondents said the country is headed in the right direction, a 9-point jump from early July, while 61% said the country is headed in the wrong direction, a 9-point decrease. The figures reflect the most favorable view of the country's trajectory since at least November 2021.

I think we are allowed to feel a little buoyant as we do the hard work of getting people registered to vote. That said, it seems like everyone is revved up, which does make it a little bit easier to Get Out The Vote. This is not hope running wild, we have to harness it and use it, but it is good to have the wind at our backs for a change.

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Fixed It For Ya

I've always hated the blue cover art for the Warm Leatherette CD, much preferring the stark, black & white art of the original LP.

I seem to remember that the very first time I bought Warm Leatherette on CD, the cover art did match the vinyl version, but subsequent releases featured the newer cover. It turns out, however all you have to do is turn the front case liner inside out—on at least this particular release—to get something resembling the original vinyl version.

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Donald Trump Has Totally Jumped the Shark

"His act is way tired. It's now nine years of 'Fake news' and 'You won't have a country anymore' and all the rest. In 2015, all those Trumpisms were stupid and disgusting; but at least they were new. I actually laughed when he described Jeb Bush as a 'low-energy person.' He was! I could imagine then how, for voters who didn't hate him, he was interesting and possibly amusing as a species that American politics rarely produces; someone who threw the script in the air and said whatever the hell popped into his mind.

That was bound to be something people wanted to watch, for a while. And it was just as bound to be something that became less compelling over time. It's an act. And this is a key difference between politics and show business that Trump can't see. In showbiz, and on TV, it's all about whether the production values can sell the act. In politics, it turns out, the act needs more than slick production. It still needs to show some connection to people's lives and concerns. Harris is better at that than Trump is. And her act is a lot fresher, too. And Walz's act versus Vance's? Not remotely close. Yes—Walz is so compelling, and Vance so repelling, that this is one election where the veep choices may actually make two points' worth of difference.

None of this means Trump is finished. Happy Days lasted several seasons after it literally jumped the shark. But the ratings did start to fall soon enough. No one ever hated Fonzie, like many do Trump. But even fans of the show became a lot less invested in it. My old friend reminded me of the quote by Elie Wiesel: 'The opposite of love is not hate. It's indifference.'"

Donald Trump Has Totally Jumped the Shark

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Because he's a butt-heart, whiny little man-baby.