2 Minute Read + Chart Study Time!

If you're a Republican, or lean that way, could you ever vote for a Democrat for President?  If not, why not?

Because I would happily vote for someone like the former Republican Governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan.  I just want someone rational, in favor of American democracy, and preferably not 900 years old like Biden.

In other words, I would prefer the Republicans shake off their Trump stupor, and run a human being in 2024.  If they did, and it was someone focused on uniting us, I'd certainly consider voting for him/her.  Yes, over Papa Joe, who's done a Killer job but is just too old.  

(But I will vote for Biden or anyone vs. Trump.)

And Julie said the same thing, years ago:  if the Republicans had nominated Jeb Bush, she might have voted for him instead of Hillary Clinton.  I might have, too.

So that is the question I ask my Republican friends:  would you vote for a Democrat - ANY Democrat - for President?  Ever?  For example, the Democratic governors of Michigan and Colorado, Gretchen Whitmer, or Jared Polis, respectively?  They are both moderates, by any objective definition.
 
Which so many of my Republican friends say they are themselves.

I ask this because it came up a while back with a close Republican pal of mine.  She answered my question with a definitive  "Absolutely not."

I had to ask why.  She said:  "Because when a Democrat is President, they always ruin the economy."

That seems to be a widely held belief.  But let's look at the facts of the economy over time through these lenses:

The source for what follows is the St. Louis Federal Reserve, and their insanely great website.

Real GDP

Rate of Inflation

Total Debt as Percentage of GDP

Unemployment Rate

 
Top Tax Rate
Editor's Note:  use caution here.  The wealthier typically pay a lower percentage of their total income in taxes, regardless of being in the highest tax bracket.  For the record, the Biden administration has not raised personal income taxes to date, and this was the only chart that didn't have data through 2022. 

Can anyone disagree the results are mixed and nuanced, as would be expected?  And none of this accounts for the makeup of Congress in terms of the controlling party, nor the circumstances faced by a given administration, Republican or Democrat.   

To me, the more important question is which party believes in the United States?  Which party is involved with insurrections?  Burning books?  Trashing anyone that's not white and Christian and straight?  Refusing to act on guns?  Taking away a woman's access to abortion?  Seeking to divide us along cultural and geographic lines?  Ignoring centuries-long norms?

And now, playing chicken with the Biden administration over our nation's solvency?

All of that, and you may still vote for Trump or an acolyte, over Biden or Newsom or Whitmer or Polis nor any other single human being that has a D next to their name? 

Because of economic myths and perhaps The Psycho Woke?  Or the lecturing by people like me?

That doesn't seem reasonable - we're talking about running the country, not who you like at cocktail parties.  Going overboard in support of transgender people (A.K.A. The Psycho Woke) is simply not equivalent to refusing to certify a Presidential election. 

But what am I missing?  It must be something, because the next step looks like a national default.  If the Republicans destroy our financial standing in the world via their made-up debt ceiling crisis, might you then consider voting for a Democrat?

I enjoy hearing from people I don't know, especially those that don't agree with me.  This came in regarding the departure of Oakland's sports teams, from someone who identified himself as Mr. J. 

Mr. J, your email was very timely:  is there any chance you'd vote for a Democrat, after reading TODAY'S RAMBLINGS?  I am serious, because you seem about as good a test case as any.  

Recovering A's fan Kevin Monza naturally added value, by going closer to the source.  This came in via the modern telegraph:

I am curious if Mr. Monza would care to comment on Mr. J's take?

Steven Simon knows art - he gave us one of his creations as a wedding gift and it hangs in our primary master bedroom to this day.  So it was no surprise when he was intrigued by my new AI Art Gallery (new additions today and every blog day!).

The reality is Mr. Simon has been involved on the periphery of AI for quite a while, and it's more likely he's saying "WTF" to the Matterhorn being in images of both Death and Atheism.

André Aurich?  This reader has no more fucks to give, as he dropped a bombshell after stroking my pitifully fragile ego.

This club is growing and will only get larger.  He joins me, Arthur and Mrs. Crup, Elizabeth "Polly" Michaels, Max "Madras" and Lauren Ryder, and Tracie Coveropolous as recent inductees in to the Every Day is Saturday Club.  And of course we're going to lunch next week - it's what you do when you're retired.

And who will be next?  I say Ol' Purple Label and Dr. Shelly Murphy should bail on the same day and throw a big party.  They could even gift everyone attending a $5,000 purse from either of their massive collections of the same!

And for the record, the AI is definitely not broken. 

Thank you to any one that is reading this newsletter.

Mr. J, can you and I and a broken United States "Come Together"?  To grease the skids, we could toss a few beers back, put this on the turntable, and maybe agree that Aerosmith is on the Mount Rushmore of American bands? 

On its first play on KLUF, here is Boston's favorite geriatric band captured in their heyday, on Live Bootleg.