822. The First Sunday of Advent, 2020 - the waiting begins, in church and in America

The liturgical season of Advent, a part of the church calendar in many (but not all) denominations, begins todays.  It is a period of waiting.  Waiting, being watchful, and preparing for the birth of Christ on Christmas Day.

As this Advent season begins, America is in its own period of waiting.  Waiting on this interlude between effective presidencies, the current thus far unwilling to concede a clear loss, the clearly successful challenger moving on, preparing for his oath-taking on January 20. 

As to this American advent, the arrival of "Christmas," in this case Inauguration Day, cannot come soon enough, as the current office holder continues day-after-day to issue useless, meaningless, but in some cases harmful statements, knowing the media (on both sides) as well as his followers and those who oppose him are hanging on his every word.  He thrives on the attention.

I've decided we need to stop responding to his every dictum (which, admittedly, is very hard for me to do).  He is the lamest of lame ducks, having lost the popular vote twice (the only president to ever do so) and will be losing the vote of the Electoral College in two weeks.

In a little over seven weeks (and maybe sooner), he'll be a former president and America will move on from him and all of his criminal sycophants and misguided supporters, saving those serving in the Congress.  

Over the next four years, the best thing that could happen for the Democratic Party, whether the party moves left, center, or right, is for Donald Trump to remain the centerpiece and clear leader of the GOP.  He is not just another arrow in the quiver for the Democrats, but the best and most poisonous they possess.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, November 29, 2020.

821. Rudy Strikes Out

The president's third attempt to steal Pennsylvania hit another setback with the judge's stinging rebuke. So far he's attempted to steal Nevada, Georgia twice (with another attempt in the works by the governor there), and Michigan, the latter of which included wining and dining two GOP legislators in an effort to get them to rewrite Michigan law between now and the day the Electoral College is set to vote.

His continued attempted-rigging of the election by baseless court actions to overturn the election and overthrow the votes of a republic is both funny and sad. Funny in that he and his team are so thoroughly incompetent at it; sad in that many Republicans, including most in the houses of Congress, are sitting idly by while the most basic right of the American people, that to elect their leaders, is being jeopardized and bastardized by the highest leaders of their party.

There are lots of reasons I've been a Democrat since first registering to vote in 1978. The actions of nearly the entire Republican Party in this November's election make clear that even as a seventeen-year-old, I made the correct decision.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, November 21, 2020.

820. Smartmatic Machines; Trump's mental instability; Trump's supporters leaning toward treason

Here's the interesting thing about the Smartmatic Voting Machines that allegedly changed votes from Trump to Biden. According to Trump and his gang of lawyers, this only happened in states where Trump lost. These machines are used in 28 states, several where Trump won. Amazingly, the machines worked perfectly there. Only where Trump lost did the machines seem to have problems.

None of those states which Trump won had any problems? Really? None of the states which Biden won big had any problems? Really? All of the problems just happened to occur in the states with close counts. That's an amazing coincidence, almost too amazing to believe. To quote President-elect Biden, "Come on, man."

Here's the bottom line: The president is mentally unstable and may be a danger to himself and certainly to the Republic. Those who support him are accessories to whatever may befall him medically and professionally and are adding to the potential fall of the American Republic, which is akin to treason.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, November 17, 2020.

Between 819 and 820. I intend to start blogging again.

I haven't regularly blogged in a while and it is my intent to do so again.  It may take me a minute to get back in the habit.  I haven't posted a picture in years - literally years.  But, we'll see what happens.  Stay with me.  Thanks.

819. Mary Margaret Mulvihill, Rest In Peace

Mary Margaret Mulvihill passed away the day before yesterday. She is someone who I've known of all my adult life although we haven't always been political friends. I did not know her the first time she ran for elective office, but in her next four races, I did not support her.

I first heard her name in the 35th LD elections of 1976, a three-way contest between her, the incumbent Ernestine Roach, and my uncle, Don Noble. I was 15 years old at the time. Ernestine, who lived in the subdivision behind my high school, won that race. As a note, Uncle Don died in 2005 and Ernestine died seven years ago today. That LD election began my involvement in City of Louisville politics as a "Stansbury Democrat" and put me on opposite sides with Mary Margaret.

My first long conversation with her was in April 1984, on another 35th LD election day, a race she won, in her dining room in North Audubon. She made me precinct captain of H-121 - the old 17-4, my precinct in Camp Taylor. I also came to be friends with her husband, Eamon, an Irishman who came to America in the early 1960s, who passed away in 2015.

Over a long period of time, I came to understand Mary Margaret's role in the formation of TARC, the social justice politics of Louisville and Kentucky, and the stern and effective way she served both in and out of public office, never ever stopping. When I decided to run for 35th LD Chair in 2000, despite a sometimes rocky relationship, I asked her to run with me as my Vice-Chair. (I remember going to Bellarmine's Knights Hall where she was attending a "B" District Commissioner debate with Dolores Delahanty and making this ask. It wasn't easy and she didn't make it any easier, but she did accept and with that acceptance brought together, at least in the 35th, two long-running factions of Louisville's Democratic Party under one tent.) We won that race over two other tickets, both of whom dropped out of the race before the election was held.

In the last twenty years, Mary Margaret has kept up her hard work in every way possible ultimately seeing the election of her son, Patrick, as Councilman in the 10th District, which overlays a large part of the 35th House District. I've mostly interacted with her in recent years through Patrick. Knowing Patrick since his days as a Little Leaguer at Germantown, I've supported him in his races for office, even when some around me haven't. While I haven't been in a district where I could vote for him, I do have property there and he has had a sign on my property in each of his elections. I know Mary Margaret is very proud of his accomplishments.

Mary Margaret has long been part of a group of leaders in Louisville - her, Suzy Post, and earlier this month Sue Speed - that is slowly passing from us and their work and devotion will be deeply missed in the future. May she Rest in Peace. ✝️