 
                I believe Trump will win simply because the alternative is too dangerous for too many people.
Inflation will not be solved under Kamala Harris except through far higher interest rates, and through deep recessions -- and the Fed is signaling it lacks the stomach to do what Volcker did in the early 1980s, at least when a Democrat is in office, so I don't think we'd solve the problem in the near future.
War is not going to stop. There will be more of it, and it may reach our shores.
Lawfare. Targeting political opponents through the justice system. "Reform" by prosecutors who have allowed criminals to run rampant. Transgenderism in the schools. Censorship on social media. Forced EV cars and higher energy prices.
I could go on. Basically, there are enough people for whom all the hoopla -- debates, ads, polls, etc. -- simply doesn't matter. People are going to vote for change because we cannot leave the incompetent Ivy Leaguers in charge.
But the obstacles are immense, as the debate this week reminded us, with its crazy bias from the moderators. Vote-by-mail is a scam. Media bias is real. Censorship is going on, quietly. Trump has to overcome all of that.
Can he?
I don't know, but I've chosen to believe that he will. I want to be clear: that's a belief that I've chosen. It would be more logical to conclude that he cannot win and that the machine behind Kamala Harris will simply win (and fail in office).
So I am aware that I am choosing a belief that is likely to fail, possibly so that I can make it through the next few months, possibly because doing so makes the outcome more likely to happen.
It's not crazy, just perhaps unlikely. But I do believe.
The story of Noah is familiar; the details, less so.
Noah is often seen as an ambivalent figure. He was righteous -- but only for his generation. What was his deficiency?
One answer suggests itself: knowing that the world was about to be flooded, he built an Ark for the animals and for his own family -- but did not try to save anyone else or to convince them to repent and change their ways (the prophet Jonah, later, would share that reluctance).
Abraham, later, would set himself apart by arguing with God -- with the Lord Himself! -- against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that they should be saved if there were enough righteous people to be found (there were not).
Still, Noah was good enough -- and sometimes, that really is sufficient to save the world. We don't need heroes every time -- just ordinary decency.
Hi all -- as I noted last month, I'm going to be closing down my Locals page, at least for tips and subscriptions -- I may keep the page up and the posts as well, but I'm no longer going to be accepting any kind of payment.
Look for cancelation in the very near future. Thank you for your support!
An interesting weekend -- one of the last of Daylight Savings Time -- in which there is much to celebrate, much to contemplate, and a bit to worry about.
The Gaza peace deal is shaky, but holding, after the living hostages returned; the shutdown is still going on, with no end in sight; the China trade war is heating up; and the confrontation with Venezuela continues to escalate.
The "No Kings" protest was a dud, despite the media's attempt to inflate it. What I find fascinating is that the Democrats have basically stolen the rhetoric and the imagery of the Tea Party protests, circa 2009. They claim they are defending the Constitution -- just like the Tea Party did.
On the one hand, this is good. How wonderful to have a political system in which both sides, bitterly opposed though they are, articulate differences through the Constitution -- and not, as in so many other countries, outside it.
On the other, this is sheer hypocrisy for the Democrats. Not only did they malign the Tea Party as ...