First, apologies for the lack of updates here. I’ve been having an awful lot of trouble getting Internet to my notebook system. I understand that hotels want me to use their WiFi (this is why my cellular signal for mobile data is attenuated to an unusable level) so they can track me and sell my data but if that’s actually the case, they ought to at least ensure that I can get their WiFi in my room.
I might have taken a few wrong turns Monday. I crossed the Rio Grande three times.
No, not into and out of Mexico. This was in New Mexico, between Santa Fe and Los Alamos. I hadn’t realized the river’s origins lay so far from the Mexican border.
So prior to Monday, my travels on this trip had been exclusively on freeways, mostly with cruise control and my music blaring. Monday was mostly two-lane roads through some spectacular territory. I’ve started a photograph album here, because sometimes you just have to stop and take a picture. And sometimes this happens a few times.
The lighting quality on those shots is uneven. I was passing through and had to take what I could get. There are some shots I didn’t take just because the light wasn’t working at all, and for rocks, you need a particular kind of light.
Even as I traversed northern New Mexico, the terrain was looking familiar, reminding me of a summer camp I’d attended as a kid. Once I was in Colorado, place names seemed familiar.
But if I saw Pike’s Peak, I didn’t recognize it. And I didn’t see any signs for Pike’s Peak. The mountain could be seen from that summer camp.
I was remembering an overnight trip we’d taken to an old cabin. It still had tools, implements, and dishes from the 19th century. I remembered thinking a place like this would be a possibility for hiding out from my tormentors, then pretty much all other kids. It wasn’t practical, of course, but the memory reminds me that along with desperately needing acceptance, in the form of a real job, I am still desperate to escape those who continue to abuse me.[1] It makes for an odd psychological combination.
I wasn’t really expecting to, but as familiar place names faded, I traversed Lauren Boebert’s district. Like all members of the House of Representatives, she’s up for re-election, but I really didn’t see that many signs for her.
"Where is democracy found in the U.S. Constitution?" A sign asks that rhetorically and answers, "It's not!"
Next to it, somewhat smaller, is a Lauren Boebert campaign sign. I have been driving through her district for a while now, here in southwest Colorado.
— David Benfell, Ph.D. (Public) (@BenfellPhD) July 25, 2022
I often take yard signs as an indication of enthusiastic support, more or less assuming a rough bell curve of support in addition to what I see this way, just not so enthusiastic that they’re putting up yard signs. In some races, this can give me a clue as to who will win.
This is not one of those races. First, I haven’t looked into the race here; it could be Boebert is unopposed, I’m guessing without even a credible Democratic Party candidate to run against in the November election, in which case people might feel less of a need to campaign on her behalf. It could also be that even in her district, there is less enthusiasm for a politician who has built her career on stupidity. Neither of these possibilities precludes her re-election and I saw no opposing signs.
As I was coming down in through Utah, I was thinking I was likely traversing territory where breakaway Mormon sects, determined to preserve their polygamy custom, landed. I, of course, saw no sign of that. Instead, I saw microbreweries: Salt Lake City, too, is seeking to attract high technology.
I am not caught up. I am exhausted.
Gilead
Donald Trump
Coup attempt
Just sayin’, Marjorie Cohn is usually right. I’m not qualified to evaluate her legal argument in this case,[2] but continue to strongly suspect that the Department of Justice has not indicted Donald Trump because Merrick Garland really, really, really doesn’t want to.[3]
Marjorie Cohn, January 6 Committee Has Provided Sufficient Evidence for Garland to Indict Trump,” Truthout, July 25, 2022, https://truthout.org/articles/january-6-committee-has-provided-sufficient-evidence-for-garland-to-indict-trump/
John Fetterman
Marc Levy, “GOP warms to far-right gubernatorial nominee in Pennsylvania,” Associated Press, July 25, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-abortion-campaigns-presidential-election-2020-b261a2e8a1689f13c3c4ab756423da95
Residential schools
Chris Harland-Dunaway, “Pope Francis apologizes to Canada’s Indigenous communities. But some say it doesn’t go far enough,” World, July 25, 2022, https://theworld.org/stories/2022-07-25/pope-francis-apologizes-canadas-indigenous-communities-some-say-it-doesnt-go-far
- [1]David Benfell, “To be a monster,&Rdquo; Not Housebroken, July 17, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/07/17/to-be-a-monster/↩
- [2]Marjorie Cohn, January 6 Committee Has Provided Sufficient Evidence for Garland to Indict Trump,” Truthout, July 25, 2022, https://truthout.org/articles/january-6-committee-has-provided-sufficient-evidence-for-garland-to-indict-trump/↩
- [3]Farnoush Amiri and Michael Balsamo, “Jan. 6 panel puts Garland in ‘precarious’ spot, ups pressure,” Associated Press, April 1, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-merrick-garland-donald-trump-f70143880cb9be8a0610edcad1ed18e8↩
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