If I was a Republican, this would be a happy morning. The group down by the Fire Ring was charged up this morning. We sent a last unemotional update just as the polls closed on Election Day, recapping the way the day of voting went. This morning we followed our agreement to get our caffein and nicotine levels adjusted before turning on the tablets and seeing what happened to us.

It was a morning that indicated change was in the air. The soil beneath several pair of boots had an uncharacteristic “crunch” as we fumbled in pockets for the materials that compose our last public vice. Those that smoke did so and observed the First Frost. The world changes.

After we retired to the circle of flame around the discounted firedog we purchased last Spring, the lights began to flicker on several devices. The word spread rapidly. Apparently the Republican candidate for Governor won.

That sparked some discussion, since we have a fair spectrum of opinion that mimics the state. We have a couple old Blue Dog Democrats like the ones I worked for on The Hill. There are a couple Republicans who remember Ronald Reagan’s defense plans with fondness. And a couple more who now brand themselves as something called “independents,” who generally consider all the candidates and vote for the ones they consider least damaging to the future.

The State of Virginia electoral map was mostly Red in coloration on the maps, more so than the last few elections. Glenn Youngkin is our Governor Elect, as even former Governor Terry McAuliffe agreed by the time we got to our third cup of coffee. So is the Lt. Governor-elect, a woman of color and former Marine named Winsome Sears. Joining them in the “win column” was the GOP Attorney General candidate, a Hispanic-heritage fellow named Jason Miyares.

This is fairly unusual in Modern Virginia’s electoral history. When some of us arrived in the National Capitol Region in the mid-1980s, Fairfax was Red. Now, it is know as a Blue voting Bastion. Word on the street yesterday was that it was going to report later than stipulated by Commonwealth law due to “local issues,” and would be submitted once the rest of the votes in the Commonwealth were known.

Based on results reported on time, there seemed to a consensus that Youngkin’s lead could not be overcome by an overnight infusion of ballots from irregular sources in Fairfax City, and the matter was done. It is still up for discussion in the other State holding gubernatorial elections yesterday. Up North, they are calling New Jersey “tied” for that office this morning, with the likelihood that sweep-up votes will cause Gov. Murphy to be re-elected. We agreed to hold our opinions on that until things become a little clearer.

What is clear is that issues have changed dramatically in just a couple weeks.

Media reaction attributed the electoral results to the usual accusations of systemic discrimination by an entrenched ethnic group clinging to their guns and religion. DeMille suggested it might actually reflect a certain resistance by some voters to being told they were bigots and had no business looking at what was taught in the schools they fund. The President’s trip to Europe had, at best, mixed results. At the G20 Conference he demonstrated leadership by appearing twenty minutes late to his own press conference. He then misplaced the famous Trevi Fountain where the other leaders met to cast coins into the water for luck. Three of us have hurled money in that small but stately body of water, and we are still breathing, so the ancient prophesy of “return” cannot be ruled out for those who actually appeared. The goal of this G20 was to support the fight against Climate Change, which it apparently it continues to do. Since China and Russia’s leaders didn’t show up.

That meeting in Rome was supposed to set up a vibrant UN-Sponsored COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow. The President appeared a little tired from his travels, and while the conference will continue for another full week, there are reports that dramatic climate action doesn’t appear to be in the cards.

There will be more discussion about education, and that Critical Theory stuff that is not being taught in our schools, even if the State Education website says K-12 education is based on it. The Administration didn’t help by announcing consideration of cash awards for $450,000 dollars to families who were separated after illegally entering the United States. Our President swore to take a legislative “framework” for dramatic climate action to Glasgow, but warring factions within his own party did not give it to him for the carry-on luggage to the conference.

We took a poll up on the Loading Dock. We are slightly in favor of the idea that elections still might reflect voter sentiments. That we are generally opposed to inflation and wildly expansive transitional budgets that will be funded by our grandchildren.

It is too soon to see if this is part of a “tsunami” leading to the Midterm elections next year. As mostly Navy vets, we are generally opposed to tsunamis at sea, since their consequences can be horrific. But there was a general consensus that the election reflected a sense that at least part of the America we remember still works. And that the voters are at least expressing their discomfort about passing laws that have not been written before passage. Splash said he wanted to borrow the truck to “do some business” over at the Belmont Farms distillery. He said all the election issues made made him too tired to use the bicycle, even if it required no fossil fuel except the stuff that cooked breakfast.

Even DeMille agreed with that one.

Copyright 2021 Vic Socotra
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