Diminished by Half

"That is the issue that will continue in this country when these poor tongues of Judge Douglas and myself shall be silent. It is the eternal struggle between these two principles -- right and wrong -- throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time, and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity and the other the divine right of kings."

-Abraham Lincoln, October 15, 1858 Debate at Alton, Illinois

After only sleeping about 45 minutes total last night, I bumbled out into the main room of the apartment to be greeted by heavy snow.

I reckon I hadn't really been paying much attention to the weather forecast, and thought we were done with this stuff. Well, think again.

At least it's supposed to end by midday, then start melting in earnest beginning tomorrow.

Yesterday we rode the subway up to Central Park, so P could try out her new camera taking photos of the aftermath of Snowmageddon. It was spectacular, although the pathways were treacherously slick with ice.

Did you watch last night's SOTUS? Me either.

But from what I read of the reviews at 3 a.m., it sounds like he bloviating for a record time, and split his agenda equally between lying about what he'd accomplished and trying to bait and humiliate the Dems who bothered to show up. That's going to be the R's secret sauce in November: vote for us, because the Democrats are all traitors. More accurately, anyone who's not MAGA is a traitor.

I've said it here before--he's the President of 36% of the country, not a leader because a leader doesn't divide and villainize. And his manichean worldview is that of his followers. I left the Desert Storm Veterans facebook group yesterday after growing weary of all the hateful right-wing stuff showing up there, deriding anyone as a traitor or a fool who isn't with Trump. P's pointed out that these guys are his core audience, so it shouldn't come as a surprise--sixty-ish, mostly male, mostly white, mostly not-so-well educated, with an armload of grievances about how the world hasn't treated them as they think they deserve. Nope, I don't belong there. Sandpaper for the soul.

I'm not the only one who's left over that, by the looks of the thread. Another group divided and shrunk by MAGA.

Somehow the Congressman who used to sit at my table at Kiwanis when we were young found his way into my feed yesterday, wearing his red hat with his suit and aping for the camera with Dear Leader. At one point I commented on his thread that he was a dumbass, and this is why all the smart people are fleeing MAGA-held territory. Not my best moment, but I found the whole display galling.

Enough of all that. Peg's rolled out of bed, is heating water for tea so she doesn't have to drink my nasty coffee (it's not my fault--the coffee is a really good blend, but this old coffeemaker makes the stuff taste like old funk, and we've been spoiled by our platoon of espresso machines scattered among our places), and I need to start getting ready for this day. My knee is merely groaning rather than screaming, so I may walk to class and avoid the $40 round-trip taxi fare that is beginning to add up.