First off, in Minnesota they had brought the policeman who was responsible for George Floyd's death to trial.  I don't know how that is going, but I will leave that to Minnesota to deal with.  There's no point getting upset over something that is still going on.

In Georgia, the state house, heavily Republican, has succeeded in passing laws that make it much more inconvenient for blacks to vote.  There are picture ID requirements; they've cut down the number of days within which a mail-in ballot can be requested; they've reduced the hours in which polling places will remain open; they've made it a felony for an organized political group to interfere with voters waiting in line, including providing food or water.  That last matter has been exaggerated by Democrats, but it is possible that rabid Republicans watching the line of voters might stretch the conditions of the new law, and attempt to have the entire polling place discarded, claiming illegal voting, or whatever.  We have to realize that we have honestly been spoiled by the convenience of doing anything; from pre-partially-cooked food in the supermarkets to drive through drug stores.  Nothing in the new Georgia laws actually prevent anybody from voting.  It just means that it will take a lot more effort to vote.  Which means that if those who are not willing to put in the effort, among Democrats, just do not vote, then the election could go to the Republicans.  But poor Republicans must realize that Democrats are fighting for what could help the Republicans, too.  If all the Republicans were rich, and all the Democrats were poor, then there isn't much to agree upon.  But that is not the case.

It is so sad that Donald Trump is still claiming that the election was stolen from him.  Well, many moderate Republicans agree that Trump is lying, and has been lying for years.  But Republicans seem to be OK with Lying for Political Reasons.  They consider it a special kind of election rhetoric.  Many Republicans, within Congress and the Senate, as well as outside government, are furious at how Trump has hijacked the party, but Trump is raising lots of money from small (Republican) donors, and the Republicans can't ignore that.  Until Trump does or says something that spoils things badly for the GOP leadership, they have to bite their tongue and let Trump keep raising the cash.  A problem is that Trump puts the money in a fund controlled by him, rather than the main Republican fund.  Hmm.

Liz Cheney, a Congresswoman who opposed Trump's mad ideas about the stolen election, has spoken against Trump.  But she's one of the few thoughtful members of the GOP, a woman of principle.  John Boehner, the former speaker of the House, has also come out against Trump.  Mitch McConnell opposed Trump right after the election, but came around afterwards, though he went through with counting the Electoral College votes, which Trump did not want them to do.  Recently, Trump thoroughly insulted Mitch, calling him an idiot.  It's hard to tell how it will go; the Republicans are so desperate to have enough power in Washington to block what Biden is trying to do, so that they may close ranks, though they hate each other.  The Republican Party is now shown to be a collection of thoroughly disreputable people.

Beto O'Rourke has been trying to encourage his fellow-Texans to come to the Democrat party.  While the storms were shutting down the Texas grid, and Ted Cruz was making up his mind whether to vacation in Cancun or stay and help his constituents, Beto O'Rourke was driving up from El Paso with water and supplies to help those who were stuck without drinking water.

Governor Abbott of Texas was telling Texans that it was the Democrats who caused their electric grid to fail.  Texas is the center of the Oil Industry, and they hate anything that might be a hindrance to fossil fuels.

In Michigan, they're running out of vaccine doses.  Why is this?  I get so frustrated, worrying that the shortage is deliberate.  Meanwhile, Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan is reluctant to call for a shutdown, because she has called for so many of them (shutdowns) that Michiganders are losing patience with the poor woman.

Of course you've heard that Tiger Woods was speeding when he had his accident.  And more women have come out against Governor Andrew Cuomo, saying he had been obnoxious, and used suggestive language with them.  So Democrats are not immune from the tendency to sexually harass women.  Many families have a family culture that allows a certain amount of bad behavior by men against women.  It has been on the wane for decades, but I have no doubt that men fight against the pressure that modern society exerts to reduce this behavior.

We can't be perfect.  But we need to be a lot better than we are.

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