I am paying the cat tax on this one with a pic of Mister Pips sulking because I, too, am feeling unsettled and sliding towards Grumpy with a capital G. For different reasons. Pips was grumpy about being evicted from my lap. I'm grumpy about all kinds of shit.

Anyone who knows me or reads my stories figures out pretty quickly that I am a progressive leftie-liberal-softie-snowflake. And I have never been a Quiet Voice of Reason. But I am usually reluctant to climb on a soapbox and shout about my sociopolitical views. In real life, or online.

Why? Lots of reasons, some of which I should probably introspect further on, but the tl;dr is "It's a Gen X thing. We got conditioned to keep our mouths shut and our heads down, socially.."

But I'm coming to the late realization  I need to talk more about my positions on various & sundry issues a whole lot louder and a whole lot more often.

Why? Welp, mainly because a some people who hate everything I love are convincing other people they're right by being loud. There's no way to challenge that strategy without raising my own voice a lot louder and in a lot more venues.

So today, this is a start. Today Imma blog about a politics thing that's bugging the hell outta me. You are warned. (feel free to skip to the end for another Pips pic. Or, ya know, repost and share and whatever, if you find yourself so moved.)

ANYway. So.

The west coast is LITERALLY on fire right, the whole west quadrant of the continent is melting under a heat dome, a truly monster storm is bearing down on the coast of Texas--almost the WHOLE coast, it's that damned big--and what are the lead stories on every outlet I can find?

None of these things.

 The news cycle is stuck on sea lions barking about whether the old dude who's been doing the job of President for 4 years already is capable of doing the job after he made a bad impression during a single television appearance.

I swear to GOBS, Richard Nixon must be laughing his ass off down in Hell right now. (Which is a reference that proves I am not only An Old, but A Very Old.)

I am fed up to the back teeth with all the Very Important Media People and politicians suddenly being shocked, SHOCKED that an old man whose political brand always included verbal stumbles, chewing on his own shoe leather performed like shit against with an opponent whose brand  is smooth-talking bloviation, intimidation, and verbal charisma. I mean, I would've been pleasantly surprised if Biden had made a good showing, but I would've been surprised.

The situation is maximum SHOUTYCAPS WTF. Look. Biden has already done the job for almost four years. Trump also served 4 years. Gotta put that out there, because my anger isn't about how good a job either President did (I am not thrilled about the choice, NGL. But that's a whole 'other rant about people not understanding the difference between presidential elections and every other kind.)

ANYway. I'm DONE with The Experts dogpiling on ONE of the old men when both them have already done the job.

All the sudden hand-wringing over Biden's age and "mental fitness" and "health" is a total and obvious poisoning job. It's infuriating that the media are spreading the toxic swill with such gleeful abandon, and it's even more infuriating to see so many usually-sensible people drinking it up like it's cold soda on a hot day.

Here's another reason I'm feeling all flames over this whole late-in-the-game "OH NOES, HE'S OLD," line of attack: they back up the "But maybe bad decisions" argument with the "but what if he dies?" one. And that's even more ridiculous.

See, nobody gets a guarantee of four more functional years of life. Nobody. Not eighty years olds, not sixty-one year olds (hi) not thirty-five year olds. NONE of us should ever assumer we'll have one more good year, much less four.

That's why there's a line of succession, and why vice presidential candidates actually do matter. (And I'll take Harris over anyone Trump chooses in a hot-hot-hot minute. (Not that I think Harris will do a good job, but I'm fairly confident she won't be in favor of ushering in the Theocratic State of America. Low bar.)

Is there a point to all this? Not really. I'll wrap with this: when the news gets ridiculous, I stop clicking the ridiculousness. I don't care how aggravating the headline is, I am not feeding the media poison machine with any more clicks. I'll watch my Midsomer Murders, I'll read my Herald Petrel (space opera w/queer rep, content warnings upfront, just lovely stuff) I'll play my puzzles, and tend my own garden. (Real and figurative both.) And I'll for damsure be voting for the less-dictatory of the candidates when the time comes.

Ranting about people who use "but They'Re BOtH Bad, UGH" as an excuse not to vote...that's another post. I'm too exhausted to deal with them rn.

So there it is. My latest in rantiness. Have another cat pic. Pippin helping put away the Pride Flag.