Magnificent thread.

Hopefully you're right.

Except...

Russian interference. Check. (Boris Johnson even tried to suppress a report about Russian interference.)
A sizeable portion of the population believing "facts" that aren't true or ignoring facts they don't like.
A sizeable portion of the population rallying around a leader who the world mocks.
Rallying around a leader who threatened to flout court orders and law (though he pulled back).
A sizeable portion of the population voting against their own financial interests and it's not clear why.
THe fomenting of division so great it has torn families apart.
Some of this has to do with disdain for immigrants and familiar populist tropes.

Did some liberals simply get exhausted by Brexit? This morning even the experts are disagreeing about what happened. I say we should listen to them and figure out for ourselves whether we need to pay attention to this or not. It's very hard to predict voter behavior right now, or entirely understand what motivates it. So I say we shouldn't completely dismiss what happened last night. We do so at our own peril. How many of thought Trump couldn't even win a first term, right up to the week he won?

EDIT: From the BBC last night. More "lower class voters" (their words) than middle class voters voted for Conservatives in this election and that's never happened before (according to BBC). They couldn't explain it.

Blueprint for a campaign ad I want to see

This is a rough draft. This is just a blueprint for something better. I wish somebody would create an ad like this while the Bevin Pardons are hot in the news. He exemplifies the Trump Republican. Even though there is lots of voice-over talking, the intention is for a rapid-fire constant barrage of visuals, quick edits, and harsh sound bites, edited down to a minute or less. I wish some candidate--any candidate--would run something like this.

FADE IN:

ANNOUNCER: What has the Republican Party become under Donald J. Trump?

NEWS ANCHOR: Against the strong advice of top military officials President Trump has pardoned two Navy Seals found guilty of war crimes.

CORRESPONDENT: Pentagon officials are reportedly furious.

Photos of the Navy Seals, if available, during their trials, or gloating, or posing with dead bodies intercut with Trump, his crazy tweets, etc…

NEWS ANCHOR: The President wants the Navy Seals he pardoned of war crimes to hit the campaign trail for him.

SCENE: Trump Rally, Trump boasting about pardoning the Navy Seals and what fine people they are.

NEWS ANCHOR: Navy Secretary Richard Spencer resigned today.

SCENE: TRUMP RALLY: Trump campaigns with pardoned Seal (If this exists).

A PSYCHIATRIST BEING INTERVIEWED BY A REPORTER:

REPORTER: What does Donald Trump see when he looks in the mirror?

PSYCHIATRIST: He sees a god.

CHRIS COLLINS NEWS CONFERENCE. SUBTITLE: INSIDER TRADING

Collins: No, I will not resign. I’ve done nothing wrong.

NEWS ANNOUNCER: Today Collins plead guilty to charges of insider trading.

SCENE: DUNCAN HUNTER being chased by reporters. SUBTITLE: conspiracy, corruption, wire fraud and violating campaign finance laws

Duncan Hunter (press conference or to reporters): There’s been a misunderstanding. My wife did it.

NEWS PERSONALITY: Duncan Hunter has completely thrown his own wife under the bus.

VOICE OVER: What kind of people are these?

Duncan Hunter to Reporters: I have no intention of stepping down.

NEWS ANNOUNCER: Today Duncan Hunter changed his plea to Guilty.

NEWS ANNOUNCER: Outgoing Kentucky Mayor Bevin today pardoned a man convicted of beheading a woman and stuffing her body into a barrel.

TOM HANDY, PROSECUTOR: I think it’s the arrogance of a governor who has a God-like image of himself and a lack of concern for anybody else.

ANNOUNCER: The party that was once “Tough on Crime” has become the party that doesn’t care about you or your family’s safety.

DR. JERROLD POST. SUBTITLE: CIA PROFILER JERROLD POST. POST: If he’s voted out of office, the most dangerous time is between Election Day and his last day in office.

NEWS ANCHOR: Today the outgoing governor issued (dozens, hundreds) more pardons, including one to a child rapist and another to a man convicted of murder in a violent home invasion robbery.

CBS HEADLINE: Ex-Kentucky governor pardons convicted killers in last days in office

SERIES OF MUGSHOTS:

Delmar Partin (Man who beheaded woman). TITLE: PARDONED!

Child Rapist. TITLE: PARDONED!

Patrick Baker: TITLES: Homicide, Home Invasion, PARDONED!

Shots of emotional, uncomprehending family members (of victims) and prosecutors reacting to news of the pardons.

FAMILY MEMBER: Why is he doing this!?

NEWS ANCHOR VOICE OVER: Former Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin issued a slew of pardons on his way out of office, granting relief to a convicted killer whose brother raised money for Bevin. He also pardoned Patrick Brian Baker, who was convicted of homicide and other crimes in a fatal 2014 home break-in in Knox County, the Courier Journal reported.
Baker's family raised $21,500 at a political fundraiser last year for Bevin and Baker's brother and sister-in-law also gave $4,000 to Bevin's campaign on the day of the fundraiser.

NEWS PERSONALITY: The cruelty IS the point.

PROSECUTOR JACKIE STEELE: To say I am aggrieved by this pardon would be an understatement.

NEWS PERSONALITY (think Joe or Mika): The Republicans no longer govern; they like to break things, mess things up.

PSYCHIATRIST or NEWS PERSONALITY: This has nothing to do with deeply held political principles. It’s about what feels good at any given moment. It’s about getting back at the voters you don’t like, or profiting off your power, or exacting revenge.

TRUMP: When someone hits me I hit back a hundred times harder. I believe in an eye for an eye.

PSYCHIATRIST (repeat): The most dangerous time is between Election Day and his last day in office.

ANNOUNCER: This is no way to run a country. (Apologies for the ancient cliche here).

(The close is personalized by the candidate, who will come up with a better ending than I did.)

The shortest-lived government agency in history.

They shouldn't even bother printing up business cards because in a year "The Space Force" won't be a thing.

Eastwood's aesthetics are difficult to reconcile with his politics.

Thinking of Unforgiven which is self-critical and derisive of hypocrisy and hagiography and mythmaking of criminals into heroes. Million Dollar Baby totally exposing the myth that if you work hard enough and want something bad enough you can achieve the American Dream. And Mystic River (I need to see it again) seemed very against the mob mentality and scapegoating. There are probably other examples too. I didn't care for J. Edgar but it seemed like there was something there too.

The Breeders - Cannonball

Don't know if it's related at all, but...

There is a book coming out in February (see below). Maybe this issue is about to heat up, or explode? Notice the suicide-by-hanging in the book's description.

Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction by David Enrich

A long shot, I know. Arm pain after Catherization

Activities
• Do not lift more than 10 pounds for 1
week or until it has healed.
• Do not golf, do carpentry, play tennis
or other vigorous arm activity for 1
week.
• Do not soak your wound in a
bathtub, hot tub, or swimming pool
for 1 week or until the site has
healed. It is okay to wash your hands
and shower. You can cook, type,
clean, and drive, if able, the day after
you go home.
• Elevate your arm overnight and
while resting for the first 2-3 days to
prevent swelling of your hand.
What to Expect
• Mild soreness or tenderness at the
site or forearm that may last 1 week.
• Bruising at the site that may take 2-3
weeks to go away.
• A small lump (dime to quarter size)
which may last up to 6 weeks.

From Caring for Yourself After Cardiac Catheterization/Arterial Angiography
Brachial or Radial Artery

https://www.uwhealth.org/healthfacts/cardiology/5691.pdf

Just something I've been wondering about since his hospital visit. I don't even know how long it takes to receive this procedure, or whether it's something he could have had done in three - four hours. EDIT: Takes about 30 minutes.

Radial artery cardiac catheterization
Featured snippet from the web
During the procedure, a healthcare provider inserts a long thin tube (catheter) through the radial artery. The radial artery is a blood vessel in the arm. ... The catheter might have a balloon attached to it. This catheter and balloon help open up blockages in your heart's arteries.