And Now, Presenting 2021...

The Schloss-Blog is distressed over some things that mark the legacy of 2020, but elated over some others.

Distressing: At a football game I covered, fans showed up, sans masks, neglecting social distancing in the stands, shaking hands, hugging and talking face to face about the team's championship chances this year. Their kids' team had to cancel to several games thereafter. COVID apparently found its way into so many of the players' households, it seems.

Proud: The relentless pursuit of caretaking on the part of frontliners, doctors, nurses and EMTs, police and firefighters, grocery store employees and everyone else working essential jobs, masked-up, but still at grave risk to their health and that of their families.

Distressing: Trump keeps trying to overturn the election results. He has allegedly threatened state electors. He has encouraged the Proud Boys to stand down but stand by. He has all but encouraged violence in the streets of Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, when his Vice President, Mike Pence, announces to the world that Joe Biden is the next president.

Proud: Kamala Harris becomes the first woman - Black/Asian descent - to take up office at the White House, second-in-command to Joe Biden, ready to take the top spot if need be. Her arrival is a proud occasion in American history. 

Distressing: Trump rallies, pre- and post-election, attended by predominantly white crowds without facemasks and total disregard for social distancing. It was estimated that his pre-election mass rallies of such nature caused 30,000 cases of COVID-19 and the deaths of at least 700 from the coronavirus. It's bad enough 300,000-plus are dead from the virus. So he had to contribute? He had to prove he doesn't care if you die.

Proud: Volunteers tirelessly working the long lines of cars of people waiting to pick up holiday meals as their money and hope expire while Congress debates a relief package - which Trump threatens to veto. Bad enough he vetoed the military-funding bill because it didn't contain a rider blocking social-media platforms from flagging and even banning his ridiculous, false posts. None of Trump's vulgar behavior and threats daunted these volunteers from completing their tasks, however.

Distressing: Racism in America. As Trump tries to negate or simply declare invalid the votes from districts which contain ballots of so many Black and minority Americans, his base followers believe his cries of a rigged election. He will have a mock inauguration, supposedly, and a laughable pseudo-government, powerless but he hopes influential.

Proud: My family and my friends have stuck together, mocked Trump's rigged allegations and declared their disgust with Trump, throwing their hope at the future we can now have. I can never do enough Zoom calls with my family and my bros.

Distressing: The number of people who voted for Trump and believe the election was rigged. How? Now we have reports of continuing death threats against elected officials who certified their votes in their states, even Republicans. Trump doesn't care if they die.

Proud: Of the young people who have come out and voted this time around, helping spell defeat for Trump. And proud of the Black Lives Matters protesters who never relented.

Distressing: Alabama's new Republican Senator, former football coach Tommy Tuberville, believes the three branches of government are the House, the Senate and the White House. Yeah, he'll be a powerful voice in the Senate. Can we throw Alabama out of the Union, please?

Proud: My grandson doesn't see race, color or bias. He sees people.

So do I. 

Happy New Year, America.

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson. Indeed.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix show

What Now?

The Schloss-Blog really didn't know what to write about today.

Donald Trump's total insensitivity toward the millions of Americans who have contracted the coronavirus or the hundreds of thousands who have died from it?

As usual.

Or the fact that Notre Dame proved it doesn't belong in the College Football Playoff Final Four.

As usual.

The fact that millions are hurting financially because of the coronavirus, having lost jobs, income, benefits, even houses.

This is not supposed to happen in America.

Or the fact Congress can't reach an agreement on how to underwrite a solution or even a piece of a solution for all that.

These are our elected representatives. And they don't care about us.

They only care about being able to point a finger at the other side and being able to blame them.

Maybe, write about that Donald Trump would veto a bill to finance the military unless it included a totally unrelated rider that eliminated what is in essence social media platforms' privilege to tag or even take down posts like Trump's that so often (all the time) contain false or misleading information.

Or maybe, just write about how Donald Trump is posting on social media that the election was stolen from him.

Or that millions believe that (36 percent of Americans, a vast majority of Republican voters).

HTF do you steal an election by, as he claims, having machines that mysteriously change "Trump" votes to "Biden" votes?

Besides, as my cousin says, "How can anyone in their right minds vote for this man?"

Maybe write about the attorneys licking their chops for a go at Trump after he's out office, everything from tax fraud to sexual abuse to defamation, primarily lawsuits from which he cannot receive a federal pardon.

Or how about that football season? Owners, athletic directors uncaringly putting athletes in harm's way in the name of TV-contract money. Who cares if they get the virus and who cares if they or someone they come in contact with dies? As long as we get our TV money.

2020 was a tainted year in sports, with athletes at risk; in politics, with Americans everywhere at risk; and in economics, with businesses everywhere in risk of failing.

And our elected representatives arguing over how to help us instead of, y'know, just helping us.

Or maybe write about the advertising that promotes togetherness, partying, big crowds all together and general fun atmospheres all around, with no facemasks or social distancing in sight.

Which is exactly what we're supposed to be doing in America.

Right now. 

I'll close with words from Soft Cell, which kind of sum up Donald Trump's relationship with America, and especially with shortsighted Republicans in the Senate:

Once I ran to you
Now I'll run from you

This tainted love you've given -
I give you all a boy could give you.
Take my tears and that's not living - oh

Remember, Trump only want to stay in office to avoid prosecution. He doesn't care if you die.

If we die. Ane we are. In record numbers.

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you Mrs. Robinson.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix show.

Happy holidays!

And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter

Now What?

The Schloss-Blog is wondering, what happens now? What happens after that?

Monday, the electoral college votes. The Republicans are going to try something on Monday when the Electoral College casts its votes. By law, the electors are supposed to vote for the candidate whose vote totals won their respective states. But unless their states have passed such legislation, they are not officially bound, although each state's elector representatives to the college are chosen by the party whose candidate won the state. Many states, in line with a Supreme Court decision, have passed legislation binding the selected electors and their votes.

Not only that, but ninety-nine percent of electors have always voted as designated in U.S. history. NINETY-NINE PERCENT!

Yet, you know Trump and the 126 traitors who signed on to the Texas Attorney General's lawsuit to overturn the election by eliminating the votes in battleground states are going to try something to get the Electoral College representatives to change their legally bound votes.

Will it work? Can they really pull it off?

They're asshole enough to try, obviously. And something like 36 percent of American voters think the election was "rigged."

Every time we hear (except on Fox, Newsmax or OAN) that the Supreme Court has finally settled the matter, another lawsuit, another challenge, another unworthy, baseless, evidence-free accusation of fraud pops up somewhere, begging resolution at the state level and presenting ditzy, uninformed blondes to say so.

For instance, a lawsuit in Wisconsin was just dismissed Saturday, by the state's supreme court. Trump lawyers argued that they wanted the court to follow the rule of law and overturn the results. The court responded that in not doing so, it did just what the Trump lawyers requested - it followed the rule of law.

Make no mistake: the 18 state attorneys general and the 126 Republican congressmen who signed on to the Texas A.G.'s lawsuit are TRAITORS. The Supreme Court's ruling on that case and one preceding it  during the week clearly declared the unconstitutional grounds on which they were filed.

It makes me sick that these Republicans would pull out the stops they have to overturn this legitimate election.

And speaking of sick, while Americans die in records numbers from COVID, Trump makes no comment about such, offers no consolation nor condolence and doesn't reassure Americans that help is on the way. Instead, he accuses the incoming administration (is he conceding?) of likely screwing up the handling of the vaccine distribution.

I remain disgusted at the behavior of Republicans who have not only supported this coup attempt (that's what it is so call it such), but helped administer it. History will record them as abolitionists of freedom and the rule of law.

Yet, you've nary heard a bad word out of Biden or his camp regarding all this. They are forging ahead with filling important positions with competent people, unlike the "best and brightest" with whom Trump always told us he surrounded himself.

Funny, I didn't know he had Kelly Services (nee Kelly Girls) on speed dial.

With any luck, the Electoral College will complete its task on Monday and then Congress will certify such on Jan. 5, 2021.

Either that or, as the Beatles said:

You say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We'd all love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well, you know
We're doing what we can

But if you want money for people with minds that hate
All I can tell is brother you have to wait

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

More on Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix show.

Answers Looking for Questions

The Schloss-Blog has a lot of answers looking for questions. Maybe you can help me out.

Answer: The election results have already been certified. Anybody got the question?

Answer: GOP attorneys are urging Georgia GOP voters not to vote in the upcoming Senate runoff elections. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Donald Trump called the governor of Georgia and asked specifically to overturn the election results in his state. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Lawsuits over election results, filed by Republican attorneys on behalf of Donald Trump, are still pending, although most have been dismissed for lack of evidence or having no standing. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Congress has still not authorized a renewed stimulus package to help the millions of Americans whose unemployment benefits are expiring. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Since Election Day, the president (not the president-elect) has not muttered a word about the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have died from COVID-19, nor the hundreds of thousands projected to die before a vaccine is generally available. He hasn't even offered a word of condolence. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Records are being set everyday for the number of people contracting COVID-19, the number of people hospitalized from COVID-19 and the number of people dying from COVID-19. Anybody got the question?

Answer: A CNN reporter (Dr. Sanjay Gupta), in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House, working on a COVID-19-related story, noticed that maybe 40 percent of people in the hallways were wearing masks. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Democratic politicians, including the governor of California, the mayor of San Francisco and the mayor Denver, were seen at events and/or airports during Thanksgiving, indoors, not necessarily wearing masks. Anybody got the question?

Answer: The Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens had their game postponed three times so they'd both have sufficient players and some key players back and eligible to play. The Denver Broncos, by contrast, with four quarterbacks sidelined in COVID-19 protocol, did not have their game rescheduled, had to play with a guy who hadn't played QB since high school and got beat. Anybody got the question?

Answer: The NBA has opened preseason training camps, not in a bubble either. Anybody got the question?

Answer: The governor of Florida is a schmuck. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Trump has not conceded the election. Yet. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Trump and GOP lawyers are telling Georgia Republicans not to vote in the upcoming Senate runoff elections. No, they are, really. Anybody got the question?

Answer: The virus vaccine may be good for life, or just one year. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Don't travel for Christmas and don't party for New Year's Eve. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Republicans won't recognize that Joe Biden is the president-elect. Anybody got the question.

Answer: A petulant child and sore loser holding a grudge. Anybody got the question?

Thank you for playing Schloss-Blog Jeopardy. I wish we had Alex Trebek to moderate.

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

More on Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix Show.