So, it’s Election Day, and the polls will open in a few hours. The greatest show on earth once again comes to an end. Like a lot of Americas I already voted —weeks ago— as I need to mail it in and it needs to arrive on time(I have no trust in Singpost… in the past I could fax in my ballot so I didn’t have to rely on them, but that option is no longer there for me…).
I heard someone on the BBC a while ago say something I though summed up the choice:
Trump is asking for the loyalty of the voters. Harris is promising loyalty to the voters.
Overheard on the BCC
And even if I disagree with some of the Harris policies, I think that that loyalty to the voters and to the institution of democracy is the most important thing on the ballot.
Whatever the vote count is tonight, whoever is declared the winner tonight or in the coming days, or weeks, we are fucked. If he wins then we are fucked by his “authoritarian tendencies” and the christo-fascism of the MAGA faithful and those who surround him. If he loses we are fucked by his big lie and the mess MAGA will no doubt make of their conspiracy theories for weeks… or months.
In last week’s post on the election [confusion.cc] I mentioned how close Trump is to winning made me feel like I am on that boat with Willy Wonka… IFKYK. So. I looked up the “lyrics” (yea apparently it’s considered a song, called Wondrous Boat Ride) to the ride, you can see them here [lyricsondemand.com], and I came up with my own parody for the election:
To the voting booth and home again That's the democratic way Faster faster, faster faster
There's no earthly way of knowing Which direction this election's going There's no knowing how swing states are voting Based on what the polling is showing
Is it red, is it blue Is a landslide a-coming
No sign of advantage is showing So the uncertainty keeps on growing Are the fires of fascism a-glowing Is the grisly reaper mowing
Yes, the uncertainty must be growing For the pollsters keep on polling And they're certainly not showing Any signs that they are knowing
With a few weeks to go until Election Day the race is close. Very close. In fact it’s been getting closer, according to 538 [fivethrityeight.com] for weeks and their most recent update actually puts Trump ahead for the first time in months:
fivethirtyeight.com’s electoral vote aggregate prediction as of 19 October.
I have the same feeling I had eight years ago [confusion.cc] sitting in Australia watching the New York Times needle shifting more and more into confirming Trump’s win. I feel like one of the passengers on Wonka’s boat ride… a feeling of “it can’t be real, but…”. I can’t believe that half of America can vote for Trump, again. I get not liking Democrat’s policies or preferring the traditional Republican policies of low taxes and small government. But I can’t understand how anyone with any appreciation for democracy, government or history can consider voting for Trump, want MAGA… again.
The narcissism, bigotry, toxic nationalism of Trump get’s more and more like some B-movie plot showing how the world walks, once again into the all the stupidity that led us to World War II, and all it’s horrors. The rise of protectionism and begger-thy-neighbor trade policy that Trump espouses with his across the board tariffs, something he began in his first term and has been more or less continued by Biden, the normalization of outright bigotry, racism and the ethno- or religious nationalism that goes with it. It’s not just the US… there are literal Nazis winning elections in Germany, and neo-fascist in Italy, to say nothing of racial riots in the UK. Not to mention the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
It’s so depressing.
I said, after the first debate that I would still vote for Biden even if he was mentally questionable, because Trump has proved to me over-and-over, every time he opens his mouth or his sycophants start talking about their plans that he is more unfit to govern then a dementia addled Biden would be. Luckily Biden stepped aside. For good-or-bad Harris quickly consolidated the nomination. I would have liked to hear for others but c’est la vie. I’ve been impressed with Harris in the interviews and in the debate. Too vague on policy but four more years of Biden’s policies would be better than anything I can grasp for a MAGA policy, be it Trumpian nepotistic self-enrichment, narcissistic reality-TV foreign policy or the horror show that is Project 2025…
I was ashamed eight years ago, but even more so this time that the race is even so close, that anyone can genuinely what a second term for Trump is mind boggling.
I got my ballot the other day, I need to send it off ASAP to get their on time. The thing I wanted to point out, when I got it, something that most non-American’s I have talked never understand is it’s actually not just Harris or Trump, Democrat or Republican on my ballot. Even with RFK Jr. dropping out my ballot still has six options, as well as the write-in option this year:
We all know that the Greens, Libertarians, and the independents have no chance of winning even a single state. But they do have an impact, people do vote for them. The number of people who voted for parties other than the Democrats and Republicans was over 5% in 2016. And while I read that it would not have made a difference in the electoral college had they not been on the ballot I can’t help but feel they should take note of how the French center and left wing parties played the recent election there. Even half a percent of votes in the swing states could swing the election. It takes a certain kind of hubris to run for president, it’s amazing that Biden bowed out in the end, I wish the non-mainstream parties would have done the same.
Continuing our journey from Venice [confusion.cc], our next stop was Florence, capital of Tuscany and of the Renaissance. With the exception of not spending a night in Milan before going to Venice this holiday followed the same plan my wife and I took on our honeymoon in 2007 — Venice [confusion.cc], Florence [confusion.cc], Rome [confusion.cc], including Vatican City [confusion.cc] and Milan [confusion.cc]. The side trips were a little different: we didn’t visit Verona [confusion.cc] or San Gimignano [confusion.cc] or Como [confusion.cc], but Pisa [confusion.cc], Siena [confusion.cc] and even Pompeii (which I never posted about?) were all on the itinerary again this time.
Anyway, enough of itineraries. What did we do in Florence [wikipedia.org]? In addition to being the base of operations for our visits to Pisa and Siena, among the many, many things to see in Florence, we visited:
The Uffizi Gallery [wikipedia.org], where we saw; The Birth of Venus [wikipeida.org] by Botticelli —one of Victoria’s favorite paintings— Primavera [wikipeida.org] also by Botticelli, Medusa [wikipeida.org] by Caravaggio, and many, many, more. Some of the most celebrated paintings in history (full list [wikipedia.org]), including works by three of the four Ninja Turtles.
The Ponte Vecchio [wikipedia.org]. It’s pretty, a great backdrop for photos. The most interesting thing, to me, is that London Bridge once looked like this, only bigger as I understand.
The Duomo, formally Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore [wikipeida.org]. As far as cathedrals go, this one, which marks the end of Gothic and start of Renaissance styles (no buttresses!), has, I think, the most beautiful exterior. The green and white gives it character. The interior is much brighter than most other cathedrals and the dome is amazing. We climbed the dome, 463 steps for the amazing views. We also climbed the bell tower; another 414 steps for more amazing views.
Galleria dell’Accademia [wikipedia.org], housing Michelangelo’s David [wikipedia.org]. Probably the most famous sculpture in history. It’s monumental and technical amazing. But I think I prefer La Pieta among Michelangelo’s sculptures that I have seen.
Basilica di San Lorenzo [wikipedia.org], which is notable as it has no grand façade, just the raw, naked brickwork. Michelangelo designed a facade, even built a wooden model but it was not built. This makes San Lorenzo look rather plain on the outside, hiding how beautiful it is on the inside. Donatello is buried here.
Medici Chapel [wikipeida.org]. Which is attached to San Lorenzo but a seperate tourist site, because, Michelangelo designed it and it contains several celebrated sculptures or his and some charcoal sketches attributed to him.
Basilica di Santa Croce [wikipedia.org]. Yet another magnificent church in Florence. The interior, is very different from either the Duomo or San Lorenzo but beautiful. This place is notable for the many important tombs found in the nave —from midieval knights, to some of the most famous people in history; Michelangelo, Galileo, Dante, Machiavelli, and more.
One thing we were not able to do this trip was to visit the Vasari Corridor [wikipedia.org] as it was closed. As I recall from last time it’s interesting, but not a make-or-break thing. C’est la vie. We. Also didn’t visit the Palazzo Pitti [wikipedia.org], or the Bargello [wikipedia.org]. I think the kids were tired of paintings of Madonna and Child, Christ on the Cross, the Adoration of the Magi, and statues of naked men and women. Livi had an app on her phone to keep count of different themes. It can be mind numbing all the renaissance and pre-renaissance art day-after-day in Florence, indeed, in Italy.
We did stumble upon a decidedly not renaissance exhibit that we decided to go to. In the Palazzo Strozzi there was an exhibit of Anish Kupoor’s works called Untrue Unreal [palazzostrozzi.org]. Including early, colorful works like To Reflect an Intimate Part of the Red [anishkapoor.com], and Endless Column [anishkapoor.com], as well as the more grotesque Three Days of Mourning [anishkapoor.com] and First Milk [anishkapoor.com], some of his mirror work and even a bunch of his newer Vantablack works. Lots of things I didn’t catch the name of and didn’t find for sure when searching online. I would not say I’m a big fan of Anish Kapoor in general but it was a nice departure from renaissance and pre-renaissance art.
And if you are keeping count, we saw the tombs of two of the four ninja turtles in Florence.
Two decades ago this week I arrived in Singapore. At the time I left DC I was unsure of the long term plan, I only had a a fuzzy idea; ‘maybe I’ll stay in Singapore, maybe I won’t.’ you can see that in my last post [confusion.cc] from the US before I left:
I have a return ticket but I don’t know if I will be coming back next month or next year or ever.
Turns out I traveled back and forth a quite a bit for a while, racking up the frequent flyer miles on the longest flight in the world —SIN to NYC— but by March of 2005 I had an employment pass and planned to stay. Originally I only wanted to stay a few years, I wanted to go and live in different places every few years, to experience a new, alien, culture as a local constantly. But, life had other plans [confusion.cc].
C’est la vie. Singapore is a great place to live and to raise a family. I complain a lot about the things I don’t like, but I would not love here if it was not a great place. We can always want our home to be better.
Interestingly, while drafting this entry I was planning to post it on the fourth —I’ve always said I arrived on the fourth of September— but I looked at the date of my final post from the US and things didn’t make sense… so I dug out my old passport and flipped through it to find my entry stamp for Singapore. And it was on September first… so, I’ve been three days off every year when I fill out my tax forms for the US that ask when I arrived in Singapore. Oh well, I don’t think three days matters there, but it did mean I had already missed the actual anniversary before I wrote this… so I slacked off and didn’t finish this until the end of the week… hence ‘two decades ago this week’ rather than ‘two decades ago today’.
