Everything lined up for the national Republican Party. Given the economic and social devastation wrought by the current regime, along with the crushing of individual Liberty at the state level during WuFlu hysteria, heading into the mid-term elections the GOP was looking at the proverbial silver platter.
The much-ballyhooed “red wave” didn’t happen. I told you so.
Many of you, with your principles in the right place, bought the outrageous hype. It was almost irresistible, certainly inescapable. But even though a Big Red Wave should’ve drowned progressivism in America, it never materialized. There are a couple of reasons for that.
The first, obviously, is that we’re surrounded by idiots, most clustered in urban areas and irredeemably blue states. The second is that Republicans have no idea how to win big — this election cycle proved once again that the Grand Old Party could fuck up a free lunch.
From our perch in Free America, Deb and I saw that coming.
Republicans already have lost two governorships and a Senate seat. A meaningful GOP majority in the House isn’t a fait accompli. Many races are still in play, so we’ll have to see what it all looks like when the dust settles. That’ll take weeks.
Regardless of the final numbers, Democrats will claim victory by “exceeding expectations.” They’ll be even more insufferable than usual. Bank on that.
The results weren’t disappointing everywhere, however. Before I talk specifically about Arkansas, I want to take a look at a couple of other states — Florida and Ohio, both of which offer us lessons worth learning.
In the Sunshine State, Governor Ron DeSantis showed the rest of the country how it’s done. He waxed his opponent by 20 points, and he did so in a state that’s not at all homogenous. He had to battle and cajole entrenched blue interests, and he did that with unapologetic, pro-Liberty conservatism — that is, he did it like an American.
Pro tip: Trump better back off on the name-calling and stow the insults. If he doesn’t it’ll backfire, bigly.
The margin in Ohio’s governor race was even wider — 25 points — but it came about in an entirely different way. Incumbent Richard Michael DeWine won by being the prototypical RINO. His shamefully progressive performance on WuFlu attracted enough Democrats to give him the landslide. He even won Montgomery County, where his opponent had been mayor of Dayton.
He lost only three of the state’s 88 counties — Cuyahoga (Cleveland), Franklin (Columbus and The Ohio State University) and the Woke Wonderland of Athens County (Ohio University). Things like race-baiting, disarming the People and murdering babies play well in all three places, so that’s no surprise.
Make no mistake, DeWine is not universally popular among Ohio Republicans. He benefited from countless cowardly conservatives afraid to stand on principle (instead of party) and deny him their vote. The lesser evil is still evil, and that’s why Ohio can’t have nice things.
And then there’s our new home state of Arkansas. Sarah Huckabee Sanders won the governor’s race by 28 points (63 points in Marion County). Senator John Boozman won by 35 points (65 points in Marion County). Republicans swept all four House seats, by margins ranging from 25 points to 50 points.
In the state’s General Assembly, the Republican Party will keep its majorities in both legislative chambers — 24 to 4 in the Senate, 77 to 17 in the House.
What I’m telling you is that Arkansas isn’t purple or trending blue. It’s red and getting redder. We’re happy to be here in ‘Merica.
With a free day at the campsite, I made good on my plan to prep our water hookups for the upcoming freeze. Most of the equipment I used hadn’t seen daylight since March, but I purposely hadn’t buried it — everything was within arm’s reach inside a basement bay on Ernie’s road side, right where I needed it.
I pulled and drained the fresh-water supply hose and connected our heated hose, replacing the in-line filter with a new one. After connecting the cold-weather hose to a 20A outlet on the pedestal, I immersed its temp-sensing bulb in ice water and the element responded, getting nice and warm.
Our campground hosts installed a heated wrap on our site’s hydrant a couple of weeks ago. Between our hose and their wrap, our supply of water is protected.
Next I disconnected and drained the Stinky Slinky — a mildly unpleasant but necessary task. Once it was empty and hooked up again, I lifted it onto an accordion-style riser I call “the centipede.” That’ll give our sewer hose the best possible chance of draining thoroughly when we dump tanks in sub-freezing weather.
None of this was difficult. It did mean a lot of crawling around on my hands and knees. A pair of tradesman’s kneepads made that a lot easier on this old man, believe you me. And, of course, disposable nitrile gloves were essential.
Anyway, it’s done.
I tackled one other chore today, using a new tool — a handheld tire-inflating gizmo we picked up to carry on the Ranger. (The thing is too small, honestly, to call it an “air compressor.”) It’s powered either by a 20V battery pack or via a cord that plugs into a standard 12V outlet, and this morning I used it to re-set cold tire pressures on the Silverado and the Wrangler.
The process couldn’t be simpler — connect the air chuck to the valve stem, set target psi on the inflator’s digital display and pull the trigger. When the set pressure is reached, it shuts off.
I decided to use the battery pack this time. After taking eight large tires from 30psi (roughly) to 35psi, it still had more than two-thirds of a full charge.
Time and use will tell how well the inflator holds up, but right now I like it — I mean, I really like it. I’ll know more (and probably will say more) after we use it with the buggy on The Mountain.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB
This young fella trotted by our Mountain One trailcam during the wee hours today, bearing a battle scar of this year’s rut. Look closely.
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