Shopping for food, early in the pandemic and now – The latest election lawsuit – The White House faces reality – Evening statistics
Christmas is swiftly approaching. I’ve been trying to get a sufficient supply of food so that I can avoid the stores during the crowding that occurs in supermarkets and food stores just before the holidays, and in particular I’ve been avoiding the fashionable stores (Whole Foods, Wegman’s, Trader Joe’s). There are plenty of alternatives in my neighborhood. It is interesting to note that all of the shortages that I observed earlier this year have completely disappeared by now. Indeed, three new supermarkets have opened within a two-mile radius from my house during the past four months. I still am a bit puzzled as to how that is possible.
I’ve been irritated with the news networks because I wasn’t able to find out from them when the Supreme Court is likely to decide on the latest lawsuit filed by Donald Trump to overturn the decisions of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejecting his challenges of that state’s election results. It turns out, however, that there is a good reason for this vagueness: although Trump has been talking about it for a week, he didn’t actually file the petition until late today. The petition is asking for results by noon of December 23rd. It would seem a basic requirement to submit a petition for a court decision at least a few days before its expected deadline instead of some hours after it. In other words, this lawsuit appears to be merely a gesture and nothing more. I should have remembered that he is continuing to raise funding on the basis of contesting the election, which of course is going straight to his pocket. In my speculations about his motivations I’ve been concentrating on factors such as wounded vanity, personal vendettas, and self-delusion, but I completely forgot about sheer unadulterated greed – which was foolish of me, I admit. I have the excuse that Trump’s is a multi-faceted personality; it is easy to lose track of the bewildering variety of ways in which he manages to be morally repugnant.
It turns out that a memo was sent within the White House instructing employees how to pack up and what sort of departure schedule to expect. Trump rescinded the memo after it was sent out – which shows, first, that the White House staff at any rate has no illusions about Trump’s remaining there after January 20th and, second, that Trump has so little control over his staff that he doesn’t even realize that they are busily organizing their departure, whether he authorizes them or not. His wife Melania is displaying a considerably more realistic attitude, meticulously itemizing the furniture and art to be shipped to Mar-a-Lago and touring schools in that area in order to select one for Barron. Maternal instinct she undoubtedly has, and it will be greatly needed in the next several months, when she not only will have to look after her son’s welfare but will have to tend to the whims and poutings and tantrums of that overgrown infantile husband of hers.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 79,031,324; # of deaths worldwide: 1,736,581; # of cases U.S.: 18,915,483; # of deaths; U.S.: 334,174.