Scott Feldstein dot blog

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Brace Yourself

Brace Yourself

Well, I got that wrong. Really wrong. But I was in good company.

As best I can figure, here’s where we are and how we got here.

Trump’s main appeal has always been his open racism and misogyny. MAGA is nothing more than a pledge to return to a time when women and people of color knew their places and white men controlled everything–a social order that has been slowly eroding for many decades. Some of us, myself included, have been shocked to learn just how racist and sexist our fellow Americans really are. But, I have also learned that this brand of politics isn’t quite popular enough to win without an assist. In 2016 Trump got that assist from Comey and Putin and he won. In 2020 there was no assist of that magnitude and Trump lost. In 2024 that assist returned in the form of post-pandemic inflation which voters wrongly, if predictably in retrospect, blamed on the incumbent administration.

Trump’s victory in this election has given seemingly everyone an excuse to trot out their favorite hobby horse issue and take it for a ride. But, no. Harris didn’t lose because she didn’t Bernie hard enough. She didn’t lose because she campaigned with Liz Cheney. She didn’t lose because she didn’t go on Joe Rogan’s podcast. She didn’t lose because of Palestine. She didn’t lose because there was no primary. She didn’t lose because Joe waited too long to drop out.

She lost because prices are noticeably higher than they were just a few years ago.

So, now what? I don’t know, friends. But I think we’d better brace ourselves for what the next four years will bring. It’s not going to be pretty. I should shy away from making predictions given my track record, but what fun would that be? I can virtually guarantee a humanitarian crisis involving the round up of undocumented immigrants. I think we’re going to see a shocking dismantling of federal agencies. We may be in for some shocks at how ineffective the other two branches of government are at reigning in Trump’s fascistic tendencies.

Thanks for visiting! It’s me, Scott. New here? Might want to start with the About page. Or maybe just dig in to my very latest post which is on your left. Older posts are down below. 

Previous Posts

(The latest one was up there.)
Election Eve Predictions

Election Eve Predictions

It's election eve and I'm ready to make some predictions. I do so with a healthy dose of humility because I remember many things I have got wrong in the past. I said Trump would never win in 2016. I said Biden would never be the Democratic nominee in 2020. Having said...

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Bass Gear Updates

Bass Gear Updates

Here's an update on the EBH1505MS from Ibanez. With the help of some others I think I have zeroed in on what its problem is: the pickups are wired out of phase. This results in an instrument that sounds perfectly reasonable with either pickup soloed, but that sounds...

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Rao’s: The Perfect Platonic Form Of Marinara

Rao’s: The Perfect Platonic Form Of Marinara

Years ago I used to make more pasta at home. I don't know why I've gotten out of the habit. I was thinking about switching to grating my own parmesan cheese with a microplane as opposed to using pre-shredded stuff, when it occurred to me: whatcha gonna use it on? So I...

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Fully Coconut-Pilled

Fully Coconut-Pilled

I thought about it some more and I now realize vice president Harris is the perfect choice. Here's some of the reasons why. It's orderly. There will be no "Democrats In Chaos" headlines. Your vice president is exactly who takes the wheel when you step aside. Voters of...

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Well, Here We Go

Well, Here We Go

Uncle Joey has bowed out. It was the right thing to do. But does this automatically put Democrats in a better position? I don’t have an answer. Suppose vice president Harris does ascend to the top of the Democratic ticket. We will have replaced an unfit candidate for...

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Snapdragon X: The Industry Answers Apple Silicon

Snapdragon X: The Industry Answers Apple Silicon

Well, they’ve gone and done it. The rest of the computer industry has finally answered Apple’s M-series of ARM-based silicon. It took them nearly four years, but Microsoft and Qualcomm have joined forces to produce a Windows-on-ARM platform that, while it doesn’t beat...

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GF Teriyaki Meatballs

GF Teriyaki Meatballs

So many people avoid gluten these days. I don't avoid it myself, but when cooking for others one needs to think carefully. Which is why when I saw this recipe for gluten-free meatballs with teriyaki sauce that used potato flakes as a stand-in for the panade, I was...

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GPT-4o: Wow

GPT-4o: Wow

I’ve been aware of the various AI happenings recently. I have even tried some of them. I had one generate an image for me just a few weeks ago. It was even better than I expected and I used it for my project. Around that same time, I was composing multiple drafts of...

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