October is offering up indications of its usual bumpy financial ride (what is it about October and market fluctuations?). But this year there is the added, troubling dynamic of a Republican Party that seems insistent on self-immolation.

They hold a slim majority in the House, yet there is little indication they are serious about responsible governance. I am fearful that the people with the loudest voices are not at all concerned with clear-headed, rational leadership. Their agenda seems to consist of nothing more than fomenting chaos. Or maybe this is all they’re capable of. Maybe chaos is the point.

It’s a mind-blowing situation, evoking all sorts of questions, like “Who’s the next Speaker, and will s/he be as compromised as Kevin McCarthy, or just another contrary loose cannon with no interest in accomplishing anything constructive and helpful?”

It’s disheartening, and hard to watch, because we really don’t have time for this incompetence and failure of character.

Stop trying to imitate Donald Trump, and get your shit together.

Matt Gaetz is the poster child for sleaze. How did he get elected, and what did he promise his constituents that persuaded them to decide he was a good idea?

It’s unclear what makes him tick, or whose pocket he’s in, but based on a couple tidbits from Rachel Maddow last night, it sounds like he could be in cahoots with White Nationalists and might be a fan of Elon Musk’s subverted take on America.

It’s just one nightmare after another in the Republican Party. People really need to stop calling it the party of Lincoln, even if they’re doing it ironically. Or sarcastically.

In his mind, he doesn’t have a choice. He has to play it like he’s got a chance, has to forge ahead as if his slate is clean. He’ll always have The Base sitting at his feet. He’ll have his cronies in Congress, Fox News will have his back, and diehard Republicans will probably vote for him if he emerges as the frontrunner.

There’s the part, though, that seems so outrageous— Trump as frontrunner. He’s playing this like it’s a matter of course, like “What’s the big deal? Of course I’m running again, because I’ve done nothing but build an empire and make perfect phone calls, and I got screwed in 2020. Besides, people love me.”

He obviously is having trouble acknowledging the more sobering reality that his lifelong pursuits of money and power are showing signs of fatigue and fragility– more a pursuit of wind. And then there’s the equally sobering realization that he’s been an asshole for most of his life, and payback might be a bitch.

Our only hope is that enough people come around to see him as the shallow, incompetent blowhard that he’s always been.

How dare he insist on hanging around! He’s always been bad at shutting his mouth and knowing when to walk away, and now– finally, maybe– it’s too late for that.

Without an 11th-hour solution, a shutdown is coming, I guess. We can thank the Republican “freedom” caucus and Kevin McCarthy’s way-less-than-stellar turn at the helm. The ridiculousness continues, and people are gonna be hurting for no reasons other than stupidity, miscalculation, and cold-heartedness.

They want people to suffer.

How does the UAW get away with thinking that a 46% pay increase—even over 4 years—is fair? AND.. being paid for 40 hours while working 32?! That doesn’t sound like anything but greed and entitlement to me. Magical, wish-list thinking.

They must know they’d be feeding the cycle— that their wage increase will translate to higher prices for the consumer. Seems they could be making a good living and benefiting from company profits without perpetuating the spiral of higher costs. I know—you have to start high, but there must be a sweeter spot than 46%. Shawn Fain and his allies appear confident in their bargaining position. But they have big eyes and greedy hearts and an inflated sense of themselves and their indispensible nature.

The companies have every right to manage their profits—not so the CEOs and others can pocket more while the workers struggle to get by, but so the companies have capital to invest in infrastructure and the needed move to vehicles with a smaller carbon footprint.

Isn’t it conceivable that the Big 3 autoworkers with their insanely cushy contract could be happily cranking out vehicles that no one should buy? Or will that never be the case, because we all like new stuff on a regular basis, even if we don’t need it?

Get your act together, everyone, and give us a product that’s actually affordable and sensible, given that fossil fuel burners should be going the way of the Edsel.

With the frequent reporting of nightmare scenarios unfolding on commercial flights, I thought I’d add my more vanilla and pleasant experience of flying American from ABE to MSP, via CLT.

Every flight was on time, every flight except the very last return leg from CLT to ABE was full, with many young children who got antsy at times but were monitored by parents and tolerated and even enjoyed by other passengers. I saw no evidence of short tempers, the crews tended to business but were polite and helpful, and I didn’t lose any luggage.

Two caveats: the weather cooperated along the flight routes (i.e. no delays or cancellations), and I did wear noise-canceling headphones most of the time, which I’ve decided I will never do without- if only because of the constant engine noise in the cabin. Where I can afford to sit, it is a loud environment by nature, so it helps to have the noise-canceling feature—even if it makes me look like I just want to be left alone. It’s not an environment conducive to conversation, anyway.

Truth be told, I’ve always loved the whole airport experience, except for getting through security. I’m still trying to figure out ways to make that go smoother.   

Take away peoples’ religion and you take away their reason for being.

Without faith—legitimate faith, not convenient, for show faith—life is emptiness, because then all you’re left with is fallible humanity, who has proven time and again that it can’t pull itself off a toilet seat.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to learn that Donald Trump has help composing some of his tweets, or whatever they’re called on his platform.

The responses to perceived slights and attacks often sound too cogent, too well-worded, beyond his linguistic capabilities. They reek of inauthenticity and sound like something from the mind of a twisted, high-caliber wordsmith like Stephen Miller.

How easily they crack. How readily they bend toward authoritarianism or even fascism. Not just Trump and DeSantis, but Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar, MTG, Ron Johnson, Steve Scalise, Lauren Boebert, Josh Hawley, Stephen Miller and the rest. A true motley crew.

They’ll argue otherwise, with a smart-sounding, albeit angry, convoluted, and wordy mishmash of misdirection. But the bottom line is they have a very different vision for America, and their future looks white.

In a basic way, I don’t see how Bob Menendez is any different than Donald Trump. He should resign and make way for someone who isn’t indicted.

It’s too much to ask of the electorate—to have to put up with a person who has been in legal trouble off and on for years. Just walk away, Bob. Walk away and face the music. Don’t drag the country and the people of New Jersey through another prolonged legal battle as you languish in office.

How can anyone focus on their job when they have this on their plate? It’s just the latest embarrassment in Congress. Add Bob to the list of those who shouldn’t be there.

Politics, sadly, is just a dirty business. It must be really tempting to stray, make concessions, sell your soul. It’s becoming increasingly easy to paint the whole lot of them with broad strokes, to wonder about everyone in Congress– who they are, what they want, how they got there. And why they seem so intent on staying.

Kudos to those who can keep their noses clean, if that’s even possible.