Even if Trump weren’t Trump, I would still be voting for Biden.

Not because Biden is my dream candidate or because the Democratic party is progressive enough for me.

But because there’s a clear difference between it and the Republican party’s positions.

The Republican Party (RP) won’t admit there’s structural racism. In fact, it claims “reverse racism” is worse.

RP doesn’t accept climate science.

RP isn’t just coming after abortion–it wants to take away my right birth control.

RP is rolling back protections for the many rape victims on campuses, focusing instead on the exceedingly rare cases of false rape claims.

RP wants to take some of my tax money away from public schools and give it to private schools, schools that can discriminate against students, which can refuse to accept troubled or disabled students, and which don’t have to uphold the same standards.

PR believes in draconian immigration laws.

RP thinks police get to shoot to kill, no matter what the situation.

RP believes in the death penalty.

RP doesn’t want LGBTQA+ people to have equal protection and rights under the law.

RP believes in “religious liberty,” which is the “liberty” to discriminate, sometimes lethally.

RP believes our laws should be based on their interpretation of the Bible. This is Sharia law and violates the separation between church and state.

RP believes certain kinds of science shouldn’t be taught in schools (see Sharia law, above).

RP is the only 1st world major political party that doesn’t believe in evolution. Even the Catholic Church thinks the RP is wrong on this one.

RP wants to restrict the social safety net significantly. Many Republicans would rather end it for everyone than have any people benefit who don’t “deserve” to.

RP is the only 1st world major political party that rejects universal healthcare.

RP doesn’t believe any form of protest is okay, if you’re protesting them. If you’re on their side, taking over a government building while carrying semi-automatic weapons is fine.

RP doesn’t like higher education.

RP wants to pretend America has always been perfect.

RP worships the generals of racist insurrectionists who lost a war against my country.

RP is supported by, endorsed by, and filled with KKK members, incels, and other white terrorists, and the RP minimizes their terrorism and refuses to combat it, even though their own government intelligence agencies are clear about the threat.

RP turns away refugees.

RP claims that they’re the only patriotic ones and the only moral ones, despite enormous evidence to the contrary.

RP often resists giving aid after natural disasters.

RP only wants some parts of history taught in history classes, while claiming that’s not indoctrination.

RP attacks a democratically-elected Governor, encourages her overthrow, and then blames her when their supporters follow their encouragement.

RP has an ineffective Cuba policy. Its leader’s relationships with dictatorships around the world are inconsistent, often encourage human rights abuses, and are far too cozy with the worst..

RP would invalidate some of my friends’ marriages and take away some of my friends’ children.

RP has alienated most of our allies.

RP’s own studies confirm Russian interference in our elections, but doesn’t take action.

RP denies the realities of the pandemic and what we could do to stop it. Its members keep saying we need to “reopen safely” but tell their supporters that the most basic safety measures shouldn’t be followed if doctors, scientists, or liberals suggest them.

RP has rolled back countless environmental regulations.

RP wants people in jail for smoking pot.

RP bails out banks, but not families.

RP is fine with crippling college debt.

RP sees wages stay stagnant for decades, while the cost of everything we pay for with our wages has skyrocketed by comparison, but does not support a living wage.

RP is probably thinking I shouldn’t have said the last thing, since CEO wages have increased at a much higher rate than inflation (they probably think that disproves my point somehow).

RP supports a higher tax rate on me than on the wealthy and corporations.

RP claims it’s the party of the economy, but the trend in my lifetime has been Republican=recession, Democrat=recovery.

RP refused to seat judges nominated by a black guy and then said it was the black guy’s fault for “leaving all those seats open.”

RP’s policy regarding abortion will drive the abortion rate up, and I don’t want that.

RP says the government shouldn’t have a say in my healthcare; instead, the insurance company, which will only turn a profit if it refuses the care I need, gets to make the decisions.

RP fights against all gun control legislation, even those policies the majority of its members and the majority of NRA members support.

RP pretends Puerto Ricans and other colonists aren’t American and tries to refuse them help after natural disasters.

RP is anti-union.

RP often supports unilateral treaty breaks, rather than building international consensus. At the same time, it rejects the UN, WHO, etc. Under Republicans, the US usually tries to put a gag order on overseas family planning aid, which ends up causing increased abortion numbers, and refuses to support war crimes legislation, in fear that an American might get in trouble for committing them.

RP pretends the Constitution was written by omniscient people who foresaw every social, economic, and political change, crisis, and challenge we would ever undergo (aka Originalism).

RP wants to limit voting, to make it harder. It spreads false stories about voter fraud, while some of its members publicly admit its goal is to curb liberal’s ability to vote.

What do the RP and I have in common? We both want this country to be different and better than it is.

We have very different ideas about what “better” means and in some cases, like lowering the abortion rate, very different ideas about how to do it.

We’re also both hypocritical sometimes about our states’ rights positions.

Increasingly, it seems like we’re living in different worlds. They think Biden is a radical socialist. And we think he’s too conservative.

And if I use the “are you better off now” metric, the decision to vote for Biden is even easier.

My life is much, much worse than it was four years ago, economically, socially, and emotionally.

For example, even though I’m the President of an academic society, I’m not allowed to attend some academic conferences right now, FFS–because the EU has banned us! Many family members have Covid. I have to worry about my brother, who not only is getting over Covid, but who doesn’t have insurance because of the GOP control of Florida, and I have to worry because of the constant hurricanes heading toward him, which is what the scientists said would happen if we didn’t do something about climate change. I can’t see my friends safely. Most of the students and I hate online learning; it’s also a lot more work and a lot worse for my body. My lungs have been aching because of a fire for over two months–a fire the GOP tries to blame California for, instead of acknowledging climate change. The only people who touch me are doctors, and I miss oxytocin so much. My medication makes me immuno-compromised, so I fear dying of a disease the GOP keeps lying about. My son could bring Covid home to me from work; all it would take is one person not being careful or being deliberately toxic. I had a socially distanced visit, and my one year old nephew kept trying to come to me–he’s always been able to come to me–I was the first non-parent and non-hospital person to touch him–but I had to tell him that he couldn’t. I had to tell a baby I love not to touch me, knowing that he couldn’t understand why, that he would think I didn’t love him. All of the budgets are strained, which is bad news for nontenured faculty, especially with a GOP that won’t support workers’ rights. Trump’s China policies caused much fewer Chinese students to enroll, and I’ve lost many junior colleagues who taught them. My already-ridiculous rent keeps going up. After paying $800 a month for almost ten years, I only managed to pay down a couple thousand in principle and owe more money than I borrowed for my degrees. It seems like almost every day, another unarmed person of color has been shot and all I can do is cry and fight and march and be mad when people criticize BLM by intentionally misinterpreting it with an “only” in front, and I don’t buy for a second the other side’s argument that it’s just a few bad apples, not only because of the pervasiveness, but because the GOP always sides with the cop, every. single. time. and you would think if they really believed in a few bad apples, they would be able to point to one cop who murdered a guy and say, “see–that’s a bad apple: he should face justice,” but the POC always deserves it and every cop is innocent, they say, while we wonder why Dylan Roof got a hamburger from the cops after murdering black people in a house of god because they were black when we’re pretty sure a black man who killed white people in a church a) wouldn’t be taken alive b) wouldn’t hear some version of “killing whitey must really work up an appetite, so here’s a snack” and to wonder why, after everything, a heavily armed white man who just shot a bunch of people at a protest is able to walk by police, while people are screaming to those police that he just murdered someone, and not get arrested, but then when he does, “Christians” raise money for him and deny white privilege, and the pastor of a church in my town says that murderer would make a good President.

This is a country in which a violent man who murdered a teenager sells autographed skittles to his fans. We know which party those fans vote for.

This election is about Trump and it isn’t.

Even if someone else were running on the RP ticket, the RP would still have all those distasteful positions.

And they would still be the party who, for the last four years, let a traitorous psychopath run my country.

Here’s the second part of the podcast we appeared on. Thanks to Best Darn Diddly: we make a groin-grabbingly good team!

Denise and I were honored to return to the Best Darn Diddly Podcast, to discuss an episode with everything–a great Vincent Price impression, Fred Willard, and Dolly Parton!

Here’s the first part of our joyful overanalysis of “Sunday, Cruddy Sunday.”

Q: Thanks for checking in with us again, Karma. Are you excited about the start of Fall?

A: It’s going to be 100 tomorrow, it’s still smokey, and some of my friends have been evacuated.

Q: Ah, it’s gonna be one of those interviews.

A: It’s 2020.

Q: What were your goals this summer?

A: Well, once it was clear what summer was going to be, I wanted to get into some good routines for myself. I wanted to try new recipes with my CSA, to take a walk every morning, to read in my hammock for a bit at the end of the work day, and to take Sundays off from school work. And I wanted to do some things on the big “to do” list, like backing up my old family photos.

Q: Did you meet your goals?

A: I tried a bunch of new recipes!

Q: What about the rest?

A: I was doing really well until the start of August. I was up to walking for almost an hour, but then my back went out. Right as two upper division online summer classes were starting. Since I give so much more feedback now, I was having trouble getting away from the computer. And then, once my back was better, the fires started.

Q: Ah, yes. And the air turned yellow and unhealthy.

A: While over 100.

Q: Yes.

A: It’s 2020. Yes. But I created an incredible marinara recipe.

Q: Do you think you’ll be able to get back into good health habits in Fall?

A: I’ll be teaching six classes.

Q: No hammock time?

A: The air is still unhealthy, but I do want to use it in between when the fires let up and the rain starts. If we get that break.

Q: Anything else happen this summer?

A: My brother and nephew got Covid, my rent went up, my hometown (with Covid-recovering family) got hit by a hurricane, and I’ve been bleeding for six out of the last eight weeks.

Q: Let’s leave the audience with sometime positive, shall we?

A: My son started grad school.

Q: And?

A: I got the cutest kitten in the world.

Q: And?

A: I survived. I survived more of this year, even though the natural and unnatural disasters make it hard to get out of bed in the morning. And while I didn’t manage to make any headway on my health or on my big list, I did manage to teach three intensive summer classes and to keep on top of them. And my fall classes are ready to go.

Q: And?

A: And I made a great marinara sauce!

This post isn’t about how I taught straight through the summer. About how next week, my 4 UCD classes start or about how my Los Rios classes are in their 5th week.

This post is about literal blood draining out of me.

Last month, I had a really heavy, long period, which I didn’t enjoy, since I’m not even supposed to have periods on my current birth control.

But then, two weeks after it ended, on 9/3, I started bleeding again. The first week was really light. The last two weeks have been excessively heavy.

Like bleeding through my clothes heavy.

Like I’m going to need to do a GoFundMe for new underwear if and when it ever stops heavy.

Like the bathroom turning into a crime scene heavy.

Like the doctor’s assistant telling me that if the clots get to “small lemon” sized, I need to head to the ER heavy.

Meanwhile, my gyno can’t see me until the very end of October.

We’ve determined that my blood work is normal, and she’s ordered a vaginal ultrasound to check for fibroids.

I’m exhausted, crampy, and cranky.

Unlike Dave Foley, I do not have a good attitude towards menstruation.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Cm4FdyWaOCo

Yesterday was (Grand)daddy’s birthday. It’s been three and a half years since we lost him.

This was the first year that I turned the calendar to September and didn’t think, “oh, I gotta make Daddy cookies for his birthday.”

I decided yesterday, though, to make his favorite cookies every year on his birthday.

This week, we’re watching Trumpers defend the President’s lies about how serious the virus was, despite years of their insistence that he tells the truth all the time.

Let’s pretend, for the sake of argument, that he honestly wanted to downplay it to avoid a panic–that it wasn’t about the stock market or his re-election.

He could have still brought us together. He could have said that we could easily deal with the threat, if we listened to our doctors and our scientists, if we followed their recommendations to not spread it.

But instead, he said it was like a cold or flu.

But instead, he said our doctors and scientists couldn’t be trusted.

But instead, he said our healthcare workers were stealing supplies.

But instead, he touted a dangerous cure–a drug his friends had stocks in.

But instead, he said he wanted to withhold funding from blue states, to punish us for not liking him.

But instead, he said the whole thing was a Democratic hoax, designed to take away freedom, to ruin America, to weaken his chances for re-election.

But instead, he said encouraging things about violent threats against democratically-elected state and local officials who (gasp!) took the threat seriously and told people to mask up.

But instead, he said things that made his followers think all of us who wore masks were brainwashed at best and traitors at worst.

Let’s make an important distinction about how he could have “downplayed” this: he didn’t say we misunderstood the severity. He said we were evil people who hate America.

Cause he would hate to panic anyone.

I know I’ve been playing this game for almost four years, and I’m tired of it too, but I have to ask you, Trumpers, if Obama did this–if he lied about a pandemic threat, if he said Republicans were making it up because they’re traitors, if he wanted to withhold aid from red states, if 192,000 (as of today) Americans had died, and if he doubled-down on the lies every time he got caught, would you really tell me he was right to lie to us?

The other night, I had a strange dream.

One of my healthcare specialists recommended that I join a secret upscale Davis orgy group. He said it would make me feel better.

My first response was “no. I’m so ashamed of my body. I don’t want a whole room full of people to see it.”

He talked me into joining anyway. Unfortunately, my dreamscape didn’t feature a meeting.

I’m sad about what I said about myself.

I woke up convinced I was ill, not sure if I’d somehow managed to get a bad cold or the beginning of Covid.

What a relief to discover that I’m ill because the fires are closer and the smoke is hurting my throat, eyes, and lungs!

It’s also 110F today.

(Seriously, 2020, go fuck yourself.)