November 2022 – aliciajoseph

The votes from Tuesday’s election are still being counted in some races, but Republicans have seen enough to know their party is in deep trouble. For months, conservative and mainstream media have touted a Republican takeover of Congress. Some predicted thirty to forty seats flipping in the House and three to four seats in the Senate.

A red wave, they said.

A tsunami large enough to engulf an entire coast, like an apocalyptic scene from a movie, they prophesized.

But reality opened its door and smacked the Republicans right in the face. They didn’t get the cinematic tsunami that drowns large cities and washes away tall buildings.

They instead got a tiny splash in the kiddie pool. A mere ripple in the current made by a small kick in the water.

Republicans watched the movie Rocky believing they were the Italian Stallion, the heavily muscled champion of the world, with the sculpted biceps and rock-hard glutes.

But on election night Republicans looked in the mirror and saw Donald Trump, because Republicans are the party of Donald Trump. No matter how much they try to distance themselves from him, Trump is the man they bowed down to six years ago. He won’t let them stand straight again without setting the entire party on fire.

Keep bowing, Republican Party. Donald Trump is a ruthless, bitter, petty, and vindicative person.

Donald Trump cares only for himself. He sacrifices nothing for anyone. Loyalty is one-sided. You scratch his back, and he will shoot you in yours if it benefits him.

In 2016, before the presidential election, Senator Lindsey Graham tweeted, “If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed….and we will deserve it.”

The Republicans got destroyed on Tuesday. And they deserved it.

They embraced a man who started his campaign by stating all Mexicans are rapists. Mocked a disabled reporter at his rallies. Instructed the people at his rallies to punch protesters in their face, stating he’d pay their legal fees. (Of course, he wouldn’t. Trump doesn’t pay for his own legal fees.) Was accused of sexual harassment by twenty-five women. Accused of rape by one. Caught on camera claiming he could grab women by their pussy because he’s a star and they let him do it. Paid 25 million dollars to students he scammed at Trump University. His “charity” was shut down because he misused (stole) money, resulting in a two million dollar fine. Sued by contractors for money owed for work on his now bankrupted casino hotels. The smaller contractors who couldn’t afford lawsuits and couldn’t absorb being stiffed by Trump, lost their businesses.

Trump openly expressed his love for Vladimir Putin, someone who has never been a U.S ally. He spewed white nationalist rhetoric. Attempted to withhold congressionally passed military aid to a foreign country, unless they did him the favor of announcing an investigation into his political opponent. Claimed, without evidence, a fair election he lost was stolen. Attempted to extort a U.S. Secretary of State into finding him over 11,000 votes. Incited an insurrection at the U.S Capitol in an attempt to keep power.

Americans voted against Trumpism. They voted against hate. They rejected Republican ideologies. America instead voted for candidates who stand for healthcare for all. Clean renewable energy. Women’s healthcare rights. Gay rights. Trans rights. Livable wages. Lower Medicare costs. Social Security. Affordable education. Higher taxes on big corporations and wealthy individuals. Gun control, because why do civilians need weapons designed for war? Guns capable of spraying hundreds of rounds of bullets in seconds, made to produce mass casualty in little time.

Democrats have retained the Senate. We’ll know next month if they’ll gain a seat. The House is up for grabs. Republicans certainly didn’t imagine this scenario. But here they are, and they need to own this.

At his hateful rallies, Trump often referenced The Snake to vilify immigrants. A poem written by Oscar Brown Jr. about a woman who nurtures a sick snake back to health, only to have the snake bite her in her bed.

“Oh, shut up, silly woman,” said the reptile with a grin. “You knew damn well I was a snake before you let me in.”

Trump is yours, Republican Party. You let him in. He showed you who he was, yet you let that snake in anyway.

No givebacks.

snake

Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

A Shapeshifter Called Harper from Carol Browne You’re expecting to read about a shapeshifter called Harper now, I know, but it’s why this character is called Harper that is the reason for me writing this blog. The name was originally Tyler. Tyler was the MC in a sci-fi novella entitled The Star Attraction, which I wrote in 2016. In May 2019, I was offered a contract for the book by my publisher. Said publisher closed down a few months later and that was that. Following this, I found myself dealing with a multitude of life problems, not to mention my other books and the demise of my third publisher. Hence, it was only in July 2022 that I found time to submit this book elsewhere (no verdict as yet!). Meanwhile, I am writing a sequel. This week I saw a promo post on Facebook for a new release and, lo and behold, the male protagonist is a shapeshifter called Tyler. What are the odds? I might have been the first person to use this name in this way, but the other author got published so Tyler is damned and has morphed into Harper (which seems apt). In this same week, a fellow author was distraught when she found that her latest manuscript, which she was about to send to her agent, has the same theme as another recently published book. I won’t reveal the theme, but it is such a novel, specific and original concept that it beggars belief that someone else came up with the very same idea. I hope she and her agent can find a way around this dilemma. Last year I had an idea for a crime thriller, and I believed that the crime and the reason behind it was so outlandish and original that the chance of anyone else coming up with the idea was remote. More fool me. Yet another of those promo posts on Facebook was to show me the error of my ways as a concept I had deemed so unusual and unique was there for all to see in someone else’s stylish new book trailer. Meanwhile, as I toyed with the idea of an epic fantasy involving women with magic powers, I found that my story had already been given its marching orders by The Wheel of Time. When there’s nothing new under the sun, it’s a challenge trying to create original concepts, and even more difficult to avoid accusations of plagiarism even though you had no idea that your ideas duplicated someone else’s. In the same way, it’s not possible to be aware of every book that has been, is being, or will be published. The fact that there’s no copyright on titles is a small crumb of comfort! So, what is going on? Is it the Collective Unconscious that causes so many people to have the same ideas at the same time? How often does this happen to other authors and what do they do about it? Would any author reading this blog have changed Tyler to Harper or kept the original name? I’d love to know. For now, my shapeshifter is called Harper. I lay claim to this in writing in the hope that there aren’t any other shapeshifters called Harper out there already! If there are and anyone has any objection to mine, speak now or forever hold your peace! Once upon a time a little girl wrote a poem about a flower. Impressed, her teacher pinned it to the wall and, in doing so, showed the child which path to follow. Over the years poems and stories flowed from her pen like magic from a wizard’s wand. She is much older now, a little wiser too, and she lives in rural Cambridgeshire, where there are many trees to hug. But inside her still is that little girl who loved Nature and discovered the magic of words. She hopes to live happily ever after. Stay connected with Carol on her website and blog, Facebook, and Twitter. Fantasy author Carol Browne is a published author who is currently seeking an agent.