Pierwalker Log: May 13, 2019

Writing start: 10:49 A.M.

Finish: 2:21 P.M.

Total new words (est.): 300

Edited (est.): 8400

Tasks

1. Failure: Read-through of chapter twenty-six

2. Book Three Melody: Off

3. Angel: Book Three: Off

4. Random Chance Book Two: Read-through of chapter two

5. LOTR: Primary edit number five of chapter seven

6. Port Story: Read-through of chapter two

7. Hidden Bookmarks: Read-through of chapter one

8. Rumpel: 300 new words
Notes: I think writing this particular chapter will be great fun.

Special Projects: None today

Extra notes: Here are the latest results in my weekly presidential horse race. These are the Democratic candidates (not all listed) in my perceived order of message, inspiration, policies, personal details, and so on. Here we go.

1. Elizabeth Warren

2. Kamala Harris / Cory Booker (tie)

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3. Beto O'Rourke / Pete Buttigieg (tie)

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4. Kirsten Gillibrand / Julian Castro (tie)

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5. Amy Klobuchar

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6. Bernie Sanders, John Hicklenlooper

7. Howard Schultz / Joe Biden (tie)

Sanders has nosed ahead of Biden, et al. Of Biden, I see that he's got a huge lead in early polls, which only confirms, once again, just how completely ignorant and shortsighted the American electorate is. He has said that he wants to "find a middle way" between fossil fuels and sustainable energy. He is taking corporate and PAC cash, including from Big Pharma, Big Oil, and sundry other corporate monstrosities. He has refused to apologize to Anita Hill. He's pushing eighty; he has lived in great privilege; he has a questionable history with how he treats women; and he refuses to see, truly see, just how fucked we are. If he ends up being the Democratic nominee next year, of course I will vote for him. But like Sanders, I will be holding my nose as I do it, and I will conclude my civic duty fairly certain that if he wins, we are fucked, totally fucked, both as a country and as a species. Having him as president will only slightly delay what Trump wants to accomplish faster.

I'm still trying to get enthused by Beto O'Rourke and Pete Buttigieg. I mean, they're both doing great--they're in third place--but O'Rourke seems far too interested in conciliation and compromise with Republicans, which is not possible; and Buttigieg is convinced it will work as well. It won't. Both men are affable and inspirational, but lack the strong messaging that Kamala Harris and Cory Booker are getting out there. Harris' message to pay teachers more is a powerful one. And Booker's plan to get a hold of the gun-nut-slaughter-NRA lunacy is a great one, too.

Warren is running a nose ahead of them both. She's quickly climbing the polls, made the cover of Time this past week, and is taking pains to visit out-of-the-way places like West Virginia and Alabama and Utah, Republican strongholds that virtually no other Democratic candidate would ever bother visiting. That's a big deal, and it's resonating with folks around the country. She was the first to call for impeachment of Trump; she read the Mueller report on the Senate floor, putting it officially into the record; she rolls out detailed policy plans weekly and is refusing corporate and PAC cash. That Joe frickin' Biden is running well ahead of her should tell us all just how completely fucked up our priorities are.

The problem is, unless we get those priorities straight, and very, very fast, we are screwed. So yeah--screw you, Joe Biden; and screw you, all of you who support him. At least Sanders has a grasp on how serious this problem is.

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