President Jimmy Carter is lying in repose in the Capitol building. He was the first president I voted for. He's not well known for his accomplishments as president, but more so for his activity afterwards with Habitat For Humanity. I am not going to do a retrospective on him, since there are plenty of them out there, written by people with more experience, time, and resources at their disposal.

We really wanted to go pay our respects. We did the visit thing when our former House Rep John Lewis passed. Sadly, we are in the middle of some "winter weather", and may not make it down there. There's also the stank of MAGA floating around down there. The election was certified on Monday and - surprise - there were no "tourists" with bear spray, weapons, and a noose laying seige to the building. The proceedings proceeded as they have every 4 years other than 2021.

The next 4 years are going to be ugly chaos. The Republicans margin in the House is razor thin, so they will be caught between having to negotiate with the Dems and kowtowing to Anal Orange. They'll also have to deal with the dissention within their own ranks, with a handful of moderates to the left and the fascist-lovers to the right.

Worse, though, is the knowledge that barely over 50% of the voters chose this garbage person over an educated, accomplished, experienced, intelligent, empathetic woman. There's a Nietzsche quote that goes "when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you". The last 8 years, the voters have had to gaze into that abyss and not get sucked in. That 50% did not make it out. They have become that monster. In their eyes, if you are not a MAGA, you are an insect to be squashed.

When you can no longer recognize the humanity of another person, you've lost your own humanity.

Jimmy Carter was a mountain of humanity. The differences between The Mountain and The Abyss (whose election was just certified) could not be more stark. For the sake of the soul of the country, please choose humanity.