Friday Rundown (18-22 January 2021)

22 January 202120 January 2021 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

It’s been an eventful week, so I figured an extra post today running down the posts from the past few days would be worthwhile. Also, I’m a slave to the WordPress daily streak counter, and when I scheduled this morning’s post on Wednesday, WordPress for some reason immediately e-mailed a preview; ergo, I want to make sure I get the daily post streak. Gotta keep the streak alive!

So, here is a quick rundown of this week’s posts:

“Memorable Monday: Happy MLK Day 2019 – Suggested Reading” (Monday, 18 January 2021) – Some suggested reading for your day off, including Neo’s link to MLK’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”
“The Last Day of Freedom?” (Tuesday, 19 January 2021) – Some musings on life under the (then-pending) Biden administration. Contra one anonymous commentator’s claims that I was lying and fearful, a closer reading of this long post indicates that I am optimistic, not about the national government, but about local government and community-building.
“Inauguration Day 2021” (Wednesday, 20 January 2021) – Some more reflections on the Biden-Harris Era, as well as my own inauguration to Lamar Town Council.
“TBT: Gardening” (Thursday, 21 January 2021) – A look back at the joys of gardening, and the satisfaction of feeling my own soil between my fingers.
“The Joy of Romantic Music II: Bedřich Smetana’s’The Moldau’” (Friday, 22 January 2021) – Some mild analysis and major appreciation of a beautiful piece of music—something lighter for your weekend.

Enjoy!

—TPP

Inauguration Day 2021

20 January 202119 January 2021 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

The day has arrived—the briefly delayed third term of Obama’s presidency. In the years since Obama left office, the progressive Left has become even more insane. After a four-year reprieve under Trump, the radical progressives aren’t going to let another opportunity pass to transform the country completely.

Things are going to get worse before they get better, which is why I’m encouraging my fellow conservatives, Christians, and traditionalists to think and act locally in the years to come (H/T to historian Brion McClanahan for that pithy phrase). Now is the time to attend town/city and county council meetings, to run for local and State offices, and to build up communities. While we can do some of that online, we’ve got to get out and meet people—join Bible studies, form local clubs, revive forgotten civic organizations, etc. Heck, even play at an open mic!

The Last Day of Freedom?

19 January 202118 January 2021 The Portly Politico7 Comments

Here we are, 19 January 2021—the last day of basking in liberty before Biden the Usurper assumes the throne. For all his personal foibles and occasional missed opportunities (while acknowledging, of course, his many achievements), President Trump at least fought to ensure that Americans could enjoy freedom and opportunity. Under progressive rule, no such guarantees exist.

But rather than look about gloomily at what is to come, I’d like to offer some words of exhortation. Times will not be easy for conservatives and Christians over the next four years, but I’m trying to embrace this new progressive era with some cautious, small-scale optimism.

For one, I think the whole sordid election fraud, as well as the bipartisan effort to impeach President Trump for—if we’re honest about it—discouraging violence and encouraging peaceful protest—has confirmed for many of us that the elites of both parties are against us. As such, effecting change at the national level seems increasingly futile.

That might sound discouraging, but consider it from another angle: if we can’t make much of a dent at the national level, then why waste the energy? Instead, let’s focus our efforts locally.

Lamar Town Council Special Election Results 2021

13 January 202112 January 2021 The Portly Politico8 Comments

Well, the results from yesterday’s election are in—and I won! At some point (soon, I hope) I’ll be sworn in as a member of Lamar Town Council.

I don’t have photographs of the final print-out, so I don’t the breakdown by precinct, but I hope to obtain that information soon. I got the results from the election workers as they pulled the receipt from the voting machine shortly after 7 PM EST last night: 121 for Cook, 69 write-in.

Special Election Day 2021

12 January 202111 January 2021 The Portly Politico3 Comments

Well, here it is—my second special election run for Lamar Town Council. Polls open at 7 AM and close at 7 PM at Lamar Town Hall.

This election is a special election to fill a vacancy, the result of another resignation from Town Council. Lang Howell, the Mayor Pro Tempore, stepped down, triggering the special election today. I paid my $17.50 filing fee back in November, and am the only declared candidate on the ballot.

That said, in last night’s Town Council meeting, Mayor Darnell Byrd-McPherson noted that a young college student, Keon Mack, indicated just yesterday his intent to run as a write-in candidate.

Regular readers will recall that this similar tactic was used—successfully—to defeat myself and another filed candidate in a 14 July 2020 special election race. Some churches in town, heavily inclined demographically in one direction, fielded a last-minute candidate, Mary Ann Mack, who won a stunning upset victory, winning 86-28-23 (Mack-Cook-Segars).

Monday Morning Update: Back to Work

4 January 20214 January 2021 The Portly Politico4 Comments

Well, the glory of Christmas Break has come to an end, and it’s back to the grind this morning. Due to concerns about The Virus, we’re online for at least this week, and I’ve received word that teachers will be allowed to teach from home for the remainder of the week. That will make the transition back to full-time teaching a tad more endurable, as waking up and rolling over to the computer is much easier than engaging in the hasty rituals of the morning.

Regardless, I’m scrambling a bit this morning, so today’s post will be brief and belated. I’ll cover my trip to Mississippi tomorrow; today, I thought I’d give some general updates as we head into the first fiscal week of 2021:

SubscribeStar Saturday: The Mainstreaming of Secession

12 December 202011 December 2020 The Portly Politico3 Comments

Today’s post is a SubscribeStar Saturday exclusive. To read the full post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more. For a full rundown of everything your subscription gets, click here.

The American experiment in self-government is at perhaps its lowest ebb since the 1850s, a decade whose division and partisan rancor rival our own. That decade’s statesmen’s failures to address sectional tensions—and, ultimately, to reconcile two fundamentally incompatible views of the world—resulted in the secession of eleven States that no longer believed the national government was acting in accordance with the Constitution.

It brings me no joy to make such a grim assessment, nor to contemplate what comes next as a result, but it is a necessary task. My sincerest wish is that our great Union remain intact, and that we see some restoration of constitutionalism. An increase in States’ rights and federalism—greater sovereignty at the State level and less power at the federal level—would go a very long way in resolving at least some of our national issues.

Unfortunately, I and others are increasingly drawing the conclusion that such a restoration is, at best, extremely unlikely and, at worst, impossible in an age of totalizing progressivism. When even Rush Limbaugh is musing about secession (H/T to photog at Orion’s Cold Fire) and a George Mason law professor is writing seriously on the subject, we can no longer laugh off the notion. Secession may be the future.

To read the rest of this post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.

SubscribeStar Saturday: The Campaign Trail: Lamar Christmas Parade

5 December 20205 December 2020 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

As I noted a few weeks back, I’m back in the arena, making my second run for Lamar Town Council. With the election five weeks away, I’m trying to get out there to meet more folks. I’m not sure if anyone else filed, but last time I lost to a write-in candidate, so even if I’m running unopposed, I’m not taking any chances.

Because it’s a special election—the date is 12 January 2020—part of the campaign is simply letting people know there is an election. Like the last special election (which was rescheduled from May to July due to The Virus), I expect turnout will be low, simply because it’s at such an unusual time of year, and because most people won’t realize there’s even an election in the first place. Of course, this election won’t be a week after the July Fourth, so I anticipate slightly higher turnout.

So I hit the campaign trail by heading down to Lamar’s “Christmas on Main” event, and sticking around for the Christmas Parade. Here’s a brief update of what it was like.

To read the rest of this post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.

Where the Right Goes From Here

2 December 20202 December 2020 The Portly Politico7 Comments

Lest I be cast as a “doomer”—one who has given up on President Trump’s noble attempt to win the re-election that is rightfully is—it seems likely that our ruling elites will assure Biden wins the presidency. I still believe that Trump is the rightful victor; that the election was stolen from him; and that the evidence of widespread voter fraud is compelling enough to throw, at the very least, the election to the House of Representatives.

Remember, we live in a world that still argues that John F. Kennedy’s campaign did not manipulate vote totals in Cook County, Illinois to flip the State away from Nixon in 1960, thereby assuring Kennedy’s victory. What we saw in 2020 was the Cook County strategy writ large. We should fight that manipulation to ensure the integrity of future elections, but I fear the damage is done.

Again, I hold out hope that Trump will be vindicated and that justice will be served. Nevertheless, as conservatives, we should adopt the distinctly conservative course of preparing for what comes next. Even if our dream scenario comes to fruition, it only buys conservatives time. Either way, we’ve got to consider seriously where we’re going, and our place in a society that increasingly rejects us and our interests.

Delayed SubscribeStar Saturday Posted: Back in the Arena

19 November 202019 November 2020 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

This past Saturday’s SubscribeStar Saturday was delayed, but I got the latest post, “Back in the Arena: Second Lamar Town Council Special Election” posted last night. It’s about the beginning of my second campaign for Lamar Town Council, and my strategy to overcome secret write-in campaigns this time around (basically, get more people to turn out to vote for me—not too complicated!).

It’s available now for $1 and higher subscribers. For full details about subscriber perks, read this morning’s TBT post.

Thanks again for your support!

—TPP

Tip The Portly Politico

Support quality commentary on politics, education, culture, and the arts with your one-time donation.

$1.00

The Portly Politico

One Southerner's unique, erudite, conservative perspective in a hectic world

Tag: local government