Moving on

-- Now that the Traditional Media has finally realized that the 2016 election is fait accompli with Orange Hitler having disintegrated as a candidate, a campaign, and even a respectable human being ... it's time to pay attention to other things, like down-ballot races, whether the Senate and even the House might flip blue, and pretty much anything other than what Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton might have to snark at each other about.  I'm exhausted by both of them and I feel certain a vast majority of the electorate on all sides of the aisle -- not just both -- can agree on that.

For the past eighteen months, I appear to have been the only Texas blogger following the presidential twists and curves on a day-to-day basis, beginning with the best thing I wrote here, about Bernie Sanders and socialism and how his campaign would be undermined by the Democrats.  That was posted a couple of weeks before the birth of Black Lives Matter at Yearly Kos, and I have felt confident in all the time since about the insights I have shared here.  But now I'd like to blog about something else besides the latest "Clinton/Trump slams Trump/Clinton for (fill in the blank)" and will, going forward.

-- Nate Silver uses the 'b' word, as in 'blowout', to describe the current state of the presidential race.  I told you it was over almost two weeks ago.  Nearly a half a million Americans have already voted, and the number climbs every day.  If there is an October Surprise, it's isn't going to have much effect.  Let's move on, and leave the weirdo undecideds to their own devices.

-- Gadfly has hit it out of the park, back-to-back, with these two posts about The Nation and RBG.  If you want to understand the difference between liberals and progressives, and why fewer of the latter are sticking with the Democrats, then read them both.  If you don't want to understand the difference -- and I'm looking at every one of you who have been with Her from the get-go -- then don't read them.  It's too late to help you now.

-- Hillbots keep saying that Wikileaks and Russia are colluding on the drip-drip-drip of her damaging emails.  Blaming the (incorrect) source of the leak instead of what's contained in the campaign messages doesn't wash with any thinking person, and US intelligence is not convinced, either.

There are a lot of things that Julian Assange the person and Wikileaks the organization are, but Russian foils they are not.  Perhaps one day in this country we'll erect statues of whistleblowers, but that day seems far away.

 -- Jill Stein's Texas tour hits El Paso this Friday, Houston on Saturday, San Antonio on Sunday, and Austin on Monday.  These are festival-style events, with live music, food, down-ballot Greens, specialized discussion groups, and more.  She may make an early swing through Houston's East End Street Fest if time and scheduling allows.

-- Darrell Castle of the Constitution Party, Rocky De La Fuente of the Independent, Reform and American Delta Parties, and Gloria LaRiva of the Party for Socialism and Liberation are scheduled to face off in the Free and Equal People’s Presidential Debate at at the campus of Colorado University - Boulder on October 25th.  Kweku Mandela, grandson of the late Nelson Mandela, will provide the keynote address prior to the debate.  It's all part of the United We Stand Festival.

Only Castle -- the best choice for principled Christian conservatives (sic) and Ted Cruz and Ben Carson supporters  -- can be voted for in Texas as a qualified write-in candidate.  (De La Fuente was rejected as a Texas presidential option only last week by a federal judge under the 'sore loser' law.)  Free & Equal hosted Stein, Gary Johnson, Virgil Goode, and Rocky Anderson in two debates moderated by Ralph Nader and Larry King four years ago, which I reported on at the time.

More in the pipeline about down-ballot contests in Texas and Harris County, the prospects of the Democrats retaking both houses of Congress, and a P-Slate just before the start of early voting here on Monday, October 24.