“We pledge to you that we will root out the Communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, that lie and steal and cheat on elections,” Donald Trump said this past November, in a campaign speech that was ostensibly honoring Veterans Day. “The real threat is not from the radical right; the real threat is from the radical left … The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous, and grave than the threat from within. Our threat is from within.”
What immediately leaps out here is the word vermin, with its echoes of Hitler and Mussolini. But Trump’s inflammatory language can overshadow and distract from the substance of what he’s saying—in this case, appearing to promise a purge or repression of those who disagree with him politically.
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Trump himself has changed, too—the old Trump seemed to be running for office partly for fun and partly in service of his signature views, such as opposition to immigration and support for protectionism. Today’s Trump is different. His fury over his 2020 election defeat, the legal cases against him, and a desire for revenge against political opponents have come to eclipse everything else.
I love it when the weather 50-55 and misty… some of my favorite days up north. But yeah, that makes for miserable, seepy camping. It’s true that sub-0 is very dry. I liked how there are places almost completely impassable in the summer - mucky death swamps - and then in the winter, frozen solid, and you can just walk right over them.
We got very few balmy weather days up there, so you had to seize the day when it was time. Now and then I’d be waiting and waiting for spring or summer (since the winter is like 7 months long and real summer, maybe 2) and then I’d have work to do and realize I’d been inside working for 2 weeks while the days were delicious. Still, I’d make the most of the winter too. I loved going to a park near my house for walks when it was 0-10 degrees. It was a cross country ski track, but nobody was ever there. These days people I live with want to go for walks and check the weather, and say “35!! That’s so cold!!” 35, sunny, no wind? As you note, you just have to dress right.