Slightly Off the Mark

Here's what this election will bring

A lot of people are a bit concerned about the results of the upcoming election. I thought it would help everyone's anxiety if I went ahead and told you, in general terms, what will happen after this coming Tuesday.

(I am not telling you what I want to happen or who I support; only what will happen. Make a note of it.)

Currently Republicans control both the House and the Senate, but not by all that much. In the midterms it's not at all uncommon for the party that doesn't control the White House to make gains. Also, the war in Iran has dismayed many of President Trump's supporters. Iran has been attacking us for almost fifty years, and direct conflict with them was inevitable, but Trump is the one who pulled the trigger. Also, gas prices.

Both chambers will flip. Not by a whole lot (although it will be declared a landslide) but by enough for the Democrats to take control. This is a fairy safe prediction, considering the sitting president's party didn't hold the House in 8 of the last 9 midterms. My 2028 presidential election predictions are, well, not so safe.

I don't care much for most of the national politicians in either party, so I will be neither dancing nor crying in the streets. They're going to continue to spend us into oblivion, either way.

The results will trigger immediate charges from both sides of cheating, and legal challenges will go on for months. Say hello to recount season. As a firm believer in voter IDs (at no charge to the voter), I might mutter "I told you so" under my breath, but I'm not sure we've ever had an election with no fraud.

Well, there was the one time, when I came in eight out of seven candidates for Student Council, behind "None of the above".

President Trump, who always says what he means whether he's right or not, will be leading the fraud charge and have a lot of not-nice things to say. This balances out, when you consider all the not-nice things people say about him.

In the resulting chaos, thousands of lawyers will get filthy rich: both those in court cases, and those in Congress.

Democrats, elected on their promise to get things done, will spend the next two years doing everything they can to impeach Trump and do away with anything at all that was done during his presidency, whether there was any good to it or not. Lawyers will make lots more money. To be fair, that's what the Republicans would have done if the situation was reversed.

For the next two years nothing will get done. We'll spend a lot of money not doing it, though.

In 2028, the presidential primaries will get nasty. Really nasty. I mean, even by primary standards. There will be 1,476 candidates between the major parties, the smaller parties, and the independents.

When the dust settles, the major party Presidential candidates will be J.D. Vance and Andy Beshear, who is apparently the Governor of Kentucky. Beshear's VP candidate will be a person of color, female, gay, or some combination thereof.

A lot of things can happen in two years, but my gut is telling me the Democrats, who will be shouting Trump's name even more than his supporters did in 2016, will take the White House.

Although personally, I'd support these two:

President Harrison Ford (he already has some experience in the roll) and V.P. Cookie Monster!

Now that you've gotten this far I'm going to disappoint some of you: I am NOT open to debating politics. With anyone. Yes, I'm serious about the predictions, but I'm still a humorist: Say you laughed or didn't, then move on. If you want to express how much you hate this or that person, do it on your own platform.

But you can still buy our books:

· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/search?attributes.contributorId=13727646

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?searchAuthor=Mark+R.+Hunter&ref_pageloadid=4C1TS2KZGoOjloaJ&pf

Remember: Knowledge is power, and reading is knowledge.

Halloween Drive-By

I have only a moment as I'm racing by, so here are some photos I've taken this Halloween season:

A candy stand at work. There was only a little chocolate, but I sniffed it out.

I was getting my car worked on when I realized someone in one of the showroom vehicles had been waiting way longer.

For some reason my chiropractor's Halloween decorations always include bones and vertebrae.

Scarecrows are guarding the courthouse square.

Some of them are wearing Central Noble School colors. I wonder if they all made it through the thunderstorm Thursday afternoon? That's not usually a problem for Halloween decorations.

Late September Christmas decorations--now, that's scary.

You know what's really scary? My writing workspace. The monitor is on a display stand my brother made in high school, which is standing on its front--that's why you can see drink rings. I suppose now I need to put a Thanksgiving photo on the background screen, but I don't have a Thanksgiving themed book.

All of our books, including Haunted Noble County, remain available all year round:

· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/search?attributes.contributorId=13727646

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?searchAuthor=Mark+R.+Hunter&ref_pageloadid=4C1TS2KZGoOjloaJ&pf

Remember: Nothing is more scary than nothing to read.

PBS Interview for Haunted Noble County

The lady who set me up with an interview with our local PBS station in Fort Wayne ... forgot to tell me when it was going to air. But that's okay, because these days anything that's filmed lives forever. Remember that next time you tell someone "Hold my beer and watch this".

(Note: These images are all screenshots: The good people who work at PBS Fort Wayne--and they were all great--get credit for the graphics.)

The program is called "The 260", and I, of course, was the star. Okay, actually I was one of three stars. Okay, actually my interview was only nine minutes long.

So here's the link to the whole show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTXVqwzqSYI

He--that is, host Ed Leon--said I had a great voice for telling spooky ghost stories, which I decided to take as a compliment. It was actually seasonal allergies.

If you want to watch just my segment ... well, why would you? I mean, you're just surfing the web right now. But if you do, it's here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhX6xK9iV9Y&t

I'm so pretty, ain't I? A face made for radio, that's what everyone says in the dispatch center.

Of course, it's all about promoting Haunted Noble County, Indiana, which has a local focus but also some pretty good ghost stories and history for those of you who like that kind of thing. Arcadia Publishing, through its Haunted America line, has it just about anywhere you find books, and below are links to many of the internet corners where I hang around.

If you like it, or any of our books--review!