Today is Friday, January 12, 2024.   Sometime after 6 p.m., Elliot and I sang “Happy birthday” to Atticus who marked a week with us.   It’s remarkable that a week has passed this quickly, but it has.   As of now, he’s restricted from the bedroom since we’re not sure what damage he might do there.  I’m watching him right now to ensure he doesn’t misbehave.   At this very moment, he has found a ceramic vase on our built-in alcove bookshelf where he’s very adeptly taken out candies or other goodies with which to swat with his paws.   I think this is extraordinary in a cat.    He put his entire snout in the vase and grabbed the candies with his right paw.    

Another thing I was surprised over is Atticus’s fearlessness when it came to sniffing burning candles on the dining room table where Elliot lit Sabbath candles and left them burning on the table.  Of course, this wouldn’t stop Atticus from leaping onto the table and actually getting thisclose to the candles.  Because of his fearlessness, I had to remove the candle holders.  At one little moment, Atticus almost got his tail singed when he walked right through the two candles.   Oh, there he goes again into the goodie bowl.   Now he took something else out of the vase to occupy his time with.   Of course, the solution is to remove the vase, which I will do later.  Earlier today, Elliot took some measures to cat-proof the living room in which he took some of my books down and placed his fragile ceramic ware on a top shelf.    So far, Atticus cannot get there, we think.

We will know how much of a lead the disgraced repugnican frontrunner will have with the Iowa caucus expected to go on this coming Monday, despite the subfreezing temperatures forecasted for that day.  This situation is reported in an online CNN article by Alayna Greene, Kylie Atwood, Kit Maher, Aaron Hellish, Monica Garrett, and Brandon Miller entitled “2024 Republicans worry that subzero temperatures could scramble caucus turnout.” 

The 2024 Republican presidential contenders are growing increasingly concerned about the dangerously frigid weather that Iowans will be confronted with when they head to the polls on caucus day, acknowledging that temperatures could negatively impact anticipated turnout.    I say this could be a positive thing for the rest of us, maybe narrowing the miserable Dump’s lead in the first-ever presidential caucus.  

Iowa will have their coldest caucuses ever on Monday, as a dangerous Arctic blast dives into the central heart of the country this weekend and lasts through early next week.   Monday is expected to be the coldest January day for Iowa in at least five years, with wind chills as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit.    Brrr, that is cold, and if this subzero cold can prevent older voters in rural areas from voting for the anti-Christ, so much the better.    

Iowans will wake up to temperatures more than 15 degrees below zero on Monday morning.  Nearly the entire state will fail to climb above zero degrees Monday afternoon, the exception being the far southeastern portion of the state that may reach a degree or two above zero.    That’s warm by Iowa’s standards!

Add winds to this bitter cold and wind chill will reach life-threatening levels at minus 20 to minus 40 degrees for the entire day.   

One of those Republican voters is Holly Moeller, a 65-year-old voter from Rock Rapids, Iowa, who told CNN that she waited on the edges of Florida Governor Ron DeSatan’s town hall in Rock Rapids on Thursday that she doesn’t know if she’ll caucus on Monday evening because of the weather.  She said she’s wary of venturing out because she lives with her 90-year-old mother and is worried about getting sick.  Who knows whom she would be voting for if she indeed went out?

As the dotard he truly is, Trump boldly proclaimed earlier “Weather is not gonna keep our people away.   It’s gonna keep their people away.”   How does he know this, the perennial liar?   

The Haley campaign, however, disputed the Dump’s campaign’s assertion that the weather may have a deeply chilling (no pun intended) effect on her standing, arguing people in the Hawkeye State are used to the cold winters, her campaign aides told CNN. 

An Iowa voter who spoke to CNN at a Haley event on Tuesday, Kim McAdams, said that Iowans are used to this kind of weather. ”This happens every year to us so when the temperatures get cold, you just put on another layer and keep doing what you do. So I think they’ll come out for her,” McAdams said. 

The trailing repugnican candidate to Haley, Ron DeSatan, has also continued to project confidence that his supporters won’t be deterred by the cold.  On a press call with Iowa media, DeSantis said, “We have a lot of committed caucus goers.”   I should hope so, Mr. DeSatan!    You really need them!

The last candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, also argues that his supporters are highly enthusiastic and may be more likely than others to brave challenging conditions.

Ramaswamy actually boasted, “Many of my supporters are not tepid supporters.” He also added, “I think the Ramaswamy tsunami is not going to be deterred by the cold weather.”   Here he uses the same stupid linguistic mode of referring to himself in the third person as his Dear Leader does.  

Therefore, given how brutally cold it might be on Monday, let the worst candidate win, whoever that might be.   I certainly don’t care, especially when it’s already projected that a potential felon might win the Iowa caucus. 

Have a great weekend, even though a spell of bad weather is forecasted here for Saturday night.    

Stay safe and be well.

Here is Atticus peering into that vase looking for something to take out.  Atticus’s old turbo scratcher toy is on the dining room table. 

He’s very focused on getting something out of that vase.