#enthusiasm

[nobeerreviews]

Spring work is going on with joyful enthusiasm.

-- John Muir

[rabbruad1]

May your rise each day with hopefulness and vigor... ready to meet it with positivity and enthusiasm.

[monikamonik]

Enthusiasm is the greatest strength of the soul. Keep it and you will never lack the power to get what you want..

[lemon-up]

MOSS!

You! Love! To! See! It!

MOSS!

Heck! Yes! Plant! Green!

[ilikeit-art]

Despite the burden of suffering, you have no choice but to rise up strong and completely optimistic. Be the spirit of unbreakable will and unfailing determination. If you lose your enthusiasm, circumstances will not have mercy on you.

[allthedesiredusernamesaretaken]

" The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm. "

― Aldous Huxley

[thepersonalwords]

Drinking caffeinated drinks including high potency energy drinks, and consuming other enablers, we do not need to develop an internal source for the energy, effort, endurance, and enthusiasm needed to confront each day.

Kilroy J. Oldster, Dead Toad Scrolls

[fieriframes]

[Now, wait a second, here. Enthusiasm is a form of social courage? Did anybody pre-measure this?]

[dlstmxkakwldrlarchive]

(scan) SHINee 'Married to The Music' Official MD — Polaroids

[whats-in-a-sentence]

In "The Challenge of the Spaceship", a paper that he delivered to his colleagues in the British Interplanetary Society in 1946, Arthur C. Clarke talks of explorers, musicians and mathematicians as people who do what they do not for any practical or impersonal reason, but because they must:

[And] so, if we will be honest with ourselves, it is with us. Any "reasons" we may give for wanting to cross space are afterthoughts, excuses tacked on because we feel that we ought, rationally, to have them. They are true, but superfluous – except for the practical value they may have when we try to enlist the support of those who may not share our particular enthusiasm for astronautics yet can appreciate the benefits it may bring, and the repercussions these will have upon the causes for which they, too, feel deeply.

"The Moon: A History for the Future" - Oliver Morton

[nobeerreviews]

Oh heavens, how I long for a little ordinary human enthusiasm. Just enthusiasm - that's all.

-- John Osborne

(Zurich, Switzerland)

[yours-trudy]

SLOW DOWN, TRUDY.

[tomorrowusa]

Democratss haven't been this enthusiastic since February of 2008.

Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are largely driving the surge in enthusiasm nationally. In March, 55% of Democrats and Democratic leaners said they were more enthusiastic than usual about voting; now, 78% are. Republicans and Republican leaners, who held a slight edge in enthusiasm in March, now trail Democrats by a significant margin, with their current 64% enthusiasm score up slightly from 59% in the spring. [ ... ] Democrats’ current level of enthusiasm is one percentage point shy of the group’s high in Gallup’s trend since 2000. That was the 79% measured in February 2008, when Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were engaged in a spirited battle for the party’s presidential nomination. Enthusiasm subsided later that year, but by the end of the campaign, consistently more than seven in 10 said they were more enthusiastic than usual about voting. Democratic enthusiasm was also elevated during the 2004 and 2020 presidential campaigns.

Republican enthusiasm has increased too, but much less than that of Democrats.

Enthusiasm is bound to spike when you have somebody to be enthusiastic about. With Republicans, they are just pushing a stale rerun which was bad the first time it was aired.

Enthusiasm is nice, but it's votes which win elections. Ask people you know if they're registered to vote. If they aren't, guide them through the process. Remind them that if they have moved since the last election that they need to register at their new address.

[bimshwel]

#femoralsketch ii 10 for @juliuscruz2000, of this enthusiastic weirdo

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Women's march

* * * *

Harris and Walz shift the vibe!

August 19, 2024

Robert B. Hubbell

As we look ahead with hope and anticipation to the Democratic National Convention, the Harris-Walz campaign continues to surprise everyone with its effectiveness and nimbleness. On Sunday, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz took a bus tour through Pennsylvania—a complete “vibe-shift” from the enthusiastic crowds at packed stadiums that fueled the campaign over the last four weeks.

The bus tour was terrific! It highlighted Kamala and Tim in “normal” situations that voters can relate to—buying chips (Doritos) in a convenience store, talking to a high school football team, and chatting up the employees at a restaurant. Both joined a local field office’s phone-banking efforts! Kamala Harris even petted a firehouse dog after delivering pastries to the firefighters! (Can you imagine Trump petting a dog?)

There is no way in the world that Trump or JD Vance could have negotiated those situations with anything other than awkward stiffness as they pretended to know how to talk to everyday Americans in normal situations. Both Trump and JD Vance are stuck behind podiums with dwindling or non-existent crowds, while Kamala and Tim turned the “small group” interaction into a show of strength and normalcy.

That is a feat that Trump and Vance cannot replicate. The GOP nominees are comfortable among billionaires and sycophants but not among people who are feeling the pain of Trump’s tax cuts for billionaires, assault on personal liberties, and culture wars.

Harris also asked reporters questions at various stops on the tour. Those reporters—perhaps local reporters(?)—asked the Vice President substantive questions about her economic proposals released last week. No notes, no teleprompters, no “hand-picked” reporters who are afraid of Kamala Harris. Her answers were “okay” to “good”, but they were orders of magnitude better than Trump's meandering words-salads. She answered the questions head-on; not everyone accepted her responses, but that’s politics! Kamala Harris is speaking to voters, not to pundits.

While dwelling on Trump is becoming tedious, he made things worse for himself and JD Vance on Saturday with another unhinged speech that focused on pettiness, grievance, and hate. In the speech, he criticized Kamala Harris for her laugh, dating history, and “looks” before stooping to call her a “communist.” See Trump zigzags between economic remarks and personal insults at rally in critical Pennsylvania. In a sign of supreme insecurity, Trump repeatedly said that he was “better looking than Kamala.” Geez! What kind of person does that?

And then Trump proceeded to have an epic meltdown on social media on Sunday, posting at least fifty-two (52) times, with each post worse, more offensive, and delusional than the last. Trump posted fake “photos” of “Swifties for Trump”, and posted doctored photos of Kamala Harris holding a sign that said, “I am a moron.”

Below is one of Trump's most unhinged posts

Again, apologies for repeating Trump's post, but it is important to understand what the media is not reporting about Trump's descent into madness. At the very least, let your eyes graze over the Unabomber-esque quality of the prose:

We had to turn away lots of people yesterday in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, but Comrade Kamala Harris’ Social Media Operation showed empty seats, long before the Rally started, early in the afternoon when, in actuality, we had to turn away 11,500 people! She’s a Crooked Radical Left Politician, and always will be! Everything she touches turns bad, just like California, and San Francisco before it - as is the case with all Marxists. She should have never been Vice President, and had to stage a COUP of Joe Biden, with her America-hating friends, Barrack Hussein Obama, Crazy Nancy Pelosi, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, and the rest. Comrade Kamala is a STONE COLD LOSER, she will FAIL and, if she doesn’t, our Country will cease to exist as we know it, turning into a Communist, Crime Ridden Garbage Dump.

As Trump is off message in the worst possible way, Democrats are heading into their convention more united than ever. Are there potential problems? Of course! Protests over Gaza will give the media a counter-narrative to dampen the enthusiasm that will greet President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, former presidents Obama and Clinton, Secretary of State Clinton, and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. Then, the main event will be Tim Walz and Kamala Harris.

The convention will be historic. It will serve three purposes:

It will lift and inspire a formerly weary base who can finally celebrate with a sense of confidence and optimism.

It will help unify Democratic messaging—finally!

It will extend the period of enthusiasm that has propelled the campaign thus far.

If the unprecedented enthusiasm continues into September or October, it will solidify the momentum that Kamala Harris is building among the electorate.

Joe Biden’s speech alone is reason enough to hold a convention that has already elected Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. It should be Biden’s finest hour in his half-century of public service.

I resolve to not allow the media’s desire to deflate Democratic enthusiasm to interfere with my enjoyment and appreciation of a historic moment.

And a special note to readers who will be attending the convention: I would love to hear from you about what it is like to be “in the room where it happens.” With your permission (and not for attribution), I will share comments with other newsletter readers who are not at the convention. Feel free to post in the Comment section or email me at rbhubbell@gmail.com.

Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter