Midterm Election Day Cometh Forsooth

Another election day, another election in which Will tried and failed to stop following politics. Even if we read less, and we read much less than we did two years ago, we still worry. What's the point?

Good election day morning, Stroock's Books voters. Your guess is as good as ours. We'll be unplugging tonight [You always say that -Ed] and reading Marc Morris' book about the Norman Conquest. He's very good. 

For what it's worth Hot Air's Duane Robinson argues early vote numbers look great for the GOP. Ed Morrissey says, 'Final NBC Poll: GOP Comeback, Y'All?' And David Strom, 'Why you cannot trust polls.' This blog agrees with all that. The pollsters are guessing. 

We've seen plenty of articles more or less agreeing with what we think, or at least what we think is possible. The polls are crap. Polls underestimated conservatives in Brazil, British Columbia, and Israel. There's every reason to believe polls are doing the same here. The GOP is motivated. Trump is rallying the base one last time. Going back to 1998, midterm wipeouts for the party in the White House are a 50/50 proposition.* The GOP underperformed in 2022. The Dems can underperform in 2024. 

The last time the GOP ran second term midterm elections was autumn, 2006. Ahhhh....the reader(s) will kindly forgive a bit of nostalgia. This was our last great substitute teaching semester. Mrs. Stroock was pregnant with Oldest Daughter. We were writing magazine articles and re-editing A Line Through the Desert. The book doc we hired convinced us to add the last chapter showing Jake getting home from Desert Storm. We were really into AC/DC.

This was W's second term. The wheels had come off, they say. The economy was decent enough, but the Iraq war was raging. We thought the Dems would make big gains but the GOP would hang on to at least the senate, barely. The Dems picked up 31 seats in the House and five in the Senate. We were wrong. 

Those of you who know us on FB know we've needed daily gut checks. Overall, we approach today's election with [Great fear and trepidation?-Ed], great fear and trepidation.  

This blog predicts we'll wake up on Wednesday morning to chaos with the Maine and Alaska ranked choice races undecided. 

Exit question: can the GOP Stop the Steal?

DOGE report.

We read through two Thatcher's War chapters. Just a few chapters to go, and maybe one scene to write. 

We worked on the Hastings story. 

Then we read through two Managua chapters, which are looking good. 

We've made no decisions on what to work on this January. 

*Look at 2018, people. There were three things, House, Senate, governorships, and the GOP won the last two of  'em, including tough races against vaunted Dem candidates in Florida and Georgia. We are the only person who understands the 2018 election and thinks the GOP won. Yes, everyone is wrong except for us. 

Blue Stars: One's Great, One Sucks

Good morning, Stroock's Books continuum and happy Monday. 

The feet are still bothering us, both of them [Yes, hence the plural usage - ED]. We remain annoyed.  

NFL wrap. The Jets suck....Anyway.  the Dallas Cowboys blew a 24-10 4th quarter lead to the Arizona freakin' Cardinals quarterbacked by Gardiner freakin' Minshew. The Cowboys are taking a lot of criticism in the media today, rightfully so. And so's everybody's darling, Dak Prescott. Where was Prescott, yesterday? Don't get us wrong, Dak Prescott is a fine fantasy stat QB. But he's not as good as...Danny White. Oh, and Dallas' defense has no guts. 

Political note, polls. Either one believes the polls or one does not believe the polls. In just the last few months polls underestimated conservatives in Brazil (where the communists went on to steal the election), British Columbia, and Israel. There's every reason to believe the polls are doing the same here in the US. 

We've mentioned before the last election in which we didn't believe the polls. That was 2012, where most polls showed Barry Soetoro with a slight lead. Polls were using a +5 Dem turnout model. We thought that was wrong. It was. The eventual turnout was +6. Back in 2012 we thought the Dem/GOP turnout would be even. 

[So what do you think?-Ed] Dems win the House, GOP holds the senate 52-48 with a surprise victory or two (MN, maybe NH).

The bottom line is for us poll skeptics to be right, a whole lotta polls have to be wrong. 

The coalition horse trading in Israel has begun in earnest. Don't ask us to offer a play by play. It does look like President Herzog will give Gadi Eisenkot first crack at forming a government. This blog calls, once again, for a Netanyahu, Eisenkot, Liberman, Bennett unity government. 

Invading aliens...So if we were to write a new trilogy about alien invasion, when's it take place? We like the idea of the invasion taking place in the near future. This affords the opportunity to speculate about the next decade, maybe the next generation. We'd talk about drone swarms, micro-missile barrages, maybe some of those super-secret weapons the US is working on (flying triangles, anyone?).

DOGE report.

We read the battle of Howth and the battle for Dublin Airport. Are they great? No. But they're good, good enough even. Those were the tough ones and they survived the read through. We've a few more chapters to go, and that's that. 

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 11/1/26

Happy November, Stroock's Books autumnal reader(s). 

We were at the neighbor's yesterday for an outdoors in the cool night, gathered about the firepit. We had much meat and for us many libations (two beers and a bourbon). 

So far, no gout, but our feet remain sore from the Achillies problem and favoring our left foot. We are annoyed.

Elections...we remarked to a friend that even though one knows better, one see's polls and finds them jarring. They're supposed to be jarring, our friend remarked. 

Related...our friend on the school board recommended we vote Column C on Tuesday. And so we shall. 

DOGE report.

We read through the battle of Ardee chapter and are not as pleased as we would like to be [Are you ever?-Ed]. Not really.

Let's move on to Will's Good Idea for the Week of 11/1/26.

Well, we've got three of them. 

We watched this excellent, really well done simulation of an alien invasion. And it made us think, hmmm maybe we should try another To Defend the Earth novel. We had big plans, but To Survive the Earth bombed, for reasons we've never understood, and we dropped the project. It's been nine years. The Grognard read TDTE some time ago and said it was like reading a different author. Aye, we was.

We also had the idea of starting from scratch. That's right, a new aliens invading earth series. This would be a trilogy with the first novel focusing on the leadup, the second novel on the initial contact and invasion, and the third showing humanities' final victory. We'll spend this week toying with the idea here on the blog. 

Third, we're actually set up to begin another novel in January, why not World War 1990: Battle of the GIUK Gap? It's there, it's there. We could spend December researching and start on 1 January.  But we don't feel like thinking about sonars, and naval fiction is our weak spot. Who's the guy that tells the captain about the thingy? Once again we shall spend some time outlining.

We'll also think about a sixth nuclear war novel. If After the Last Bomb sells....Reminder, we will write nuke novels as long as they sell. Where to go after the bombs stop? Ideas are fun to get. They're fun to think about. That spark is amazing. Then comes the real work. The great Gene Simmons said art is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent work or sweat. Gene Simmons is always right. 

Saturday Updates

Our right Achillies is doing a lot better but our left foot is bothering us since we've been favoring it. 

This week we were able to do a trio of light workouts at home with dumbbells and tension bands. 

Overall, we are frustrated. 

Good morning, Stroock's Book weekenders and Happy Halloween. This year we're going as a middle-aged father of three teenaged girls [You're still doing that joke? Knobhead-Ed]. 

Actually, tonight the dads are planning to sit around the firepit and knocking back a pint or two. Exit question, to Arturo Fuente or not to Arturo Fuente?

The things.

After the Last Bomb remains at the editor. We'll probably get the MS back late next week.

If we really wanted to we could get After the Last Bomb out in mid-December. 

We read through 2/3rds if World War 1990: Thatcher's War. Today we'll do the battle of Ardee. 

Yesterday we boxed up our Ireland books. Good riddance. And good riddance to the Troubles. We're sick of them. 'The kill-happy Irish' the late P.J. O'Rourke once called them. 

We've written and edited the opening of the Hastings short story (For Want of an Arrow). The opening shows the Norman and English armies the morning of the battle from King Harold's point of view. We are generally pleased. Reminder, Harold was the last legitimate king of England and the Godwinson line is the only monarchial line this blog recognizes. For Want of an Arrow is 1,500 words. 

This week we will begin reading through World War 1990: The Managua Campaign. We haven't even looked at the doc since...whoa, late September. Managua is 52,000 words.  In theory we need about a month to finish off the rough draft. 

Which begs the question, what next? What's the new project for January, 2027.

The Grognard wants us to do World War 1990: Battle of the GIUK Gap, and he reminds us of our old one forward, one back rule, which we are breaking anyway. He's pestering us right this very second. But as things stand, we've Ecertio Italiano and Saddam's War to do. Both could take up 2027 and get us real close to finishing the post war novels. 

There's always aliens....

The Blues are Blue

Good morning, Stroock's Books Kibbutzim and Shabbat Shalom.  

What do we got? 

Bla-bla, Israel. Bla-bla election. Bla-bla the Opposition Block blew it. They certainly did. 

The Times of Israel's David Horovitz laments the Oppo Block's failure to take out Netanyahu. They'll never get a better chance. Do note, we respect Horovitz a lot. We just disagree with him. 

What else we got? 

The Arab parties in Israel won 19 Knesset seats after unprecedented turnout. Now, these parties ain't all that Zionist. Despite public rhetoric, we don't see Israeli-Arabs pining to live under PA rule or skipping out to Jordan. Some idiots want to ban the Arab parties from the Knesset. Sure, take away people's right to pick up a ballot and they'll pick up a gun instead. Schmuck.  

Also...the great Amit Segal explains why Bibi doesn't have to do anything. Segal also argues that a unity government is the best path forward for Israel's diplomatic/war footing. This blog agrees. Once again, we call for a Zionist government composed of Netanyahu, Eisenkot, Bennett, and Liberman, with Eisenkot taking the helm in 18-24 months and Bibi getting kicked up to the presidency. You got a better idea? 

And...Patrick Stewart has died. Without Star Trek: The Next Generation we wouldn't have this job. One autumn evening in 1990, we turned on the telly and there was the first part of the two-parter borg episode, Best of Both Worlds. We saw a bunch of Star Fleet officers standing around a crater. We picked up a notebook and began writing soon after. We'll not see his like again. 

DOGE report. 

We're working on the 1066 opener. We are generally pleased. 

We read World War 1990: Thatcher's War through to the British invasion. Which we'll take on today. Wish us luck. 

Ideas are percolating. Impractical. But they're there. 

Bibi Blue, Oppo Blew It

Happy Thursday, people of Stroock's Books. 

By midday yesterday our other foot was bothering us something fierce. We are annoyed. 

In Israel, 95 percent of the votes are in. Coalition 53, Opposition 48, Arabs 19. Ben Shapiro breaks down the election and explains why Netanyahu is in fantastic shape.

And lookie here, we have a scandal in which it seems Qatari money helped drive Arabs to the polls. See the great Amit Segal. We're not going to touch that one. But it don't look good. This story means there is no chance the Opposition bloc will try to form a government with one or more of the Arab parties. Well played, Bibi. Well played indeed. 

A unity government of Bibi, Eisenkot, Bennett, and Liberman, four leaders who are of like mind on security issues, gets you 67 seats. Bibi serves for two years and is kicked up to the ceremonial presidency. Eisenkot becomes PM. During this time they can finish off Iran, do some minor supreme court reforms, and pass a Haredi draft bill. Do it guys. Do it!

What do Israeli election results mean for America? Conservatives are almost certainly being under-polled. 

Related...Hot Air says Iowa is fine. As it happens we have a man on the ground there who is in a position to know. He agrees with Hot Air's assessment. We asked him if Iowa is fine, then Kansas and Nebraska are also fine, no? Then we apologized for our East Coast bias, lumping three rural states together like that. Our man on the ground in Iowa agreed with our assessment.  

Then there's the Alaskan Decoy Dan business. This story breaking so close to election day tells us the Trump people and GOP are really on their A game. We shall see. 

And Powerline thinks Minnesota Dems are scared.

Lord we're sick of thinking about politics and elections. Lords of Kobol, here our prayer. Make us follow something other than politics. 

A friend of ours is reading overwrought news headlines about Armageddon and has begun doomsday prepping in their suburban New Jersey condo. We shrug. In the case of nuclear Armageddon, everyone in New Jersey is dead within a week. 

DOGE Report.

Two more Thatcher's War chapter down.

We've written the opening to the Hastings story. It's about a thousand words; shows the scene, introduces the characters, and whatnot. We're trying to keep dialogue simple. That is, we're trying to avoid French descended words and sticking with Germanic descendent words. 

We think we got our alternate history WWII story idea. 

A New Netanyahu Negotiates

Baaah...our right Achillies is fine, our left foot is still bugging us. 

We went to an Israeli election forum at our synagogue last night. Actually, it was more of a lecture by the Rabbi. We're glad we went all the same. It's nice to get out. Normally we're on dance taxi duty after dinner. 

[What about the election?-Ed]

Oh! Right! Well, here you go. Those numbers are going to shift around a bit, as they haven't counted the double (absentee) envelopes yet. But that's just about what the next Knesset will look like. 

In other words, Israeli politics are still a mess. 

The outstanding Amit Segal writes, 'Bibi Hasn't Won but the Opposition has lost'. Segal sounds a bit bummed, which is fine for a centrist. He ain't no lefty. 

This blog once again calls for a unity government between Netanyahu, Eisenkot and Bennett. Bibi leads for 18 months and then....they kick him up to the ceremonial presidency [Good grief-Ed]. I know, right? 

Also, it seems Trump is negotiating behind the scenes and is pressing for just such a government. 

Related...Powerline reports, 'The current McLaughlin survey finds that Jewish voters prefer Republicans over Democrats on the generic Congressional ballot by two to one.' Whoa. Blue Wave my butt. Not with them numbers, bubbe.*

DOGE report.

We read through two chapters of World War 1990: Thatcher's War. Once again, so far, so good. Overall we're about a third of the way through. 

We worked on the Hastings story. A little rough yesterday but the first thousand words are coming along just fine. 

And...

After the Last Bomb: Stories of the Great Nuclear War of 1975

The bombs have stopped. The war is over. But the struggle for survival has just begun.

- In Nebraska a young couple suffering from radiation sickness makes a hard choice

- Aboard Salyut Station, Soviet cosmonauts survey the damage to the USSR and realize they’re what’s left of the State

- In Washington State, townspeople take the war into their own hands

- In Pennsylvania, a five-year-old boy is left home alone with nothing but his imagination

- On the Suez Canal, an Egyptian officer ponders the world without the United States’ restraining hand

And much more....

William Stroock is the author of more than 20 novels. The Last Bomb is the 5th novel in the Great Nuclear War of 1975 series.

*Dems will still almost certainly take the House. Oh well.