<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Oct 8, 2026 at 10:49 AM <<a href="mailto:spike@rainier66.com">spike@rainier66.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr"><br></div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr"><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-6421770715987363299"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-6421770715987363299WordSection1"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><b><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">>>…</span></b><span class="m_-6421770715987363299gmaildefault"><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif">For the last 10 years I've asked, practically begged, people on this list and elsewhere to explain to me why they find him so mesmerizing…John K Clark</span></b></span></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="m_-6421770715987363299gmaildefault"><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><b style="font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif"> <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span></b><i style=""><font face="georgia, serif">John, while you are on that topic, focus on this question: why did the opposition party, with the advantage of being the incumbent, lose to a former president whose approval ratings were average? <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> </span></font></i></span></span><span style="background-color:transparent"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif"><i style="">To this day I have not heard a convincing answer to that. </i></span></span></p></div></div></div></blockquote><div> </div><font size="4" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b>Because<span class="gmail_default" style="">, although never a majority,</span> tens of millions of Americans were mesmerized by Donald. But like you I have never heard a coherent answer to the question<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">;</span> <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">E</span>xactly, or even approximately, what was so mesmerizing about this particular biped<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">?</span> It ranks with what is Dark Energy and what is Dark Matter as one of the great mysteries of life.  </b></font></div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif" size="4"><b><br></b></font></div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif" size="4"><b><span class="gmail_default" style="">John K Clark</span><br></b></font><div><font size="4"><b><br></b></font></div><div><font size="4"><b><br></b></font></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-6421770715987363299"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-6421770715987363299WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="m_-6421770715987363299gmaildefault"><b><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="m_-6421770715987363299gmaildefault"><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><blockquote style="border-top:none;border-right:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:1pt solid rgb(204,204,204);padding:0in 0in 0in 6pt;margin:5pt 0in 5pt 4.8pt"><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p></blockquote></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div>