COFFEE BREAK
B6 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
THuRSDAY, NOVEmBER 4, 2021
Marriage sours as details spill out for all to see
and not discuss our personal lives
with others, but he continues to
do it anyway. His mother is the
go-to for him and she has now
canceled our Saturday outings.
I’m so disgusted by all of this
that I want to end the marriage.
The home we live in is mine
— I paid in full for it before I
met him, and it is all I have. I
have asked him to leave, but
he refuses, saying he’s going
to “take me for everything and
more.” Should I hire an attorney
at the risk of possibly making
things worse, or wait until things
calm down? — Afraid And
Confused In California
Dear Afraid: Do not wait for
Dear Abby: My husband
of 16 years has been airing our
dirty laundry to anyone who will
listen, including my 35-year-old
son. We live in a small town and
have lots of ties here. People who
were once quick to come up and
say hi no longer do so. In fact,
most are avoiding me by heading
in the opposite direction in the
stores or in parking lots.
I have asked my husband to
keep our business between us
40-something-year-old son, who
lives with and mooches off his
dad. He also has his 8-year-old
grandson living there. Because
her boyfriend has always prom-
ised marriage, she hangs on.
The son is a drug addict and
not supposed to be around the
grandson, but everyone enables
everyone. My friend finally
moved out a few years ago, but
she is back again. The boyfriend
is now battling cancer and has
her there to help the grandson
with online learning and to
take care of all three of them
— cleaning, laundry, grocery
shopping, rides to doctors and
cooking.
things to “calm down.” In light
of what your husband has threat-
ened, it is extremely important
that you start talking to lawyers
about what’s going on and how
to protect yourself. Talk to sev-
eral because you can gain a wider
perspective. While you may not
be able to salvage your reputa-
tion in that community because
of what your husband has been
spreading, you will be able to
prevent him from fleecing you.
Please accept my sympathy.
Dear Abby: I have a good
friend who wants to help
everyone. She has been in a rela-
tionship with a man for 25 years.
She does not get along with his
Her boyfriend is retired now
and has a lot of money, and his
house is paid off. She’s 63 and
thinks if he dies, she’ll get a por-
tion of his estate, but he won’t
put anything in writing. I keep
telling her she’s a fool and he
won’t change. Is she wasting
the golden years of her life? —
Involved Friend In Minnesota
Dear Involved: Yup! The
“boyfriend” has her exactly
where he wants her — as a
source of free labor and with
no guarantee about her future.
If it is security she’s hoping for,
I regretfully agree that she’s
wasting the golden years of her
life.
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
How ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ became code for insulting Joe Biden
Matthew Delmont, a history pro-
fessor at Dartmouth College.
Even the racism and vitriol to
which former President Barack
Obama was subjected was tem-
pered in part because Twitter
was relatively new. There was no
TikTok. As for Facebook, leaked
company documents have recently
revealed how the platform
increasingly ignored hate speech
and misinformation and allowed it
to proliferate.
A portion of the U.S. was
already angry well before the
Brandon moment, believing the
2020 presidential election was
rigged despite a mountain of evi-
dence to the contrary.
But anger has now moved
beyond die-hard Trump sup-
porters, said Stanley Renshon, a
political scientist at the City Uni-
versity of New York.
He cited the Afghanistan
withdrawal, the southern border
situation and rancorous school
board debates as situations in
which increasing numbers who
were not vocally anti-Biden now
feel that “how American insti-
tutions are telling the American
public what they clearly see and
understand to be true, is in fact
not true.”
Trump hasn’t missed the
moment. His Save America PAC
now sells a $45 T-shirt featuring
“Let’s go Brandon” above an
American flag. One message to
supporters reads, “#FJB or LET’S
GO BRANDON? Either way,
President Trump wants YOU to
have our ICONIC new shirt.”
And as for the real Brandon,
things haven’t been so great. He
drives for a short-staffed, under-
funded team owned by his father.
And while that win — his first
career victory — was huge for
him, the team has long struggled
for sponsorship and existing part-
ners have not been marketing the
driver since the slogan..”
By COLLEEN LONG
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — When
Republican Rep. Bill Posey of
Florida ended an Oct. 21 House
floor speech with a fist pump and
the phrase “Let’s go, Brandon”
it may have seemed cryptic and
weird to many who were lis-
tening. But the phrase was already
growing in right-wing circles,
and now the seemingly upbeat
sentiment — actually a stand-in
for swearing at Joe Biden — is
everywhere.
South Carolina Republican
Jeff Duncan wore a “Let’s Go
Brandon” face mask at the Capitol
last week. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz
posed with a “Let’s Go Brandon”
sign at the World Series. Sen.
Mitch McConnell’s press sec-
retary retweeted a photo of the
phrase on a construction sign in
Virginia.
The line has become conserva-
tive code for something far more
vulgar: “F—- Joe Biden.” It’s
all the rage among Republicans
wanting to prove their conserva-
tive credentials, a not-so-secret
handshake that signals they’re in
sync with the party’s base.
Americans are accustomed to
their leaders being publicly jeered,
and former President Donald
Trump’s coarse language seemed
to expand the boundaries of what
counts as normal political speech.
But how did Republicans
settle on the Brandon phrase as
a G-rated substitute for its more
vulgar three-word cousin?
It started at an Oct. 2
NASCAR race at the Talladega
Superspeedway in Alabama.
Brandon Brown, a 28-year-old
driver, had won his first Xfinity
Series and was being interviewed
by an NBC Sports reporter. The
crowd behind him was chanting
something at first difficult to
make out. The reporter suggested
Joshua Bessex/The Associated Press
A sign reading “Let’s go Brandon” is displayed on the railing in the first half of an NCAA college football game between Boston
College and Syracuse in Syracuse, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. Critics of President Joe Biden have come up with the cryptic new
phrase to insult the Democratic president.
they were chanting “Let’s go,
Brandon” to cheer the driver. But
it became increasingly clear they
were saying: “F—- Joe Biden.”
NASCAR and NBC have since
taken steps to limit “ambient
crowd noise” during interviews,
but it was too late — the phrase
already had taken off.
When the president visited a
construction site in suburban Chi-
cago a few weeks ago to promote
his vaccinate-or-test mandate,
protesters deployed both three-
word phrases.
This past week, Biden’s motor-
cade was driving past a “Let’s Go
Brandon” banner as the president
passed through Plainfield, New
Jersey.
And a group chanted “Let’s go,
Brandon” outside a Virginia park
on Monday when Biden made an
appearance on behalf of the Dem-
ocratic candidate for governor,
Terry McAuliffe. Two protesters
weather
| Go to AccuWeather.com
ican history,” said Cal Jillson, a
politics expert and professor in
the political science department
at Southern Methodist University.
“We never fail to be horrified by
some new outrage.”
There were plenty of old
outrages.
“F—- Trump” graffiti still
marks many an overpass in Wash-
ington, D.C. George W. Bush
had a shoe thrown in his face.
Bill Clinton was criticized with
such fervor that his most vocal
critics were labeled the “Clinton
crazies.”
The biggest difference, though,
between the sentiments hurled at
the Grover Clevelands of yore and
modern politicians is the amplifi-
cation they get on social media.
“Before the expansion of social
media a few years ago, there
wasn’t an easily accessible public
forum to shout your nastiest and
darkest public opinions,” said
dropped the euphemism entirely,
holding up hand-drawn signs
with the profanity.Veteran GOP
ad maker Jim Innocenzi had no
qualms about the coded crudity,
calling it “hilarious.”
“Unless you are living in a
cave, you know what it means,”
he said. “But it’s done with a little
bit of a class. And if you object
and are taking it too seriously, go
away.”
America’s presidents have
endured meanness for centuries;
Grover Cleveland faced chants of
“Ma, Ma Where’s my Pa?” in the
1880s over rumors he’d fathered
an illegitimate child. Thomas Jef-
ferson and Andrew Jackson were
the subject of poems that leaned
into racist tropes and allegations
of bigamy.
“We have a sense of the dignity
of the office of president that has
consistently been violated to our
horror over the course of Amer-
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
47/55
Kennewick
49/52
St. Helens
49/53
TIllamook
40/52
41/54
49/54
48/53
Condon
TONIGHT
Baker City
2
2
MON
2
Clouds and sun
46 30
Eugene
0
1
1
45/54
50 34
46 31
46 36
2
1
2
42 28
43 37
0
2
5
7
TUESDAY EXTREMES
ALMANAC
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High Tuesday
Low Tuesday
High: 92°
Low: 5°
Wettest: 1.35”
56°
37°
57°
41°
57°
43°
Tuesday
Trace
Month to date
0.05
Normal month to date 0.04
Year to date
4.40
Normal year to date
7.52
Trace
0.09
0.12
8.49
13.70
0.06
0.06
0.15
18.57
19.18
PRECIPITATION (inches)
HAY INFORMATION FRIDAY
40%
SSE at 7 to 14 mph
0.5
0.07
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Wednesday)
N.A.
11% of capacity
12% of capacity
15% of capacity
5% of capacity
1% of capacity
High: 63°
Low: 34°
Wettest: 0.29”
Medford
Rome
Astoria
Until a cold wave on Nov. 4, 1991, sent
temperatures down to 3 below zero,
Minneapolis had never had subzero cold
so early. However, this city has endured
January mornings with temperatures of 40
below zero.
SUN & MOON
THU.
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
7:36 a.m.
5:35 p.m.
7:13 a.m.
5:42 p.m.
719 cfs
0 cfs
18 cfs
44 cfs
93 cfs
8 cfs
New
Nov 4
First
Nov 11
Full
Nov 19
46/57
FRI.
7:37 a.m.
5:34 p.m.
8:37 a.m.
6:14 p.m.
Last
Nov 27
Burns
Jordan Valley
Paisley
Frenchglen
39/59
City
Astoria
Bend
Boise
Brookings
Burns
Coos Bay
Corvallis
Council
Elgin
Eugene
Hermiston
Hood River
Imnaha
John Day
Joseph
Kennewick
Klamath Falls
Lakeview
Hi/Lo/W
55/46/r
52/40/r
62/48/pc
55/48/sh
55/36/r
55/47/sh
54/44/sh
56/42/c
54/38/sh
54/44/sh
57/42/c
52/42/sh
57/47/c
56/43/c
51/39/c
58/41/c
51/38/pc
52/36/c
Hi/Lo/W
51/44/r
46/33/sh
57/38/c
53/47/r
51/26/sh
52/44/r
51/41/r
51/37/sh
50/34/sh
53/40/r
60/36/sh
52/38/r
52/34/sh
54/40/sh
45/31/sh
59/40/c
46/27/pc
46/28/pc
Grand View
Arock
38/62
37/55
36/56
Klamath Falls
32/51
Lakeview
27/52
McDermitt
Shown is Friday’s weather. Temperatures are Thursday night’s lows and Friday’s highs.
SAT.
Diamond
35/57
Fields
42/53
FRI.
Boise
36/56
32/56
35/50
Medford
Brookings
36/60
41/62
45/56
51/55
Juntura
30/55
Silver Lake
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Ontario
39/60
29/52
33/54
RECREATION FORECAST FRIDAY
REGIONAL CITIES
MOON PHASES
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Tuesday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder
Burnt River near Unity
Umatilla River near Gibbon
Minam River at Minam
Powder River near Richland
OREGON
WEATHER HISTORY
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
Zapata, Texas
Burgess Junction, Wyo.
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
34/48
Roseburg
49/56
37/51
Beaver Marsh
49/55
Powers
Brothers
41/51
Coos Bay
Huntington
34/53
41/52
Oakridge
35/56
39/55
Seneca
Bend
Elkton
47/55
45 31
38/56
36/50
Council
32/53
John Day
36/53
Sisters
Florence
51/54
35/55
Baker City
Redmond
47/54
Comfort Index takes into account how the weather will feel based on a combination of factors. A rating of 10 feels
very comfortable while a rating of 0 feels very uncomfortable.
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
Newport
Halfway
Granite
33/49
43/50
48/54
Corvallis
37/56
45/54
47 26
4
34 55 40
Comfort Index™
SUN
Enterprise
34/55
40/53
Monument
38/50
Idanha
Salem
50 28
3
40 53 40
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
SAT
32 53 37
Comfort Index™
La Grande
FRI
A shower in the Cloudy, showers Showers around
afternoon
around
Elgin
34/54
La Grande
39/50
Maupin
Partly to mostly
cloudy
42/56
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
42/59
Hood River
41/58
48/55
Lewiston
Walla Walla
42/58
Vancouver
48/53
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
City
Lewiston
Longview
Meacham
Medford
Newport
Olympia
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Powers
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Spokane
The Dalles
Ukiah
Walla Walla
FRI.
SAT.
Hi/Lo/W
59/44/c
52/43/r
54/40/sh
53/46/sh
54/45/sh
53/39/r
60/45/c
58/40/c
58/42/c
54/45/sh
56/48/sh
53/37/c
57/47/sh
54/45/sh
52/36/r
54/40/c
54/40/c
56/42/r
Hi/Lo/W
53/38/sh
52/41/r
49/34/sh
54/39/r
51/44/r
49/39/r
59/37/c
57/39/c
53/38/sh
53/44/r
54/44/r
52/32/sh
53/42/r
52/43/r
48/35/sh
52/37/sh
48/32/sh
52/39/sh
Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice
ANTHONY LAKES
PHILLIPS LAKE
A bit of p.m. snow
Mostly cloudy
35
27
49
37
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
Showers around
Mostly cloudy
43
36
56
44
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
A bit of p.m. snow
Showers around
37
29
50
34
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
Cloudy
A shower
51
39
59
44
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
Mostly cloudy
A shower
53
37
53
40