The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning

The run-up to this Presidential election has been long. Fortunately or unfortunately my state, Colorado, has been pretty much ignored by the presidential candidates. I’m happy I don’t live in Pennsylvania or Michigan. Those people must be getting bombarded, especially if they are dutifully sheltering in place with the TV on.

We are becoming a society that doesn’t care about morality as long as they can check the “build a wall on the Mexican border” box . How many years have we been trying to solve immigration issues. 15? 20? Ronald Reagan granted amnesty to the illegals and boy were the other Republicans angry. It’s been over 30 years since that shocker and we have gotten nowhere.

We are a society where one party believes the government has a responsibility to the poor, the indigent, the mentally disturbed and those affected by Force Majeure, while the other party believes government was not formed as part of a welfare state and the downtrodden should look to their church and private welfare organizations for help. Can you believe that there were Republicans who voted “no” on aid to first responders in NY on 9/11?

There is no question that we should be recruiting immigrants who can help the United States, especially the ones that were educated here. The Congress is stalled on immigration and every other contentious issue. There are limited compromises, and the collegiality that once filled the House and Senate was destroyed by Newt Gingrich.

By the time the election is over the candidates are exhausted–not unexpected when the young guy in the race is 74– They can’t count on the younger generation for help. There really isn’t much in the platforms of the parties that gets a 20-year old excited. The Gen X kids don’t care because they never planned on getting social security or medicare. But soon enough they’ll be in charge and I’m sorry I won’t be around to watch how they manage the government.

About two months ago Biden had set the Demo-batmobile to cruise control, figuring that Trump’s antics finally caught up with him. What he didn’t count on was that Trump’s mastery of the lie that sounds like the truth. He’ll take a part of a sentence and make it sound exactly the opposite of what Biden meant if you listened to the whole sentence. The last guy who could keep his opponent off balance like that was Muhammed Ali

The Dems have have had a problem for decades. They believe the halos around their heads will propel them to victory. The Republicans aren’t having any of that. I mean, in 2016 they kept the story about a Democratic pedophilic pizzeria alive for months. They got Comey to send a torpedo that hit Hillary broadside.

Republicans  know how to attack like guerrillas. Biden, who is one of the most devout Catholics in government, gets pounded for a lack of morality and cheating deals with foreign governments, He has little to say except they are all lies. Instead of pushing the bullshit aside and emphasizing his programs, he just lets Trump keep winning the headline. Trump says Joe can’t finish a sentence, but will Joe punch back? No, he smiles and shakes his head. If instead he had put his left hand near his ear and made a couple of circular orbits while his right hand was pointing at Trump, now that would have convinced his backers he’s still got a little spirit.

If you had asked me two months ago, I’d have said Trump should start packing. But three days away from the election I think Trump has taken the lead. It’s unbelievable. Even some of the smart people I know have switched sides. They believe they will not have an economy that is favorable to making money if Biden wins.

I don’t know for sure how this will come out, but either way we are in trouble because we are not united. We do not have problem solvers and compromisers in charge of the House and Senate. And we have an unruly crowd getting angrier every day.

There’s one thing I do know. Almost nobody leaves politics with less money than they had at the beginning of their Congressional careers. I’d love to hear the theories on that outcome.

We have the potential for a dangerous future. China is amassing a newer and better army. Plus we still have North Korea, ISIS and Afghanistan to deal with. And don’t forget Russia. They may reap the benefit of the possible conflict between China and the U.S.A.

Is your guy in the White House up to the job? We’ll find out Tuesday.