It is two weeks before the 2018 mid-term elections. The airwaves are filled with feel good messages from candidates who also approve mud slinging ads aimed at their opponents. The guy had a DUI and a few parking tickets and now he is a criminal. The guy was a volunteer on a board of directors and some woman accused an employee of sexual harassment and now he’s being accused of ignoring it. The woman’s husband held stock in a drug company and now they are shown drinking champagne on a beach in Bermuda. The candidate supports single payer health care and now he’s for a government takeover of health care, which will raise your taxes by billions and not allow you to see the doctor of your choice. The candidate wants you to be able to by skinny health plans that won’t cover pre-existing conditions. And on and on.
The president is holding campaign rallies in red states ginning up his base. He says the election is about him, but if there is a blue wave and the Democrats take over the House, it is not his fault. He was in Texas for a rally supporting Ted Cruz, who used to be “lyin’ Ted”, now “beautiful Ted”. He says that Republicans are for jobs, and the Democrats are for mobs, although much of the middle class has yet to see the benefit of his tax cuts, which have yet to trickle down. Speaking of tax cuts, he says there will be another that benefit the middle class before November. How this will work when Congress is in recess until after the election no one knows.
A journalist was tortured and murdered in Turkey, with all arrows pointing to a hit job ordered by the Saudi Prince. Now they say it was the result of a fist fight that went wrong. How he would prevail over fifteen operatives if it was as fist fight is remarkable. And what about the doctor with the bone saw? Where are the remains? The prez is reluctant to finger the Saudis because they buy a lot of arms from American arms manufactures. He says the deal supports a million jobs, even thought the White House web site states tens of thousands. He’s waiting for more evidence. We all know the prez has a penchant for evidence.
It is rumored that the White House will be putting out an edict that says your gender is what genitalia you are born with, thus negating anyone who is trans-gendered. Sex change operations would in effect transform people into non-persons. A win for the extreme right wing.
Still, the president’s approval rating has increased. He’s playing the 2016 card by asserting that Democrats want open borders and want to let criminals in to steal your job, bring drugs, and rape your daughters. He points to the Central Americans at the Southern Mexican boarder, “the caravan”, coming North the invade the U.S. He asserts that they are made up of gang members and ISIS middle-easterners. He has no evidence. From what I’ve seen they are desperate people trying to escape poverty and violence, many women and children. They are a thousand miles away from the U.S. now. Maybe they’ll get to the U.S. border, maybe they won’t. Trump wants to declare a national emergency and send in the military, even though the law prohibits such action. He doesn’t have to do it, just say it, to put the scare into people and gin up his base. Besides, it’s the Democrat’s fault.
Tonight there is a Power Ball drawing for well over a billion dollars. People are in a fever fantasizing about what they would do with all that cash. Maybe build hotels and slap their names on the front? Anyway, yes, I bought a ticket. I am fantasizing about how I won’t have to enter the witness protection program when I don’t win.
The election is two weeks away. Everyone is juiced about it. As Trump is fond of saying: “We’ll see what happens.”
Bad Randall 