I give. Please. Is this election over yet? I can’t take any more. This election season seems longer than ever, like the endless engagement of a girlfriend who can’t stop talking about the minutiae of her wedding. “My colors are going to be teal and ivory!” “I think wisteria is better than baby’s breath, don’t you?” “My dress is sleeveless and has a V-neck.” “I can’t book the church I want. What am I going to do?” “I’m thinking of having three different entrees for dinner. Is that too many?” “Should we have a free ba–where are you going?” The last said as I flee the room, screaming, pulling my hair out at the same time. I am not a big fan of weddings, and I don’t understand why women get so wrapped up in planning them, but they’re still infinitely preferable to this election season.
The third and last? (god, I hope it’s the last. Please?) debate is tonight. I’m not watching because there’s nothing Trump could say that would change my mind. More to the point, listening to him talk does weird things to my brain. I know this sounds bizarre, but any time he starts talking, my brain starts sliding out of place as it tries to decipher what he’s trying to say. He speaks with such confidence, but his words are pure gibberish. My brain simply cannot comprehend what he’s trying to say, and it cries every time he skips from one topic to another without realizing that he’s not making any fucking sense. To put it plainly, he freaks my brain out. There have been a few other politicians who have done so, such as Sarah Palin.
Speaking of Palin, she was one of Trump’s guests at the debate tonight. Why? Who the hell knows. Clinton was supposed to be shaken by the appearance of her because….um….I got nothing. Even though it was cruel, at least Trump bringing in Bill’s accusers made some twisted sense. But, Palin? She has nothing to do with Clinton at all. Clinton has eaten Palins for lunch for the last twenty years. I’m sure seeing Palin in the audience didn’t matter to Clinton a whit. I think it’s because Trump was so rattled by Mark Cuban being in the audience that he thought it would work on Clinton, too. That’s one of the things about Trump that should be evidently clear to everyone by now. He’s a raging narcissist and believes that he’s the standard for everything. If he thinks something, then others must think it, too. If he feels something, then so must everyone else. Therefore, if he was upset by Mark Cuban being in the audience*, then Clinton should be upset by her detractors in the audience, too. It makes some kind of cunning sense, but Clinton is a consummate pro. She’s been dealing with detractors for all of her damn life, and she’s not about to be rattled by them now.
Anyway, yeah, I’m done with this engagement. I want the wedding to be over right now. The thing is, though, I feel as if many people are focusing on the election to the point of exclusion. What I mean is that the election is the start, not the end. If Clinton is elected, we liberals have to hold her accountable for her policies. I am not a passionate supporter of Clinton, and part of the reason is because she’s more moderate than I am. I’m a raging lefty, and if I had my way, we’d have single-payer healthcare, a minimum wage of $15 an hour, capped CEO pay, and a slew of other progressive ideals that will never be part of the mainstream society. ENDA would be a priority of mine, as would cutting a shitton of money to our armed forces. Yes, I support the troops, but I don’t support giving them billions of dollars that they themselves have said they neither want nor need.
Speaking of our armed forces, Clinton is too hawkish for me when it comes to foreign policy. In my uneducated opinion, she’s trying to prove that she’s a bigger badass than the boys, and she’ll kill people harder and faster than they would. She’s also a bit too pro-Israel for my taste, but that’s not unusual for American presidential candidates. I also have a huge problem with Bill Clinton as I’ve said a million times before, and I don’t want him anywhere near the White House. As I’ve also said, he can make vegan cookies and tend to the garden, but stay out of politics, Bill. Also, keep your hands to yourself. I really hate that he’s been given a free pass by some liberals for being a sexual predator. The fact that Hillary has stayed with him does make me question her judgment. I’m guessing that they have some kind of agreement about extracurricular activity, and while I may not agree with it, I can respect it to a certain extent. But, I don’t respect Bill at all. In fact, I loathe him. He’s a big reason I can’t fully support Hillary, but she’s definitely better than Trump.
It angers me that I have to say that, that we have to pretend that Trump is anything other than a clown. He should either be in a circus or on the corner of the street, shouting impotently at passersby. I cannot convey the depth of my content for him, and it’s an anathema to me that a sizable portion of American society actually believes he’ll be a good president. The best! YUGE! Argh! My fantasy is that once the election is over, we’ll never have to hear another damn thing about Trump again. He’ll crawl back from whence he came, and he’ll be nothing more than a memory.
I wish. It won’t happen, though. He’s already making noises about not accepting the election results. He and his surrogates are saying the only way Clinton can win is if the election i s rigged.** They’re warning of bloodshed, which is making me incredibly nervous. Beyond that, however, is the fact that I don’t think Trump ever really wanted to be president. Wait. That’s not exactly right. He wants the title and the glory that comes with it, but he doesn’t actually want the job. Being president is hard work, and it’s relatively low-paying. It’s restrictive in that you’re always surrounded by people, including Secret Service. You’re on a very short leash. You have handlers. Your every word, thought, and movement is scrutinized. If he’s freaking out about the media coverage now, which has been VERY soft until the last few weeks, might I say, then he won’t like what happens if he actually managed to become president and destroy the world. He’s always been a blithering idiot, but it’s amazing how quickly he’s deteriorating in front of our very eyes. His id is all over the place, and he’s flailing as if he’s drowning in an ocean with no life preserver in sight.
I think he knows in his heart of his heart that he’s losing. I think that’s what’s making him so nasty. He’s not used to losing, even though he should be, and the fact that it’s on such a national platform has got to be killing him. All these people saying such awful things about him! He probably wakes up cursing every day. I feel bad for the people around him, except most of them voluntarily put up with him. Why? Who knows. Some of them do it because they love him (i.e., his kids) or more likely, want him to love them, and others because he pays them. I have a hard time believing that anyone would voluntarily hang out with him except other raging narcissistic assholes who are carbon copies of himself. Or, conversely, toadies who think rubbing against ‘power’ transfers it to themselves. But he’s such a loathsome man, I can’t imagine that anyone likes him for himself. Then again, I’m sure some people would say the same about me, so there’s that.
Another point, the presidential election is not the only important election this season. One of the problems PBO had was the recalcitrant Republican Congress. Just yesterday, Senator McCain vowed that the Republicans would block any SCOTUS nomination a President Clinton would make. Given that they still have a block on Merrick Garland, I don’t think he’s kidding. I rolled my eyes when I read that, however, because McCain is in a close fight for his seat, and he was definitely trying to placate the crazies that he’s right-wing enough for them. He walked it back today, somewhat, after a huge outcry. His spokesperson said that of course he would consider any nominee, but Clinton’s values were not in line with his. Or some such bullshit. I had to shake my head because the Republicans haven’t learned a goddamn thing. Eight years of obstruction has gotten them Trump, and their response is to double down? I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. Slightly. Not that they’re venial and dumbass, but because they don’t seem interested in self-preservation. At least, some of them.
It looks like we’re going to take back the Senate (cross fingers), and if we can take the House as well, then we’ll have two years to get some serious shit done. No matter what the media says, if we have all three houses, then we have a fucking mandate, damn it. One thing Democrats are bad at is seizing the momentum when we have it. That’s our shortcoming when it comes to learning. We’re too timid, and they’re too bold. I’m not one for going all-in all the time, but once in a while, it’s not a bad thing. As I said earlier, I want a viable Republican Party. Barring that, I want the current iteration pounded into the ground until they beg for mercy. If we have all three houses, then I want us to wring concessions out of the Republicans, once after the other. This is not the time for mercy, not after the bullshit they put us through with their bullshit candidate. Who is utter bullshit. Did I mention that he’s bullshit?
My point is, we need more than President Clinton. We need a Senate and a House to back her up. In addition, please pay attention to your local elections as well. They have more direct impact on you than does the presidential election. What I do is take an hour or two the night before the election and read up on my local candidates. It can be difficult to discern the party affiliation of judges because ostensibly, they’re supposed to be neutral, but with a little digging, you should be able to figure it out. If the candidate talks about bloated government spending/less government, family values, etc., the person is probably a Republican. If the candidate talks about community responsibility, looking out for the most vulnerable among us, and economic parity, then chances are the person is a Democrat. I make sure I have all the names I want to vote for firmly in my mind when I go to vote.
I’ll end by saying that even though Clinton is not my candidate, I know I’ll feel a healthy amount of pride when I put an X by her name*** because for the first time, I’ll be voting for a woman in a presidential candidate. Not just any woman, but a woman who’s brilliant, extremely competent, experienced, and who’ll be a good president. How good she will be remains to be seen, but one thing I can say for certain is that she’ll be stratospheres better than Trump could ever dream of being. You can count on that.
*Mark Cuban has been trolling Trump hard on Twitter.
**As I said yesterday, this is nearly impossible. But, OK, Donald. You do you.
***We still do it old-school in my ‘hood.