The Primary Season

I can't avoid trying to say something about the political situation.

It certainly is upsetting to have to treat each election cycle as if it was going to be the last one we are ever going to have.  This escalating sense of departing normalcy is Trump's bequest to the adopted country of his grandfather, in which his family has bullied its way into fame and fortune---more fame than fortune, from all we hear.  Anyway, the Trumps were not the first, and won't be the last, to try their Robber Baron tricks in the USA; bigger crooks than they have roamed free on our prairies.

Anyway, what is our sanity worth?  Democrats and other folks are using up all their energy in getting upset over the state of the country; relax, kids.  When it is time for action, you're all going to be spent, and panting on the sidelines.

The ultimate effort for this election will be to get out the Democrat Vote.  The Democrat Vote has now been so spoiled that it will not come out unless Democrats come and knock on its doors, and issue a personal invitation for it to go to the polls!

Why should the Democrat Vote be any different from anybody else?  Have you noticed that people need to be absolutely forced to do anything that is good for them?

Almost 30 Democrats
Some people are anxious about the number of people running for President in the Democrat Party.  Calm down; if this is bad (which I'm not convinced of), then its too late to do anything about it.  Most of them are not accepting money from PACs (large groups of businesses and anonymous donors that give money to politicians), which is a good thing.  Most of the nominee wannabes are decent choices, though there are a few about whom we know almost nothing.  But it seems that the people we do know something about, such as Trump, should not be allowed into high office.  In these times, only notorious exhibitionists with no sense of restraint are known widely; the last thing we need is another Reality TV star in the White House, representing either party.

Many people consider this Primary Season as a sort of battle.  Women against men, gay against straight, fighters for Income Inequality against conservatives; those who want to attack the GOP versus those who want a return to civility; those who want to sacrifice the Environment to restore the Economy, and so on.  A lot of the candidates are single-issue people.  But, in the best of all possible Post Trumpian Dystopian Worlds, we should see this season as the one in which the Democrats forge the party platform.  If things go well, that platform will look a lot like The Green New Deal, even if it isn't exactly that.

Each candidate comes in with his or her own issues they want to bring to the campaign season.  Each of us---candidates included---have, unfortunately, the little bubble in which we live: the idea cloud that our reading and our friends create around us.  These things are important to us, but other things may be just as important, and possibly more important to the Democratic Voters.  The Primary Season is where each candidate should listen to the other candidates, and those poor fools who ask the questions, called the Moderators, and consider changing their issue cache.  (I was going to call it a quiver, but I couldn't remember the word.)

On one hand, if the candidates are unwilling to change their ideas about what is important to do in the next few years, then we have to conclude that they're inflexible, and will not listen to the people.  On the other hand, if they're too willing to change their minds about anything, they're open to the accusation of flip-flopping, which some media geniuses have made into a Thing.  They accused Kirsten Gillibrand of Flip-Flopping on Guns---she had initially said she was for guns, and later came out in favor of strongly controlling them, I believe.  Of all the silly things to accuse people about!

So listening to the Candidates Debates, as Paul Simon famously said, is going to be an important thing.  We must realize that there is at least one person in the White House who will be watching them carefully, with a view to dreaming up something cleverly disparaging, but of course he can't be too clever, or he will leave some of his fans behind. (Somehow, I had gotten the idea that the debates were this month.  Never mind . . . We'll get to hear the candidates over the course of the next few months.)

Impeachment
The major objection to Impeachment proceedings is that it will take time away from more fruitful legislation, if there is any that can be carried out without being vetoed by the White House.  Meanwhile, it will be close to impossible to have the Senate go along with the removal of Donald Trump, which is what follows a positive vote on impeachment.  So Impeachment will be a lot of fun, but will not result in anything.

Chipping In
If you're like me, you regularly get numerous appeals to Chip In a dollar or two, to get some candidate into the debates.  Remember, once you have chipped in, you should not be able to raise the count of small donors by chipping in again.  On the other hand, if they need more money, and if you have lots, you could always give them a little more, especially those candidates whose issues coincide with yours.

It might be a good idea to not respond to appeals in social media, and instead go to the websites of the candidates, and Chip In there.  I don't know whether Facebook, for instance, keeps track of the members who respond to fB ads, but if they do, you're going to be pestered beyond your tolerance.  Chances are, fB does keep track of those who respond to ads---including appeals---from within fB.  It's my impression that they keep track of everything.

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