Good Morning! Good Morning! Serious political post today.
Election's coming up. While I have tried to keep my FB page less political, and just enjoy my time here, I'm breaking that for a moment.
Here in New York we have a choice between Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, and Lee Zeldin, a Republican, and it's going to be close. Having thought it through, my plan is to vote for Hochul. (At least Cuomo is off the ballot.)
While I have voted for Republicans for high office in New York in the past, and often have complained about the direction that NY Democrats (condescending bunch of Manhattanites) have taken the state, many say that to a large extent this election is a referendum on who do you prefer, Trump or Biden.
As for Trump, while I admit it can be a great deal of fun to start each day with seeing what outrageous lies or crazy misinterpretations of reality he is making each day even years after he's out of office, and it is kind of entertaining to see if this ersatz comic-book super villain sort of corrupt billionaire, man-child can get away with his endless series of charges for tax fraud, sexual assault, election fraud, attempted overthrow of the US government, and even theft of atomic secrets from the federal government, no less, it is really not a healthy thing for a past or former or, God forbid, future, political figure to be constantly doing.
And then there's the endless parade of perversities from the "mini-Trumps," Boebert, Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who seem to have watched and learned and modelled themselves after the Trump style of politics. (Including being over-represented on the list of accused or convicted sex offenders, a la Boebert's husband and Gaetz). The crazy attention getting lies, the flirtation or outright venturing into racist or anti-Semitic statements, the sheer blatant transformation of elected figures who were once supposed to be respectable into something more akin to a classic late 1970s Punk Rock Star. ("Wow!!" their fans cry. "They are so naughty and outrageous! I admire that and wish I could act like them. Alas, I'd lose my job and get arrested but in the mean time I am going to (buy all their albums and tickets to their show) or (vote for them and follow them on twitter and YouTube).")
Obviously, these people are not Lee Zeldin, but they are people who he has accepted as colleagues and shown a willingness to embrace as part of the system. And, at this point, that's just too much for me.
As for Biden, I like what he's done and continues to do. Obviously not the most dynamic President, I concede he's past his prime, but he knows how to get things done. During the early days of the election process, I watched him on stage in the early debates, hesitating on words, looking unsteady, being attacked by seven other well spoken intelligent people each of whom dreamed of being President.
"Why in the world did the Democrats choose this guy?" I asked.
Approximately a week later, I watched as all seven of them without public display of any kind, were suddently announcing their support for Biden. Wow! This guy and his team know how to make deals and build coalitions and that's what this country needs now.
And he did inherit a mismanaged nation with a record high budget deficit, a foreign policy that was in complete disarray, a mismanaged pandemic, and a badly divided country that had just gone through an attempted coup, not to mention the usual, long term problems of aging infrastructure, a shifting economy, a shifting media structure, and more. And things do seem to be getting better for the USA around the world, despite serious challenges.
Thefore, when Tuesday comes, I will vote for Kathy Hochul. I hope that in four years, I am able in good conscience to vote for a Republican if a good one comes along and runs for governor, but at this time, I cannot do that. The stakes are too high.
(I do fully admit that Donald Trump is an amazing man who has an instinctive understanding of how fame and information work in the early 21st Century that few others have. He is a fascinating figure and historians will find the next few years to be a subject of endless study.)
Please consider reading or buying my book on Trump.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08K7N5KBV/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1
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