WINTON – It has been an indifferent couple of weeks. For the first time in the history of our country, a former President of the United States has been convicted of some serious crimes. For the 80th time since the infamous event occurred, D-Day was observed here in the U.S. and Europe as well. 

I’ve seen D-Day commemorations in the past but for some reason, this time, the total solemnity of the day hit me quite differently. Perhaps it was due to the seriousness of the narrator as he outlined that day that was so fatal and final to so many. Their ultimate sacrifice for country without equal.

I was born not too long after WWII ended and I am compelled to say that it was still a front-of-mind topic for many as I grew up. In my hometown, we lived in the Jewish neighborhood of the city, and half of my classmates were of the Hebrew faith. 

One of my classmate’s mothers had been interred at a Nazi concentration camp as a young girl. I grew up acquiring an intense knowledge of the insanely macabre things humans do to other humans in times of war. 

To this day, when I see stories or documentaries about the horrors of the concentration camps, I shiver and cringe at the thought of what took place within them. It isn’t a knowledge I enjoy, but it has helped shape my worldview. 

And yet, as anti-war and standing for peace as I have become as I’ve aged, I developed an understanding of why some world events came to be and how. The more I learned, the more objective I tried to be. I’ve purposefully worked at being less emotional in the past several years, whether the topic involved sports or politics. At the least, it probably keeps my blood pressure at a normal range. 

I would eventually learn as a young man that my generation may have been the most indoctrinated and conditioned of them all. We would hear more than frequently that “the United States is the best country in the world.” “We have the least corrupt government of any.” 

There may have been a time when those statements had at least some truth to them. But I had to recall that I’d been to other places in the world that appeared to have a better standard of living than we have here. I’ve been to other countries that had “smart and intelligent” governments, not psychotic, dysfunctional ones as we currently have in place. 

And then, I had to consider that our Founding Fathers came here to escape the rule of King George III, so they could set up their own fiefdom, complete with George-like rules that favored those of means like themselves. That continues forth today to the point that oligarchic power and its money are in total control of everything in this country.   

But the basic framework of our government remains, as imperfect and as corrupted as it might be at this point. I’ve tried to view events and people from as many angles as possible. 

When it comes to political decisions involving legislation, if an issue wasn’t decided in the manner I preferred, I thought it through and accepted it. That was something I really had to work on. I knew that if enough people felt as I did it could be challenged or changed via new legislation. 

For sports? There were no “instant replays” when I was a young fan. If the refs goofed up, it had to be accepted. Today we have instant replays, challenges and mini-court reviews right on the fields of play. 

For a variety of reasons, the pro sports leagues began attempting to get these matters right. I’d like to think that is based solely on integrity. Maybe it is, maybe not. Maybe it’s to keep addicted sports gamblers from strangling one another. 

Our system of justice can be in these same situations at times. Allow me to state here first, that I’m not a fan of President Biden or former President Trump. 

Of course, I dislike one much more than the other. I am also not a fan of the GOP or DEM parties. They are one and the same from my view. The duopoly that is destroying the country with their political nonsense is sadly, alive and well. 

The Founding Fathers warned against the perils of political parties and they were right. They felt they would never resolve our many issues and we’d be broken into political factions. I often ponder if they are necessary myself. I’d bet we could fashion a system of doing the country’s business without them. 

And now we have a megalomaniac in our midst who wants to regain the office he lost in 2020. What to do? 

My collie would be a better President than Don. As for Joe, he mostly serves the oligarchs and the war machine. That’s not to say he hasn’t done some worthy things for the working class, but they are mostly tokens compared to the largesse our government rains down upon the elites. 

And we are all too aware of the absolute and total chaos and criminality that is Trump. This guy is a psychopathic version of Linus from the Peanuts cartoon strip, except instead of dust coming out of Don’s blanky, all that comes out is negativity, dysfunction, whining, grievance and more. I don’t have to review the list for you. We are all too familiar with this toddlers’ schtick. 

 It seems that not many citizens do any candidate research anymore and largely make important political decisions based on whether someone is “red” or “blue.” 

That hasn’t turned out well has it? 

The first question I ask when considering a candidate is, why do you want to be in office? Do you want to serve the country and its people or do you want to serve yourself? I’ll look you in the eye while you reply and I’ll know immediately if you are lying. 

In 2016 I think even Don was surprised he won and then he ran with it to his own benefit. In 2020 he wanted to perpetuate his conman grift game on us. This time around he wants to give himself a get-out-of-prison card and restart his theft of the people’s treasure. Does the Secret Service need hotel rooms when I golf? That’ll be triple the usual rate for you taxpayers! 

Oh, and apparently he plans to spend a lot of time seeking revenge on anyone who dares question his behaviors. This boorish dolt’s character flaws are infinite. 

Our local guy, Mr. Pete Stauber endorsed Captain Nutcase back in January! So Representative Stauber, do you want to serve the country and its citizens, or did you realize what a gravy train DC is and you decided you want to stay on board and make bank? 

Today’s GOP and MAGA are political terrorists. And Donny is now a convicted felon. 

How stable is your judgment Pete? Where is your integrity? 

Yes, the DEMs are no cup of tea. The GOP is a solid cup of manure. They wish to mold it into a disc and make you take a big bite. 

Who to vote for? Of 330 million people all we can come up with for candidates is these two clowns?

Yikes! PEACE