No Good Choices

I’ve made no secret of my independent political leanings in recent years. Over the course of my life I’ve held views that were alternatively considered quite liberal, quite conservative and idealistically libertarian. I’ve voted for democrats, voted for republicans, voted libertarian and voted independent. The longer I live, the more frustrated I am with candidates put forward by any of the major parties.

In 2016 the republicans had an impressive field of primary candidates for president. There were successful businessmen and women, constitutional experts and a diverse group of capable candidates from which the game show host was selected. I left the GOP in disgust.

In 2020 the democrats put up an impressive field of professionals from the worlds of business, tech and academia. There were some truly interesting ideas put forth from people such as Andrew Yang and Tulsi Gabbard. They chose a poor old man in fading mental and physical health to act as a meat puppet for the radical socialist wing of the party. Reprehensible.

Other options in the upcoming election include (in some states) a super-rich, born-again rapper who has a bipolar disorder, and a sincere libertarian who holds some extreme ideas concerning drug legalization and the justice system.

While interesting on many levels, we will be safe in concluding that neither Kanye West nor Jo Jorgensen have the support needed to become the next president. That leaves those of us who intend to vote a choice between two deeply flawed straight white guys in their 70s at a time many Americans were hoping for better options.

President Trump is a loud, self-obsessed teenager in an old man’s body with a Twitter account and no filter. He’s profane, loose at times with the facts, and has not been a good example of marital fidelity. He has a short attention span, burns bridges with anyone who crosses him, and watches way too much TV. If he loses, bet money he’ll start up his own media empire to carry his TV show, radio talk show and podcast. The man hates not being in the limelight.

I pity Joe Biden. Dementia is taking its toll. I know the signs. Alzheimer’s disease killed my mother. The poor man is being used as a place holder by the real power-players in the Democrat Party – The Squad, Bernie Sanders, and their socialist big-money supporters lurking in the shadows just off stage. It’s immoral that no one is screaming elder abuse on the left. But even if he wasn’t in declining health, Biden’s history of dishonesty, corruption, policy failures, racism, and very disturbing touching and invasion of women’s personal spaces disqualifies him from consideration by many. If he loses, he’ll fade into obscurity. If he wins, Kamala Harris will be president before the end of his first term (my prediction).

Those are the choices, my friends, and we have less than two weeks to decide which of them will lead the free world. It’s time for each of us to determine in our own minds who we think is the person America needs to pull us out of a disastrous 2020. Choose wisely.