The Screaming Moderate

Tied, for now

10/2/2024

The biggest word in presidential politics this year is also the smallest: Tie.

The polls nationally are tied. The battleground states are tied. Even the vice-presidential debate last night was “tied.” At least that’s what the pundits are calling it.

While Veep Debates haven’t ever made a big difference in presidential elections they sometimes have produced some memorable one liners (See Sen. Lloyd Bentsen’s "Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”).

No such memorable lines last night.

The “debate” is being described as Midwestern Nice because of the participants’ home states. They were (Gosh, Almighty!) civil to each other!

Gov. Tim Walz clearly was off at the beginning of the debate. He looked Midwestern Nervous from the git-go. The first question was on the day’s events in the Middle East. Clearly, this was a question that was gone over and over the day of the debate in preparation and responses were determined.

Still. Walz looked caught in the headlights by the question. It was not a good start, especially against an opponent who is a transplanted Midwesterner, Yale educated, a lawyer, and a U.S. senator with all of about two years of experience.

Walz began to hit stride when the questions moved to abortion. He was ready with specific examples and names of women who have (being Midwestern nice about it) suffered from the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Suffered meaning some have died because their health care choices were taken away.

Sen. J.D. Vance, Trump’s Chosen One, wasn’t the constant attack dog he’s been on the trail and has had lots of practice defending the impossible since his transformation from calling Trump Hitler to becoming his goose stepping dance partner.

Let’s just mention two lies he told: One, he said Trump “saved” Obamacare despite Trump’s constant efforts to repeal it and his lifetime grudge with the late Sen. John McCain over McCain’s thumbs down at one repeal vote.

Two, Vance said that Trump “peacefully gave over power on Jan. 20th.” Technically, he’s right that Trump left town and didn’t attend Biden’s inauguration. But Trump, to this minute, claims the 2020 election was “stolen” from him. And claims that if he loses, the 2024 election is premeditated larceny too.

Two comments about the moderators: Margaret Brennan, did her usual professional job. Nora O’Donnell (my least favorite news anchor) was her self-aggrandizing self when after each question she’d say to the candidate being asked, “I’ll give you two minutes,” when those were the rules. Two minutes for response, two minutes for rebuttal.

But I digress.

Not sure what the viewership was for the debate but I’m sure it dwindled as the debate went on which is too bad. Walz had his best minutes at the end when the topic turned to the riots of Jan. 6th and Walz turned to ask Vance if Trump lost the 2020 election.

True to lockstep form, Vance avoided the question and used his line about Trump’s peaceful exit of Washington two weeks later.

Walz responded, “America I think you’ve got a really clear choice of who’s going to honor democracy and who’s going to honor Donald Trump.”

And that’s not a tie.

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Debate analysis: A picture sums it up better than I can

9/11/2024

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Tonight's debate: Huge but expect small poll changes

9/10/2024

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Tonight’s first, and likely only debate, between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris will not move mountains in the various polls, which are still showing a very tight election.

But I don’t imagine either Trump or Harris expects, at this stage, to win in a landslide. The country is divided almost equally between Trump supporters and Harris voters, though just as clearly the polls have put Harris back into a “the Democrats really can win” posture since President Biden exited the race.

What to expect tonight? Good question!

No one really knows but I’ll make a few guesses (which means they were guesses if I’m wrong) and predictions (which mean I was proven correct).

While Trump's advisors are trying to protect him by arguing the microphones must be muted, Trump will not be mute. I mean, can he really?

So he likely still will be saying stupid, unfiltered things. It's just we, the TV audience may not hear him clearly.

But Harris will hear him. Her one-line comebacks in those situations will depend on whether they are heard in the context of something he just said. An unknown.

My guess is she will have a one-liner prepared for just such an occurrence when he is trying to talk over her.

Overall, Harris will be prepared, there is no doubt. That is what prosecutors do, they prepare. Trump will not be as prepared because that is what Trump, who believes he’s the smartest person on the room, does -- not prepare.

Who will “win” the debate? I think Harris will but remember that the goal is not to move tens of millions of voters. The vast majority of voters are not movable. They already are on one team or the other.

The target audience is those in the middle, where presidential elections are decided. And, if a significant number of those voters are moved by tonight’s debate, they’ll only show in the after-debate polls as small movement, maybe a couple of points.

Holding those couple of points over the remaining weeks of the campaign will be the key.

Trump needs to keep reminding people of how good they think the country was, economically and otherwise, while he was president.

Harris needs to keep telling people who she is and what she stands for because polls show she is still an unknown.

Pollster and political expert Frank Luntz said on TV today that Harris needs to stop saying her “values haven’t changed” because what the heck does that mean anyway? She does need, he said, to explain why she has changed positions, which she has, on things like fracking.

As Luntz said, as human beings we all change over time on many issues. Because we listen, we pay attention to others, and we change. That is what leaders do listen to people.

Trump doesn’t do any of those things. Harris should admit it and explain her flip-flops came from listening to other people, thinking and adapting her personal views. It will explain her position changes and reinforce that Trump doesn’t like to admit, ever, that he’s wrong about anything.

Anyway, pop your popcorn, prepare – no matter whose side you’re on – to yell at the TV set and prepare for no major change in the polls because no major change is coming, but small change – either way – is really what’s important after tonight.

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Harris changes the entire dynamic

8/17/2024

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With the Democratic Convention two days away, the election has been totally changed since Vice President Kamala Harris took over the top slot on the ticket.

Not that she’s a winner.

Yet.

This was always going to be a close election, until that horrible debate performance by President Biden. And Harris, now, has turned it back into a close election.

In May, for example, The New York Times/Siena poll showed former President Trump leading then-candidate Biden by 6 points in Arizona, 9 in Georgia and 13 in Nevada. With Biden bowing out and Harris taking over, the presidential race has returned to normal -- a dead heat in those states. At that rate, Trump might need to take Georgia, North Carolina and Arizona to win in November.

The electoral map has changed dramatically in just a matter of weeks. The Democrats' electoral options have expanded.

This is why Trump refers to the Harris-for-Biden switch-a-roo as a “coup.” He knows he’s in a race now, while before he was waltzing back to the Oval Office.

It’s a “coup” in his mind not against Biden, but against Trump. He, once again, is the victim, his preferred role in life. ("It's a witch hunt;" "It was a perfect phone call;" "I did nothing wrong!")

It’s not a waltz anymore. And Harris isn't dancing backwards. And he knows it.

And he needs someone to blame who isn’t named Donald J. Trump.

This is why Trump is having trouble finding attacks against Harris. He’s not playing against the same team. Harris’ team is more up on the intricacies of online battles; quicker to respond and take a position to answer in Tik Tok time when something happens. Faster with a quip. More eager to make light of Trump than to take him seriously.

His nicknames are not catching on like before.

Harris has brought a new vibe to the campaign. Big crowds are returning to hear her. Reactions are boisterous. Excitement has returned.

As her vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, put it, she put “joy” back in politics.

The money is pouring in.

Can she keep it up?

That’s the question.

The assumption is the convention will be successful for her, most of course are. Though this one has been rebuilt in less than a month, a huge endeavor. She has demonstrated the respect Joe Biden has earned as President.

Monday night of the convention is all about Joe. He deserves that, at minimum.

How much pulling out of the race hurt him personally can only be assumed. Assume it still hurts, a lot. But, he did it. He put country before self -- once again proving he is at least twice the person Trump is. Make that multiple times the person.

Trump couldn’t step aside or blame himself for anything. This is why he’s trying to find the attack target to misdirect any blame/responsibility from himself.

It’s what he does. It's what he's always done -- his entire phony life.

He’s having trouble landing a punch. It’s almost as if, besides from his strong base, the country is moving on from Trumpism and he can’t figure out how to stop it. He’s even trying the “she’s a Communist” approach.

Now it’s more about Kamala than Trump. (Side note: I was going to talk more about why we seem to use first names for female candidates – Hillary, Nancy – and last names for men but, nah. Kamala has become her “brand” as they say these days – more power to her. Young people especially respect that. And Trump reinforces it as he continues to intentionally mispronounce her name. Another out-of-date, childish tactic.)

Polls also are showing down-ticket contests (House, Senate) back to close races and that means Harris is being taken seriously. Remember, sage Nancy Pelosi was reacting largely because she saw the House totally slipping away from even possible Democratic takeover with Biden at the top of the ticket. That’s when she entered the game and gets big credit for Biden seeing the light, even though she has seriously damaged her decades old friendship with Biden. At least for now.

That’s putting country ahead of party and friends. It will take a long time for Biden to get over it but he will and realize she and he did the right thing.

Harris is polling above 50 percent in many districts where Democratic candidates were in trouble before her taking over the ticket. That puts many of those seats back in play for Democrats. If you don't believe that, ask a Republican House member in one of those districts for a candid observation (which may be an oxymoron in Republican language these days).

As old Democratic strategic genius James Carville said, Democrats have gone from a convention “sitting Shiva” to a joyful party with Kamala topping the ticket.

It ain’t over but it’s a contest again.

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It's on!

7/26/2024

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The Most Happy Felon vs Kamala.

The elderly, obese former President against the vibrant, young(er) Vice President.

The fight for how the country will be governed is definitely on and it didn’t take Kamala Harris long to redefine the contest.

Harris may be Donald J. Trump’s worst nightmare.

She will take a different approach to respond to his immature, childish attacks and Mamala isn’t bashful.

This should be a most interesting race whether it’s focused on policy or histrionics.

No opponent of Trump’s has taken him on, on (almost) his level.

Harris has shown through her online posts and speeches that she is ready for battle against The Donald. But on her level, not his.

Her opening salvo was spot-on:

Talking about the positions she’s held, she said: “…I took on perpetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So, hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type.”

Sums it up pretty well.

And par for the course for the former prosecutor who showed her wits and smarts when, from her perch on the Senate Judiciary Committee, she questioned Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court hearings (“Can you think of any laws that give the government the power to make decisions about the male body.” He couldn't.)

She takes complicated issues and, like a good prosecutor, whittles them down on the fly.

The Trump “nice guy image” that they said we’d see after an assassin’s bullet just missed killing him, didn't last 10 minutes. His convention speech started on a unity theme but that was done about five minutes into it.

He’s gone nasty already, trying on immature nicknames -- “Lyin’ Kamala,” “Laughin’ Kamala,” “lunatic,” “nasty,” each time intentionally mispronouncing her name to try to diminish her.

But it won’t work with Harris.

As she said, she knows his type and obviously knows how to handle him.

As Trump tried to hesitate about debating her, she tweeted “what happened to any time any place?”

She’ll be classy about it but she won’t flinch from it either.

Harris taking over the Democratic nomination for Joe Biden (in a display of patriotism for the annals) gives Trump a different kind of opponent. One he is struggling to figure out how to handle (he’s already saying there will be debates, but he wants them on Fox).

He may not figure it out. It worked against Hillary Clinton and it was working on a weakened Biden.

Harris is anything but weak.

That doesn’t make this a runaway though early polls are showing she’s catching up, early donations are mounting up, voters Trump was peeling from Biden are returning to the Democratic ledger.

This still, though, is a deeply divided country, especially when you decide the winner based on electoral votes.

But states that were out of play for Biden are falling back into play for Harris.

And she has grown in the job. She’s not the same woman she was four years ago. She’s been in the room, been part of big decision-making and doesn’t need Big Girl pants to take on Trump because she’s plenty big enough on her own.

In the Olympics spirit, then:

Let the Games Begin!

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Are we about to watch Trump pivot?

7/15/2024

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No one wants to see any politician assassinated. The way to defeat a politician is at the ballot box.

That’s what makes a democracy successful.

We came close this weekend. The bullet that grazed ex-President Donald Trump’s ear was a few inches shy of killing him.

That’s not the way to solve the political division in our country.

Assassination would only divide us more.

Both the reactions from Trump and President Biden are what we needed. The momentary agreement on messaging - unity - likely won’t last forever, or even, possibly, four days.

We just don’t know.

For those who dislike Trump, he is seen as a ‘me, me, me’ personality only out for himself. If that personality perception is true, he cannot change it overnight.

Though a near-miss assassination attempt could have its effect, on voters and most particularly on Trump.

For those who think Biden is old, that fact cannot be changed. It only grows by the day.

Another truth that we face that will not change is that this election will be decided by a slice of voters in a small number of states.

Those swing voters are up for grabs.

Here’s one theory: Trump learned in the weeks since Biden’s disastrous debate performance that he truly can gain ground by keeping his mouth shut.

Since he was wounded, he is experiencing a wave of sympathy, understandably, for his surviving the assassination attempt and having the instinct to raise his fist, mouthing ‘fight!’ In shock or not, that image shows strength versus Biden's perceived weakness/aging.

A picture that already lives in infamy.

Trump could continue gaining ground by going with that momentum, especially if Biden makes another significant or several less significant gaffes/showing his age, as he did in his national address last night. They probably were the typical effects of his life-long stutter problem, but they are perceived differently by many these days.

If Trump, who will ride a wave of sympathy for a bit, can maintain a pivot to a less verbose, mean-spirited guy – he may ride that wave to a win on Election Day.

How does Biden win? If Trump returns to form/character, Biden will have an opportunity.

Calls for Biden to suspend his campaign and make way for a new generation are on pause at the moment as the assassination attempt works its way through the political thought process on both sides.

But that won’t last long. Those who thought Biden was too old before Saturday, haven’t changed their minds since Saturday.

The aging process, hopefully, lasts a long time for each of us.

But the time to nominate a candidate to oppose Trump lessens every day.

If Biden makes room for a replacement, the race to November will be on again.

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'Should I stay or should I go?'

7/10/2024

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As President Joe Biden likes to say, “Folks, here’s the deal.”

His efforts at re-election are slumping, at best.

If you watched the national news last night, you would have thought the opposite. Congressmen who privately were saying Biden should withdraw, publicly are supporting him (he does have the delegates, after all, and it is his decision to stay or go). About a dozen Congressmen have said he should give up his race.

The powerful Congressional Black Caucus is supporting him. The Hispanic caucus leader is speaking positively about him.

The Senate is holding back its opinion, except for an outlier or two who say he should suspend his campaign.

The polls, talking heads and predictors are not good as positive. The respected Cook Political Report yesterday moved six states away from Biden and toward ex-President Donald J. Trump (Arizona, Georgia, Nevada went from Toss Up states to lean Republican. Minnesota, New Hampshire and Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District moved from Likely Democratic to Lean Democratic.

A Cook analyst said that Biden’s post-debate slip is the biggest polling shift of the year with Trump now leading Biden 47%-44% in their new national polling average. With Trump’s numbers where they are, at the moment, among Blacks and Latino voters – there is no plausible Democratic victory scenario, Cook’s analyst said. Not that Trump will win a majority of those voters, but he’s cut into the lead Biden had.

There are also reports that Biden support is slipping in Democratic reliable New York state! Biden won New York by 23 points last time.

Biden’s people are running a great one-week campaign to keep him on the ticket. They have rounded up the Black and Hispanic caucuses and even New York Cong. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez whose public support keeps others from going against Biden.

He is starring at this week’s NATO meeting and I have little doubt he’ll perform well and no NATO leaders are going to, in Biden’s home country, speak ill about him on the record. He asked for a week and he’s having a good week.

But it’s just a week.

At some point, assuming Biden’s faults are real, he will slip again and it will be major news. And probably again.

The major news, for those who don’t want to see Trump anywhere near the Oval again, needs to be on Trump, on his VP pick and on Project 2025, which Trump swears he never heard of, which is as believable as Biden not remembering if he watched a video of the debate.

Needless to say, we are in a very bad place in this country, where a convicted felon, a court-adjucated abuser of women, a pathological liar, a man who has said he is committed to revenge on his political enemies, a man reinforced by a Supreme Court who says he has vast immunity when President and in effect is above (most) laws, is favored to be elected to the presidency.

Sarah Matthews, a former Trump deputy press secretary, now an avowed anti-Trumper said on the news the other day that so many people, including Democrats, praised her for her very public stance against Trump, her bravery, etc., etc. But now, she said, Democratic leaders are behaving the same toward Biden – supporting him in the face of very serious issues - and not having the backbone to speak their true feelings.

She’s right. She’s also right in her conclusion that she would still vote for Biden if he were in a coma to keep Trump away for the powers of the presidency.

But there still is time for Biden to reconsider, and suspend his campaign.

The Democrats then can go the James Carville recommended way of a shortened primary with town halls of those who want the nomination to not just show the choices but to gin up voters about younger candidates and this country again.

Or, you can go the “go with the Vice President route” and nominate Kamala Harris who has grown in office, is a former prosecutor who I’d love to see debate Trump (who I believe would not debate her) and who appeals to the very voters Biden is leaking – Blacks, Hispanics, women.

There is still time to keep Trump out of office.

But the window is closing.

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With fear for our democracy, I dissent too

7/2/2024

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It may make sense to some people that the Founders, who wrote our Constitution before AR-15’s existed and before anyone thought a former President was a messiah, put our President above the law – but it makes no sense to me.

I know, I know “yeah, that’s not true.” But, well, common sense!

Besides, let’s just say ex-President Trump is elected again. Here is a chap who thought he could order assassinations of his enemies, who wanted a military parade in his honor, who admires and snuggles up to dictators and murderers – and that was before anyone thought the Supreme Court would open the door for that kind of behavior.

But open it, the court did.

Unfortunately, now the country is facing an election where one candidate is believed too old and lacking the capacity to be president and the other candidate is Donald Trump, who hasn’t met a Constitutional requirement he didn’t think he could ignore.

I mean, as soon as the court issued this opinion, his lawyers were asking the New York justice who oversaw the trial where he was convicted of 34 felonies – by a jury of his (whether he agrees or not) peers - to throw out the verdict. Please tell me how, when he was not even President, that makes sense? And now, though the District Attorney who prosecuted him still thinks he is a legitimate conviction, he’s agreed to delay sentencing while the Constitutional issue is looked at.

And I think (hope) that even this Supreme Court would agree if he made the payoff when he was President, he is not immune.

This is a man who, before the ruling, said he’d be a dictator only on day one (as if the President has that power) … now, it appears he may have that power?

(By the way, has anyone had as great a week in his life as Donald Trump is having?)

My friends who support Trump, I’m sorry. This ruling is crazy. No one is above the law in this country – but now maybe someone is?? How can that happen?

Put aside that it most directly will affect Trump if he’s elected. But all future presidents? Oh, by the way, it means it affects the current President right now. Let's see how Joe Biden handles his new powers.

It looks like we truly are facing a binary choice in November. And, neither is my favorite either.

But given someone who will (still) follow the Constitution and not think he’s above the law and someone itching to have the backing of the Supreme Court so he can be a dictator for more than Day One, I know who I’m voting for.

I have a friend when saw me comment after the court’s ruling, “does this mean Biden can call Justice and have Trump indicted,” responded, “he’s already done that.”

People, wake up. If you have an evidence that Biden ordered any one to indict Donald J. Trump, please show it to me – hell, I’ll vote for Trump if that’s the case! Just, show me the receipts as they say now.

Can we stop putting forward conspiracy theories – on both sides – and deal with, what did we used to call them? Oh yeah. FACTS.

Millions of voters already look at Trump as the Messiah, sent by God to save the country. Please. Wake up. If the Lord was going to send a messiah would He choose a man with the morals of a mongoose (no offense to mongooses).

The only redeeming value of the SCOTUS decision is that the lower court can hold a hearing where the evidence can be laid out against Trump so a determination can be made as to what is protected activity and what isn’t. Even there, Trump recorded a win as that hearing is delayed for 32 days because the court did not send its decision “forthwith,” which means the decision isn't an order until it gets to the lower court for 32 (now 31) days.

The judge overseeing the Jan. 6 case has, at every step, tried to expedite the case. So maybe – maybe – that hearing can be held before the election so voters an make their own determination on the evidence.

Evidence – not conspiracy theories.

As Kate Shaw in an op-ed in the New York Times said, the decision “jettisons the long-settled principle that presidents, like all others, are subject to the operation of law…It has removed a major check on the office of the presidency at the very moment when Mr. Trump is running for office on a promise to weaponize the government against those he views as enemies.”

Now, is even the Supreme Court a check on the presidency?

And no, my Trump supporting friends, Joe Biden didn’t order Trump’s prosecutions – show me the evidence. Please! Otherwise, STFU about that. I'm really tired of it.

As Justice Sonia Sotomayor said of the aptly named case “Trump vs the United States”:

“With fear for our democracy, I dissent.”

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The title match of the campaign

6/26/2024

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Whatcha doin’ tomorrow night?

Unless you’re on a streaming service only, about all you’ll find on TV is two older guys going at each other in what will be either a cage match suitable for WWE OR MMA or two older guys who have two very different views of what the United States is all about.

That main event will be the first of two scheduled debates between former President Donald J. Trump and President Joe Biden.

What should you look for? Trust me, no one can answer that question but many are trying. Heck, I’ll even take a shot:

Former President Donald J. Trump is teasing that he will have one of two strategies: Be nice, or be an attacking ass. OK, those weren’t his exact words but close.

Honestly, I have never witnessed Trump having the discipline to be nice for 90 minutes – especially if he’s on stage with an opponent. Need proof? Re-watch any debate he’s been in since 2016, whether in a primary or in a general election.

Do you expect him to just lay back and be the charming Trump that whose who’ve been in his private company say he can be? I just can’t imagine.

Fact is, it’s his nature, when he sees someone who wants to beat him at anything, to attack. Then he attacks more. “Little Marco.” “Crooked Hillary.” “Crooked Joe.” OK, sometimes he’s repeats himself (OK, he often repeats himself) but if it worked once, he figures it’ll work again. Reruns are fine. Him winning is all that matters.

All attacks are fair -- immature or not.

But, he does need to attract new voters from four years ago if he wants to win in November. His core base is there, no matter what. They have proven they are his ride or die. And they love seeing the out-of-control Trump. Absolutely love it.

They will cheer every false allegation he makes, every remark he utters that makes fun of President Joe Biden, every swear word he can sneak in.

Will we hear the word “bullshit?” Who knows? Stay tuned!

There won’t be an audience so you won’t see its reaction in real time. So Trump will be missing that energy he feeds off so well.

And even though he has slightly led in most polls through the year, everyone agrees this will be a close race.

Truth is, what happens tomorrow night likely won’t be the deciding factor because there is so much time between then and the real voting. Wars, disease, natural crises, gaffes in the campaign, a candidate health event – all that can happen so what’s a debate in June really mean?

Well, it can set a tone for the campaign. Biden needs to get through it without making what can be made into an “elderly mistake” or show signs of being tired at 9:30 Eastern Time (like many of us his junior). He’s a decades-old politician, though, and that makes him dangerous. He lives for political moments.

Trump needs something to add to his votes, something he’s been unable to do so far.

He won’t do this, but what if, for example, he announced, in the middle of the debate, who his vice-presidential running mate will be? That definitely could be the news of the night – and at a forum millions are watching. He’d only do that if his choice will bring in new Trump voters, or at least he thinks it will.

For example, if in Trump’s calculations he thinks South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, an African-American, can help him suck more black voters from Biden, he could name him.

Or if New York Cong. Elise Stefanik, in his mind, can suck some suburban women his way. But, as was pointed out in a New York Times discussion among its columnists the other day, Stefanik is not exactly Trump's vision of the perfect female running mate. Gov. Kristi Nome may have been but she shot herself in her dog.

Trump, as you may have noticed, goes for the dramatic and for the cameras. So, he may try that tactic.

Or, he may be more focused on trying to maneuver Biden into a reaction that will give viewers the reinforcement they need to decide Biden’s just too old for the job.

Then again, there’s always the economy. Biden’s economy is perceived as (and is, in some cases) not good for the working person. They see no reductions in their costs of living, including food, gas and inflation. Biden has a decent story to tell on those counts but not one accepted by the average working person. So the guess is he won't go down that road precisely.

And, if you read memes being put on social media by Trump supporters you will see even higher inflation and costs being touted because they are not being honest (when the honest story would be enough to make their point).

The morning of the debate alone new numbers will be announced for initial jobless claims, GDP’s second revision, durable goods orders and pending home sales. If any one, or more, of those numbers is bad for the Biden Administration, Trump likely will raise them as up-to=date evidence of a “reeling economy.”

Biden, on the other hand, will be looking for opportunities to bring out the Mad Man in Trump. Something to get under his skin that will cause him to react in a way detrimental to attracting swing voters who will probably decide this election.

Biden will be attacking on things like abortion rights, where Trump gets the credit for appointing the U.S. Supreme Court justices who killed Roe v. Wade. Trump will argue that decision to provide that right belongs with the states as the upheaval of Roe determined -- but it still is a removal of a 50-year old right American women had.

We know where each candidate stands, pretty much, on the issues. What we don't know is what strategy they'll use Thursday night.

One thing for sure, if you care about politics and and country, it won’t be boring.

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As the Beatles sang, 'When I'm 64, uh, 74'

6/7/2024

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Ever watch TV and a story comes on that says, for example, Neil Sedaka is 85 this year and you go, man, is he getting old?!

Then, a second later it hits you: I’m 74, he’s not much older than I am (and never was).

Did you notice, by the way, that Paul McCartney will be 81 in a few days? I mean, well, you know. "When I'm 84" wouldn't have been such a good song for Baby Boomers. Back then, anyway. Today, it probably would work.

Sports heroes of my youth are dying: UCLA/NBA star and weird but lovable Bill Walton; Mr. Oakland Raider Jim Otto; golfer/announcer Peter Oosterhuis; quarterback Roman Gabriel. I mean, what the heck? Today, I couldn’t tell you who the L. A, Rams quarterback is, Gabriel I knew.

The majority of baby boomers, we never knew our great-grandparents. Hell, we didn’t even know the names of our ancestors going back maybe one or two generations.

Today, the average age of great-grandparents is 75. I became a great-grandfather for the second time before I was 73. OK 0K, that’s a function of, as with many in my generation, an early marriage resulting in having kids when I was young, and my kids having kids when they were even younger. Plus, medical research is helping us all live longer. Not that I'm old (before you say it).

But, give me this one, I’m the father of a grandmother? WT-. A beautiful and young looking grandmother, of course (she sometimes reads these posts. Kidding, she is beautiful and young).

Anyway, that’s all distraction and deflection to hide the fact that, today:

I turn 74 years old.

Not a milestone milestone like 70 or 80 but a milestone for me because it’s the oldest I’ve ever been. Well, until tomorrow when I’ll achieve a new milestone.

I have the similar issues of other folks my vintage:

Driving after dark is nigh impossible;
Using words like “nigh” is more frequent;
Driving two hours each way to visit family or friend now is, minimum, an overnight stay, maybe two;
Staying awake past 9:30 is akin to pulling all-nighters when I was in college;
Using outdated words like akin is more common.

My childhood punishments, as a great philosopher once said, are now my adult goals:

Not leaving my house
Not going to a party
Going to bed early

Plus, now, when I look around for the adult in the room because we need his or her wisdom, I’m the adult in the room! (I fake it, which they probably did, too.)

Oh, and I’m suffering from lower back pain as we speak. I tell everyone, I mean everyone, from friends to medical professionals, that it happened this spring because I started playing golf again and my powerful golf back-swing caused a muscle strain. And, to a person, they laugh (a benefit: old folks are funny even if they aren't trying to be, I'm learning).

As another anonymous philosopher once said, “I don’t do alcohol anymore, I get the same effect just standing up fast.”

But, I’ll end the pity party. Truth is, I have little to complain about compared to others who are my age or any age, in fact. I’m a very happy camper. Life is good. Health is better than it probably should be.

And, as Steven Wright once said:

“I intend to live forever,

So far, so good.”

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