When push comes to shove, it’s fairly easy to start thinking conspiracy theory in a variety of situations. For example, are polls to be believed? How can the race for POTUS be so close? How can there not be a clear majority of poll respondents who believe Kamala Harris to be the better candidate? That the race is STILL a statistical tie is beyond mind-blowing. It makes one think that even if Trump follows through on his old claim about shooting someone in the middle of 5^th Avenue—and let’s add some press on hand to cover it!—the polls will remain the same.

I guess it depends on which networks we watch, who we listen to. If we’re always in our own little bubbles, our own little universes, then not much else gets in, right? Still, one might dare think that, merely based on what’s visible– a side-by-side comparison– there is no contest between a tenacious, bright former prosecutor and a 78-year old felon with serious psychological issues and the personality of a cake-eating, clueless, self-involved and delusional liar.

Harris has the capacity for getting up to speed, if she isn’t already. Trump doesn’t really want the job, except as a shelter from the myriad storms swirling around him.

Follow-up to yesterday’s post—even Fox News thought Trump did a lousy job at the debate. Yet Sean Hannity sits there with him in a post-debate interview and listens calmly while the Donald makes claims that he won the thing in a landslide.

According to his brand of convoluted logic, Trump has apparently said there will be no more debates with Kamala, because he won this one so handily, and she wants another one only because that’s what losers do. He’s gonna do his best to convince his supporters that this is so. And apparently many will believe him?

So, no need for another debate. That’s his story and he’s sticking to it, like he always does.

Why do Hannity and the rest still make the effort to humor him? By now, even they must be thinking Trump is a national embarrassment.

A layman’s perspective on the Russian-Ukrainian war might lean toward a questioning of the wisdom of giving a green light to Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles. It’s like we’re watching the inevitable expansion of a conflict that will eventually draw in the rest of the world, and, before that, cause Vladimir Putin to do something irrational and shocking that will precipitate that expansion.

Why is war so often the default? Just bludgeon our way through life, I guess. Hell of a thing.

Different lives, different experiences, vastly varying perspectives. Maybe it’s impossible for all of us to be on the same page.

We are a dysfunctional lot. Are we capable of being better?

Who won the debate? The significance of that question is debatable.

In a perfect world, maybe the winners were those who tuned in– because the candidates took it seriously and answered the questions honestly and thoughtfully and opened a window on their stances.

But since we don’t live there, well, what network are you watching? That oughtta be more helpful. Since I refuse to watch Fox News, I’m getting the sense that maybe Kamala Harris did a better job of explaining herself. Not exactly a revelation, since Donald Trump can’t explain his way out of a wet paper bag most days. In fact, one can almost count on him circumventing most any question with an endless barrage of nonsense and free association and disconnected thoughts. Tulsi Gabbard and Matt Gaetz as coaches? Trump surrounds himself with the best people.

If there is another debate—because Trump feels the need to redeem himself—what are the chances it’ll be on Fox News, or with always-on mics, or some other stipulation? Trying to stack the deck comes with the territory for Trump.

One might dare believe that nothing is going to help him at this point. The incurable narcissist has never really wanted the job– at least for honorable reasons. He’s been an impostor and way out of his league since 2015, if not before. It would be only proper that it all, finally, catches up with him.

November 5 can’t come fast enough.

It’s been 23 years. The changes are so embedded now that we may not think much about them. Opinions may vary on whether or not the terrorists won. But can we at least agree that, in terms of battles and wars, they won that battle?

Look what 9/11 spawned: Homeland Security, the TSA and its security checkpoints and the complete line of approved products, commitment to unwinnable wars in faraway places, billions of dollars squandered and numerous lives lost or upended with gross, life-altering injuries to body and mind.

The benchmark may be that we haven’t had another attack since, but is that really a measure of success? Granted, how often will anyone ever again mount such an extensive and effective assault on our own soil? But we’ve now been sucked into the eternal vortex known as holy war. In many eyes, we are still the devil, and we will be unable to extricate ourselves from the endless sporadic events and the geopolitical chess match that keep us engaged and looking over our shoulder.

And to think that someone’s god ordains all this.

Watching the debate tonight?

Wake me when it’s over.

Those tuning in to watch Kamala wipe the floor might be unpleasantly surprised. I couldn’t stand to watch that.

The mere sound of Trump’s voice is rage-inducing anymore.

So, wake me when it’s over.

Some politicians take their jobs seriously. Donald Trump isn’t one of those. He’s a politician, alright, but about as unfit for the job he seeks as anyone in U.S. history.

It’s freaking remarkable that he still has the support he has. Some actually still worship the ground he walks on and believe he can get things done. But most, I believe, just enjoy owning the libs, trying to get under their skin and set their hair on fire—fucking mature stuff. And patriotic, of course. Can’t deny the average Trump supporter’s patriotism.

They wear it on their sleeve, trumpet it from their seats at a NASCAR race, or in their bellicose opinions about God and guns and right to life and those damned marauding immigrants with murder and rape on their minds. They’re all caricatures, all in love with and pining for a country that shouldn’t exist anymore, all buying the firehose of noisy bullshit streaming from Fox “News” and their ilk.

This country isn’t a very serious place most days, and little will be settled on November 5. How’s that for a take on things?

It’s probably best to take any politician with a grain of salt, but if I had to take sides, I wouldn’t hesitate to choose the Democratic stance on most issues. I find that they align with my understanding of how governance and civic duty should be handled.

I know that, somewhere, moderate, sensible Republicans must exist, but their voice has been largely silenced by the creepy phenomenon that has been Donald Trump and the cloud of swamp gas that’s been hovering around him for nine years.

It’s difficult to explain what we’ve been seeing and hearing and going through. Most of us know it’s been exhausting and infuriating and even embarrassing at times, but most of all it’s been disheartening and confusing.

Many know we can do and are entirely capable of being better, but fear and ignorance prevail among enough of us to thwart momentum and distract us from the many tasks at hand. Often enough we are drawn down rabbit holes and brought low by “patriots” plugging hair-brained notions fraught with paranoia and old ideas, and fueled by misplaced religious fervor and a shameless network daring to include “Fair and Balanced” in its tag line. There is no cure for this, except some sort of awakening to the legitimate needs and voices crying out for redress and solutions.

Passing legislation has always been a bit of a slog, involving patience and plenty of give and take. It seems, anymore, or at least lately, elected representatives of a certain stripe are more interested in obstruction than finding a way to pass palatable legislation. When only one party is functioning as adults, then whatever is passed is liable to face the chopping block or be threatened with extinction when or if the dissenters, aka Republicans, somehow find themselves in power.

Such madness is not sustainable.

So the NFL kicks off with a full slate of games today. Let’s see how long people can go before they get season-ending injuries, or they’re out for extended periods. I guess it already happened to Jordan Love. Well, maybe not season-ending, but long enough. And in the last minute of the game. Ouch.

What’s happening to all the hurricanes we were supposed to be getting this season? Typical hype and hair-on-fire reporting. It’s not a bad thing that the Atlantic hurricane season hasn’t been as active as predicted. It’s just that there seems to be a tendency to create drama and generate clicks, even if it means getting people on edge and stressed about something that may or may not ever materialize.

Another spending bill fight. Can our leadership get any more pathetic and useless? And this time it will be used even more intentionally as a weapon, as leverage to somehow help Donald Trump. These people make you want to hate them.

The row over JD Vance’s comments on the GA school shooting is in some ways just indicative of the climate we all live in. His claim that these events are more or less a fact of life is inexcusable on the one hand but also true on the other, as hard as that might be to hear.

The Dems and others of course pounced on this seeming cold-heartedness and resignation, and that’s fair enough, but Vance’s remarks are also an easy target for outrage in the stretch run of this campaign. As a VP candidate for the GOP, his comments should come as no surprise to anyone, really. What did people expect him to say—that such events are unacceptable and something must be done about the availability of assault weapons? For 14-year olds?

What Vance said I’m sure has been uttered by others matter-of-factly, but since he was the one who dared say it, everyone’s beside themselves. All this indignance doesn’t address the issue, though. It’s just more reactive noise, but also another reminder that Vance can be pretty tone deaf sometimes, just uttering the party line.