We stopped at our favorite local orchard to get some apples and Asian pears and ended up lingering because the owners insisted on talking politics. It didn’t take long to figure out where these folks are at, so, personally, I wasn’t that interested in hanging around and engaging in a back and forth.

But we ended up exchanging thoughts for ten or fifteen minutes, not accomplishing much but at least walking away still on good terms, I think. They now have a pretty good sense for where we’re at, and we now know the same about them.

What sticks with me is the fear of what the election outcome may mean for the country. These folks see it in terms of Armageddon if Kamala Harris prevails. I guess I‘m not as convinced things will take such a ghastly turn if that’s the outcome. If Trump prevails, they’d likely breathe a sigh of relief, but also acknowledge that more than half the country will be upset, just for different reasons.

Later in the day, I happened to watch a podcast involving John Oliver and some NY Times staffer in which Oliver echoed a prevalent feeling—a disappointment and puzzlement over how things can still be so close. Yesterday at the orchard we got insights into how this is possible: they obviously get their news from Fox or one of the other right wing networks, and they see things through the lens of a certain biblical inerrancy, along with prophecy and Old Testament “wisdom.”

It makes me wonder how things would be different if we could take Scripture out of the equation.

It also makes me crazy to think that Donald Trump is viewed by many as some sort of savior. He deserves no such standing. The orchard owners are smart, savvy, kind, and thoughtful people, but they have a massive blind spot, in my estimation. They’re most likely going to vote for Donald Trump because they see some sort of positive connection between him and the Bible, or they’re just die-hard Republicans.

They’re going to, perhaps reluctantly, vote for the guy who uses people and doesn’t really want the job. For the guy who’s so far gone that he’s buying his own delusions of competence and intelligence and “protecting women” and a biblical mandate and all the rest of the insane proclamations he’s been making for nine years.

So, I guess our encounter at the orchard turned out to be something of a revelation, or at least a confirmation.

Lots of stories to pick from this morning—the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the (big surprise) indictment of Eric Adams, the nuclear ultimatum from the little gnat in Moscow, and the apparent assassination of a Hezbollah leader by Israel. Oh, and a $10 quintillion asteroid, which must contain something more interesting than just silicone and “metal.”

Tough choices, but I have to go with the blurb I saw about Kyle Rittenhouse—the then 17-year-old vigilante who killed two protesters/rioters in Wisconsin a few years back. Seems someone has unearthed a text from Rittenhouse that has disenchanted a former spokesperson and bodyguard and casts doubt on Rittenhouse’s naïve, innocent persona, revealing instead a certain murderous intent.

Big surprise— those tears shed during his trial just masked the familiar ignorance and hatred that can take root in an impressionable mind. Old enough to believe in the Second Amendment myth and that bringing an assault rifle to a public protest is no big deal, but somehow not old enough to face the consequences of his extreme actions. Just another little man with a gun who got in over his head, found a good lawyer, and preyed on public sympathy.

Hurricane Helene hit the Big Bend area of Florida late last night. Sounds like it had potential to be a memorable storm– Category 4 at landfall, twenty-foot storm surge, heavy rain and wind all the way into the Carolinas. We’ll see what the coming days bring in the way of aftermath photos and damage reports. Sounds like people may be without electricity for a while (2 million currently).

This could be just a freakish monster, a hundred-year storm or something. Or maybe it’s just the new normal. Ironic that it’s hitting the state whose governor prefers to drop “climate change” from the lexicon.

Ron’ll be fine, though. He and his ace surgeon general have everything figured out.

What is Israel doing? It must get old being at war all the time, always having to be on guard, deciding to take the offensive while much of the rest of the world is wondering if you’re playing with a full deck.

Unless something changes drastically, the U.S. will be impotent in trying to negotiate some sort of tenuous peace between Hamas and Hezbollah and Israel. And when one gives this situation any thought, how can the U.S. have any diplomatic standing anyway, since we are the main supporter and supplier of Israeli military equipment? We don’t get to talk out of both sides of our mouth. It’s like pouring water into a bucket with a gaping hole in the bottom, or something like that.

In any event, things are deteriorating, and all the Blinken trips and other State Department efforts don’t seem to be doing much good.

So, there’s a segment of the electorate who apparently is purposely ignorant. No surprise there, just disheartening. They get their fill of Fox or its ilk, and that’s all they need.

Sure, I get my fill of MSNBC and NBC and ABC and CBS and NPR, but besides being labeled mainstream or “lamestream” media, these used to be the outlets that many considered to be taking their jobs seriously and making an attempt to report the news without bias, with less of an agenda. Well, maybe not MSNBC—I see them as the antidote to Fox and the rest.

Anyway, a percentage of often young voters will go to the polls believing Trump is somehow competent and that he actually cares about the country. In her live show from Michigan last night, Alex Wagner charitably found this a remarkable development, as well she should.

Let’s not stop at remarkable, though. It’s also tragic, embarrassing, even rage-inducing, and reason to cast aspersions on Fox and Newsmax and OAN, on inept parenting, and the dark web and any other loudmouth organization or individual who for some reason is rooting for America’s downfall. The America they can get behind isn’t the America most of us are hoping to see. There’s no reason to blow it up and start over. Their vision isn’t benevolent or useful. Their vision reveals what could happen when people give up, when people reminisce too much and pine for days that should remain in the past. Or, sadly, when people choose ignorance.

For a twenty-something to believe that Donald Trump has his best interests in mind—or that Trump is capable of rational governance—is simply evidence of an insidious brainwashing, along with an unwillingness to open one’s eyes and look around.

Wagner’s townhall with a group of local union workers was enlightening, because there emerged evidence that Trump voters care only about economic matters and immigration– the latter a co-opted issue Trump needed for his campaign– and are oblivious to pretty much everything else that’s on peoples’ minds. Some know that something happened on January 6, but are selectively unfamiliar with the details and all the charges pending against Trump.

It is a bit difficult to believe that anyone can be undecided at this point. But in Michigan, at least, there remains 4% of the electorate who need more information. It remains to be seen if they’ll actually seek it out.

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.