Times have changed, not for the better
Before we get to today’s topic, let me just sneak in this public service announcement.
• Our Milk Fund Auction is doing so well we have now surpassed the total amount collected in 2017’s auction. We appreciate the support and remind you that an additional auction has been added at 11 a.m. this Thursday, Dec. 20. Our guest auctioneer that day will be former Woonsocket Mayor Charley Baldelli. It will be a memorable broadcast.
Later on Thursday, I hope you’ll join me for another Milk Fund event, the “Soup for Supper” event from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. It will be a “soup buffet” where, for a donation of $15, you can sample soups and stews made by Jermaine of Bugg’d Out Barbecue, Grumpy’s Restaurant, and local chef Michael Heroux. Of course there’ll be friends, fun, and complimentary items, with proceeds going to the Milk Fund. It was well attended last year, and I expect the same again this year. My thanks to all involved.
• Boy, how things have changed over the past twelve months! As 2017 wound down there was much talk about the president’s tax bill passing Congress and there were only rumblings of bad times ahead for the Trump presidency, but not enough that a dyed-in-the-wool optimist like me would be concerned about. Fast-forward to today and the president’s lawyer is going to prison, he has gone through staffers faster than he can hire and train them, and even a guy who really needs a job, like former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, won’t work with him.
The optimist in me says, “cheer up, it can’t get much worse….”. But the realist in me says, “Oh yeah? Just watch!”.
The interesting thing to think about now as the fires burn in the Trump administration and the firefighters run around like Keystone Kops, is what kind of person we will be allowed to vote for in the next presidential election? At least, I think that’s interesting, and it will take our mind off the mess we made this time.
If you recall, we were only really given a choice of two in the last election. Yes, a couple of dozen people ran for president, but by the time voters in Rhode Island could vote, there were really only two. Somebody else narrowed down the field for us. I have to tell you I didn’t feel that either candidate was the right choice, I really didn’t.
Some people are now saying that we chose the wrong candidate. They say that if Secretary Clinton had won the 2016 election things would be different. Of course they would be different, that’s a silly thing to say. “Would they have been better?” is my reply. I say there would have been trouble if either candidate had won. Four more years of liberalism would have divided this country as surely as a hyper-conservative egotist has divided it. It’s very much like, “Do you want the snake bite or the hemlock?” Either way, you know you’re going to have a bad day.
So let’s get back to the original question, who can the two major political parties put up to run in 2020? Keep in mind that the campaigning will begin in 2019, and…..well, you know how close 2019 is.
Do you suppose there will be an “anything but Trump!” movement? Do you suppose Trump will run for a second term? Well, I think we’ll see both of those things happen, I really do. To think for a moment that a man with the personality we’ve seen displayed by Mr. Trump will not run for re-election is beyond consideration. Of course he will! And, if his party won’t nominate him, I have no trouble at all in expecting Mr. Trump to run as a third party candidate, even if he has to organize the third party himself.
Crazy, you say? It happened once before.When Republican President Theodore Roosevelt wanted to run, but his party wanted another man instead, Teddy ran anyway on the “Bull Moose” ticket. He didn’t win, but Teddy Roosevelt didn’t have as much money as Mr. Trump does…or a “Twitter” account!
Some will say a third-party candidate simply cannot win the presidency. Well, it’s never happened before, but that doesn’t mean it cannot happen. I seem to remember that Mr. Perot put up a credible fight a number of years ago. And he wasn’t as charismatic a figure as Mr. Trump, was he?
Regardless of what happens over the next year, I expect it will be a wild ride for us all. And while some will despair at what such a veritable circus will do to our country, I calm myself by remembering that so long as we have the U.S. Constitution as the rule of law, we cannot truly fail.
There goes that optimist part of me again…
• Friend, next Tuesday is Christmas Day. The good people at The Call will be taking a well-deserved day off with their families. Therefore, there will be no column next week. Please accept my heartfelt wishes that you will find peace and warmth in your heart this year. Put your troubles aside for a day, make good memories, and please each other. Merry Christmas to all my Christian and non-Christian friends. Yes, non-Christians, too. As I am reminded by the words of my Jewish friend the late Dr. Tom Kottle, “Dave, don’t’ ever feel uncomfortable wishing everyone you know a ‘Merry Christmas.’ Nobody celebrates Christmas like the Jews. And we have a blast watching you folks have a good time.”
See you next year!