The Campaign for President...and cats

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I have been focusing on the campaigns for who should be our next President for you, my dear readers, who have better things to do and of course for my own personal amusement. As a result, I have naturally focused on the logic and quality of the campaigns and their messaging over who should be the next most powerful person on the planet.  And as we approach this most important election of our lifetime (aren’t they all), this led me to the September Presidential debate between our two candidates which inexorably led me to cats.

What? You say…no stay with me here.  The highlight (and I use that term loosely) of the Harris/Trump debate was when Trump in response to a question to Harris about why the Administration waited until 6 months before the election to do anything on immigration (to which she did not respond) informed America that “the Haitians are eating our cats and dogs in Springfield”.

Immediately thereafter, the moderator who forgot his own question about border security program challenged Trump’s cat assertion with his own factoid that ABC had talked to the City Manager who apparently was the be all and end all of Springfield Ohio cat data, who claimed to have no “credible evidence” to support the claim of eating cats in his fair city which I might suggest is not the same as saying they didn’t, just that he had no “credible evidence” of such conduct.

In the immediate aftermath of the debate, top investigative journalists seized on the issue, and we learned that the lady who posted the claim on Facebook had not actually seen the alleged cat eating but had heard it from a friend who heard it from another friend who actually hadn’t seen anything.  Later, we learned that said cat had turned up in the basement where it was lurking all along doing who knows what, perhaps hiding from Haitians. 

There was another report where an individual had a picture which he claimed was of his neighbor roasting cats on the grill.  This led to a vigorous debate with the correct assertion by the press that this picture was taken in Dayton Ohio, not Springfield Ohio, 30 miles to the northeast.  For good measure, veterinarians were brought in to opine that the carcasses in said picture looked more like chicken although the expertise of said experts and their experiences in examining cats on the barbie was left unknown.  The press and Harris campaign (or do I repeat myself) thus claimed victory in the argument about cats, Springfield Ohio, Trump, and Haitians. 

But back to the September debate… the very first question to Kamala Harris was “Do you think we were better off 4 years ago than now?”.  Now look, this is not a hard question.  The moderator was not asking for an answer to whether we are actually better off, but only what Harris thought which of course is presuming that she has thoughts at all, but moving on, it shouldn’t be all that hard.

She responded about how she grew up in a middle-class family in a neighborhood where everyone liked their green grass. The post-debate public, which also acted like cats chasing laser pens, focused on the issue of whether Harris did or did not grow up like a middle-class kid, well, like us.  We found out that she was the child of a PhD educated college professor in Montreal, Canada not exactly like the rest of us normal middle-class people growing up in Who Knows Where, Iowa.

This of course led to further analysis of what middle class is, and who are we to criticize another who as a person of color was raised by a single mom having to overcome the systemic racism emanating from the Canadian racists to the north.  Ok, I made that last one up, but I bet with further research, I could find somebody who raised that point on social media, not to mention the fact that who are we to judge the cultural food habits of Haitians who like to eat tasty, barbecued cat right off a hot grill.

But back to the question of are we better off than we were 4 years ago, Trump, instead of executing reasonable debate strategy by calling to the attention of the debate audience that Harris didn’t answer the question by stating simply, “I’ll answer the question that Kamala didn’t”, and that “The answer is that people are not better off now than they were 4 years ago”, became overcome by his ADD and blathered on about how his proposed tariffs weren’t a sales tax, that we have millions of people pouring into our country from prisons and jails, and that he created one of the greatest economies in the history of our country, and he’ll do it again and even better.

Look, this is all very amusing, but for an election for the most powerful person in the free world (didn’t I already say that?) with access to planet killing nuclear weapons, we are seeing campaigns more suitable for junior class vice president. Harris is running a campaign of joy and throwing your money out to various interest groups to buy votes like high school kids throwing candy to the crowds from a float at the homecoming parade.  Trump just wants vindication that he is indeed the BMOC by telling us all how horrible everyone else is.

Meanwhile back on earth, the Israelis are bombing the snot out of Hezbollah and Gaza daring the Iranians to drop the big one on them, the people are trying to figure out where to put all the migrants who have come into their communities and why their groceries, utilities and rent cost so much more.

I always like to propose solutions to the problems that I raise in these columns.  So as to the problem of how to determine what the candidates will do in the next 4 years in order for you to determine who to vote for…. I suggest that you give up.

When asked recently if she would have done anything differently from what the Administration did over the last four years, Harris replied, “There is not a thing that comes to mind.”  Take her at her word.  The Harris way forward will be a continuation of the last 4 years, uncontrolled spending on disadvantaged communities, chaos around the world, and figuring out a pathway to citizenship for the 15 million migrants here illegally.  If you like that, vote for her.

Trump tells us that he will do what he did during the 4 years that he was President.  He will close the border, cut taxes, make deals and will continue to be a braggart who shoots his mouth off exaggerating basic facts for no good reason other than to talk. If you like that, vote for him.

Decide.

In Colorado and many other states, the ballots are already out.  You will learn nothing new.  Fill them out and turn them in as soon as you can.    Turn off the TV.  Rake your leaves.  Enjoy the fall.  Rest up and save yourself.  In a little over three weeks, it will all be over, and we can reengage with new energy to assess the carnage and figure out a way forward with whomever wins. 

Then, we can ponder anew if cat really does taste like chicken.