EDITOR’S NOTE: We are two weeks from Election Day – over 1,000 ballots have been received at the Tillamook County Clerk’s officw. VOTE! Return your ballot to a ballot box. See below for the list of ballot box locations. If you are going to mail your ballot, mail it by October 27th – a week before the election.
By Butch Freedman
I’m sick of the endless ads, sick of the polls, tired of this whole mess that constitutes the mid-term elections. It’s all such a chorus of chaos and confusion, mixed with mighty helpings of vitriol and lies. And all of this further exacerbated by trump’s last-minute attempts (abetted by the injustice department) to sow confusion and pre-taint the election results.
But for all that, we can’t turn away, not until it’s over and done with and the Democrats have regained control of the house and senate, and are finally able to put a leash on the rabid dog that is our sorry excuse for a president. I’m (very) cautiously optimistic that this will happen and that democrats and independents and everyone else who is fed up with the state of our country will turn out in mass numbers to vote the sycophants out. If republicans maintain control, one can only imagine the extent of pain that trump will reign on the world for the next two years—and possibly beyond.
I am trying to contain my anxiety, limiting my exposure to news reports and talking heads. It’s too late for any of that to matter. Sure, Elon (madman) Musk is throwing millions of dollars into last minute desperation campaigns by vulnerable republicans, like the shamefully corrupt senate candidate, Ken Paxton. But, even Musk’s billions probably won’t save these scoundrels. I do believe people are waking up, including trump’s one-time base. But still, I’m holding my breath. I’ve been burnt before. I thought both Hillary and Kamala were going to take him down. Thought they would even do it with landslide numbers, only to sit in front of the television as results came in and fall into an agonizing realization that somehow, in some insane way, this criminal was going to be our president and that half the country thought that was a fine idea. That they looked at this deeply flawed excuse for a human being, listened to his insane ravings about Haitian immigrants eating cats and dogs and still thought—that’s the guy I want to be running the country, hand on the nuclear red button.
Yes, trump is not on the ballot now, but we all know that he, in reality, is. A vote for almost any republican is a statement that the voter thinks all is well with our nation. That’s what trump tells them in his rambling speeches at these red state rallies where the zombie voters still turn out and listen to the garbage he spews and cheer for every incomprehensible or racist remark that he makes. Those are the people who scare me even more than the blithering president.
What exactly is it that they see in this person? How is it that they are able to overlook all the obvious signs of incompetence, all the verified corruption? Yet they laugh and cheer and wear those terrible red hats and cut their own throats in the process. Don’t they realize it’s their health insurance that will disappear, their grocery bills that will grow ever larger, their sons and daughters that will have to clean up the messes in Iran and elsewhere?
But maybe some of these previous loyalists are seeing the light. Despite trump’s angry denials, the crowds at these rallies are considerably sparser. Empty seats abound in ever smaller venues. They’ve heard it all before. And this version of the clown is even more pathetic. He looks deeply unhealthy, his speeches are nothing more than boasting and lies, and rarely even mention the candidates he’s supposedly there to support. It’s noticeable also that many of those same candidates are keeping their distance from the toxic scammer. Who would want the support of a person who now clearly collaborates with Putin (the avowed enemy of democracy) and rails against the leader of Ukraine.
So, I’m hanging on, hoping that karma kicks in, but even more hoping that the voters all across the country make their voices loudly heard.
I’m reminded of the quote from Martin Niemöller about what transpired in Nazi Germany.
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
