Random thoughts that pop into my head

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Each week this column averages a little over 700 words. At times a subject or idea will pop into my head that doesn’t need 700 words to explain. So for this column I decided to break it up into four short subjects.

———————— #1  ————————

On the opinion pages of this publication we have printed numerous letters to the editor from both sides of the isle — Republican and Democrat. We request that all letters be civil and respective of everyone. For the most part our writers have complied with that request.

One thing I have noticed is that in many cases it turns into a contest where each side has to point out the flaws in the other’s arguments. And so the letters can go back and forth for three to four weeks.

This is easy to understand. We all want to be correct and most of us abhor being attacked in public, including me — especially when we feel it is incorrect.

What is curious to me is that some of the authors of our letters detest that characteristic in our current president, Donald Trump.

President Trump does not take criticism lying down. His personality does not allow him to sit idly by as others attack him. So he responds. Not always in a respectful manner. But then again many of those who attack him show no respect.

Recently it has been revealed that four government officials — whom Trump would consider part of the swamp — testified under oath in front of congress years ago that there was no evidence of Trump’s campaign colluding with the Russians to win the Presidential election in 2016. Yet they continued to say the opposite in the national media after their testimony.

———————— #2  ————————

That brings me to my second point.

For years many voters have expressed the need to have someone in elected office who is not a professional politician. A regular Joe. Someone like ourselves who can relate.

A professional politician usually starts out in a local office and moves up one step at a time, learning from the school of hard knocks how to act and what to say.

A political reporter will routinely ask an up and coming state politician if the current office is not just a stepping stone to the national scene. The elected official’s response is something on the lines of, “I am committed to doing the work that the voters entrusted me with.” Case in point is our current junior senator Josh Hawley.

Today’s professional politician has a group of trusted handlers and confidants that guide their every move in public. They have professional speech writers. Most of their lives are choreographed.

Voters have come to recognize this. Some take it for granted, others refuse to vote.

Trump is not a politician. That roughness is part of what makes him attractive to voters. That quality also makes him an easy target.

———————— #3  ————————

At the start of the Coronavirus Pandemic the public was presented with models that showed the United States could experience over 2.5 million deaths from Covid-19.

These models were designed to scare us. And it worked. Some are still scared to leave their homes. Now many are questioning those models’ validity.

I want to know where are the models that show what will happen to America if everything is shut down for 6 months, 1 year, or more.

It’s doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that if the government keeps printing money to pay us to stay home and unemployed, it will lead to hyper-inflation. That is scary.

You see everything we do has consequences.

———————— #4  ————————

During the current pandemic, grocery stores — including Walmart and Target — have of course been deemed essential. And, many of us — except those confined to hospitals and nursing homes — have been in those stores weekly if not more.

Because of social distancing and other precautions this virus has not been exploding .

If we have been successful shoppers for the last eight weeks why is there a big push across the county for mail in voting?

Seems to me that if we can shop safety at a grocery store and gas station we should be able, as a society, to set up precautions and vote without worry of becoming infected with Covid-19.