I sometimes wonder if we live in the only population center greater than 50,000 people that doesn’t have a Starbucks. ‘Tis true, the closest Starbucks to our home is nearly 50 miles away, even though we live halfway between the two largest cities in our Metropolitan Statistical Area, which, as of 2010, had a population of over 250,000 people.
That’s a lot people runnin’ on Dunkin’.
There are Dunkin’ Donuts on nearly every corner in this area but honestly, I’m not really a fan of the place. Another option is our Panera, which is old and dingy and disorganized. The closest thing we have to Starbucks is the cafe at Barnes and Noble, and so that’s where I’m located this evening.
I’ve been watching clips of “The West Wing” on YouTube lately. This has served as a distraction from the politics of 2015, where it seems like everyone has lost their mind and you can only get to a prominent position in government if you’re on the verge of starring in your own reality show. Publicists, 24 hour news broadcasts and the media in general has helped fuel this whole circus atmosphere of the 2016 Presidential Race. In many ways, I can’t believe that we already have one debate under our belt and many to look forward to it, what with it being September 2015 and all. Now I know that we’ve known that Hillary was going to run, that’s been her plan all along, but I am always surprised to find out who is trying to become the Republican candidate. George Pataki? Where’s he been? Rick Santorum? Give it up already.
And then of course, there’s Donald Trump, who just blows his way through interviews, appearances and general commentary friendly event with a bombastic attitude, unneccessarily loud voice, low substance content and that god awful accent. There’s a part of me that still believes that in a couple of months we are going to come to the realization that the populace has been “punk’d” by Trump and that he just did all this grandstanding to throw a monkey wrench into the political process with no real intent on ever becoming President. I’m probably old school, but I believe that the President of the United States should act Presidential. Suit and tie (or a smart pant suit), well mannered, groomed hair, speech mannerisms of a three-digit IQ within a reasonable range.
The truth of the matter is, there really isn’t a candidate vying for the party nomination that really grabs me. Hillary grabs me more than others, but there’s a feeling of “same old, same old” going on there. Many of the Republican candidates can’t seem to grab the concept of “separation of church and state”, so most of them are off the list right from the get go.
I don’t think that there’s a candidate that really fits what I’m looking for in a President. I’m solidly down the middle. I lean to left socially but I definitely lean to the right fiscally. I’m looking for the financially responsible candidate that will rail in this crazy Government spending and free handouts to people that really don’t want to work but won’t beat me over the head with a Bible and doesn’t really care about what I do in my bedroom. There’s no candidate that walks in that area, they all lean too far to the left or the right.
Sometimes I wonder if I missed my calling and if I should have gotten involved in the political arena in some way.
I still feel like I need to change the world.
