california | Saying nothing in particular

Here in California we recently lost one of our longest serving senators, Diane Feinstein. Regardless of your political leanings, I remember the Milk/Moscone murders and how she stepped in and took control. She was not a woman to be trifled with. Now we have to replace her.

Our “voter’s guide” arrived yesterday and the first thing Joel said was: “Holy Cow! Thirty people are running to replace Feinstein!” He hadn’t read the pamphlet; just the list of “certified candidates.” We’re actually having two elections: the first to decide who will replace Feinstein for the remainder of her term (until Jan 2025) and the second to decide who will serve for the following 6 years. Feinstein would have been up for reelection this year and so it didn’t make sense for someone to be appointed and then have to immediately start campaigning.

Only twenty-two of the certified candidates bothered to submit position statements for the guide. I guess the other eight figured that people don’t read anymore so why bother. Or maybe, like Ms. Gilani, they want to save the trees.

But … hasn’t she already betrayed the tree by submitting a photo to be printed and distributed to millions of people? So why not also include a statement instead of leaving a blank space? Doesn’t make sense to me but I have a pretty good idea where she stands on issues.

Some candidates submitted a statement but no photo. If you read through Mr. Grundmann’s diatribe you can figure out why. What do you suppose NO QUALIFIED PARTY means? Is the MAGA wing of the republican party changing it’s name?

Mr. Early was a lot braver than Mr. Grundmann (he worked on the GI Joe television series!!) but I don’t think there’s any doubt what he’d be spending his time doing in DC. Investigating that nasty old Justice Department and rooting out the Marxist threat. Is there a Marxist threat?

This lady is practically a god in Biggs California (population 1,700) and good for her but I have no idea what sort of “grassroots transformation at the National level” she’s talking about. I doubt she does either but she is a beacon!

Am I going to go to the trouble of checking out Liew’s website? Hell no. It’s probably a porn site.

Hey – this guy is balanced! But no telling what will happen if he gets elected and has to serve in the Senate. Think he’ll be able to remain balanced? Doubtful.

There are three highly qualified candidates running for Feinstein’s seat on the democratic side: Katie Porter, Adam Schiff and Barbara Lee. Our dilemma is to choose between the three. But it was my civic duty to at least read the statements of the others, right? Yeah, right. It’s California, land of almonds and other nuts. Probably the only state whose voter’s guides can be amusing.

In Northern California where I live we are having the most incredible weather. Sunny and springlike days, no wind, no fog, no smog so why am I so glum? Because it’s supposed to be raining! Plants are dying. The whole bloody month of February has been bone dry and in the 70s. If it stays this way, by summer we’ll all be dead.

Well, probably not but we won’t have enough water to shower daily or wash the car. These grassy hills will turn brown. Trees, wither and droop sadly to the ground.

However, that could all change. The high pressure driving storms north of us could weaken and then we would be back to misery of endless rain. So why not just enjoy the good weather like this family?

Because in the United States we have the stupidest president imaginable. Any person with a head still on should be able to defeat him in the next election. And yet, like the lack of rain in California, there seems to be a lack of common sense amongst the people running against him. They’re all infinitely smarter than him. They’re all infinitely more trustworthy than him. They’re all at least … human.

Okay, Grandpa Bernie has been claiming for decades that America could be just like Canada or Denmark or Sweden! Or even Germany. All we have to do is tax the insanely rich. It’s not that far left. He’s not Fidel Castro. He’s said how he’ll pay for Medicare for All but he can’t provide exact numbers because it’s never been attempted. Just like the frigging rain in California. It might return, it generally does but what if it doesn’t? It has been done successfully in other countries. I’ve been to those countries. They are not like Cuba or even Russia.

Next, Boss Bloomberg’s big mouth. People make remarks in the workplace every day that someone finds offensive. I had a boss who could not construct a sentence without using some form of the word “fuck.” He used it as a noun, adjective, adverb, in prayers to God, meetings with important clients, and even when blowing out the candles on his birthday cake. But he was an uber generous man who believed everyone – janitor, secretary, CEO – deserved an equal voice and respect and so complaints to Human Resources about his “inappropriate” language generally got filed in the trash can. Do we really care if Richie Rich makes an inappropriate joke every now and then? Compared to what we got now, no.

So my ballot’s been sitting on the counter untouched, like the electric bill for a freezing month that you just don’t want to open. Spoiler alert. I’m leaning toward Uncle Joe.