It's been five long years, it feels like ten, of constant headlines pounding us with the Trump sledgehammer.  I'll admit to being a news junkie with a penchant for digital gadgets, iPhone, MacBook, iPad, Garmin VivoSmart 4, and car radio tuned to Bloomberg. Ever since the nomination process in 2015, all we've heard about was this guy from NY, his TV show, The Apprentice, and his book, The Art Of The Deal both of which have proven to be prescient. Little did we know that serving as the POTUS was an apprenticeship. "An  apprenticeship  is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a  trade  or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading)." Serving as POTUS is not an apprenticeship, the recruit must be ready to lead on day one. Some would excuse Trump's series of mistakes and blunders as rookie missteps but the game of governance is not the NFL, it's a Hunger Game with deadly consequences

a survey or review of a past course of events or period of time. Ok, enough foreplay, it's time for the main event. The election is three days away, we're all exhausted, confused, and worried. We've lost confidence in the system and now believe that whoever wins, the Republic will be in danger of falling to Fascism or  Socialism. I recently listened to a historical podcast explaining the role of Spain during the 2nd World War. I've always wondered why Hitler didn't cozy up to Franco like he did to Mussolini? The answer is complicated but intriguing. The short answer is when Franco's fascist-leaning Nationalist Party defeated the government's communist leaning Popular Front he became a dictator among equals with Mussolini and Hitler. He supported Hitler's war effort with troops and ordinance but maintained his independence from both of them. But I digress, with three days before the US election, the political pendulum is swinging right to left and back ag

https://youtu.be/IJthTSCYJ7g The party's over It's time to call it a day They've burst your pretty balloon And taken the moon away It's time to wind up the masquerade Just make your mind up the piper must be paid The party's over The candles flicker and dim You danced and dreamed through the night It seemed to be right just being with him Now you must wake up, all dreams must end Take off your makeup, the party's over It's all over, my friend

Pause. Breathe. BY MARIA SHRIVER   It’s okay not to be okay today. I certainly wasn’t okay when I went to bed. I hit the hay way too late. I ate way too much. I bit off my nails. I didn’t have the evening I thought I was going to have. It felt reminiscent of 2016 at times. It was a total roller coaster. (I'm writing this as the election has yet to be called.) I know most of us are waking up feeling confused, sad, angry, bewildered. Most of all just exhausted. We’ve all been through a lot, and while we have been through it together, we have also all gone through it in our own personal way. It’s brought up so much for so many, so go easy today.    Put your hand over your heart. Feel it beating, close your eyes. Breathe.    Honor yourself for making it to this moment. For having made the effort to make your voice heard, even if you didn’t get everything you wanted. Honor the fact that you stepped up. You were a part of history. Think about that.    For me, election nights bring up so

This is the soaring rhetoric I long for, this is the depth of thinking the nation longs for~Get Out And VOTE!  " We take great comfort in our nuclear stockpiles, our gross national product, our scientific and technological achievement, our industrial might — and, up to a point, we are right to do so. But physical power by itself solves no problems and secures no victories. What counts is the way power is used — whether with swagger and contempt or with prudence, discipline, and magnanimity. What counts is the purpose for which power is used — whether for aggrandizement or for liberation. " JFK “It is excellent,” Shakespeare said, “to have a giant’s strength; but it is tyrannous to use it like a giant.”

 "It can sweep the strongest swimmer out to sea" Twenty four hours and the countdown begins to better times: Better health Better economy Better culture More civility More truth More empathy The tide has turned and the detritus of four years is caught in a blue rip that can't be stopped. This election started over a year ago, day after day of accusations, exaggerations, and conspiracy theories.  The electorate is just plain exhausted and needs a coffee break, if not a martini break, shaken not stirred. Winter COVID is here, lurking in places it hadn't gone before, making us sick, hospitalizing us, killing us in numbers we hadn't thought possible. The first order of business during the first hundred days is to get COVID under control so that we can return to work without fear of contamination and resume some degree of normalcy in our daily life. Your health and the health of your fellow Americans is the fundamental requirement of a strong economy and a normal life.

" Trust life, and it will teach you, in joy and sorrow, all you need to know.”  —James Baldwin I've Been Thinking... I read a news story the other day that really tugged at my mind and my heart.   When I first saw it, I was sitting in my office. It popped up in my news feed and I quickly scanned it then immediately got distracted by my work and moved on.   That night, while I was sitting alone on my couch, the same story popped up on my television. This time I let it sink in. The story was about seniors across the country dying from isolation and loneliness. As one death certificate stated, they are dying from a “failure to thrive.”  What in the name of God is happening to our country and to us?  I thought. I turned off the TV and just sat there staring at the wall, alone with my thoughts.   We are 48 hours away from a presidential election. Forty-eight hours away from learning whether we, the United States of America, will continue down this road, or change course and chart a