Face it. We live in a very uncomfortable time with some very uncomfortable realities.
Donald Trump is actually a viable candidate for President. The alternative, Hillary Clinton, is no better than La Donald, just a different shape and different background. On November 8th, 2016, the American public gets to choose between a male bully with megalomania and no morals or a female cobra with ever-changing ethics and situational morals.
Can you say Hobson’s choice?
Whoever wins this election, these United States are in for a rough ride, facing international sanctions and national crises — all of our own making and all born of greed and the overweening desire for power and control.
I can’t change any of this. All I can do is live my small life. You can’t change any of this either. So, this morning, I offer a way for you and I and anyone else who is tired of the trash talk, afraid of the looming future and worried about their loved ones, some insights from one of my very favorite intellectuals, writers, and muses.
My Sunday mornings are spent with a cup of coffee and her newsletter – my break, my solitude, my weekly dose of philosophy, culture, insight, learning and being.
I offer Popova as an antidote to the idiocy we see all around us. I offer her as peace in a world fraught with panic. I hope she brings you the same joy that she brings me.
Write On Target 
I agree with your assessment of the candidates, Pat. Our system is badly broken.
Wish it were different…but wishing doesn’t make it so.
I have always found that, faced with countless negatives, I, too, pull bak and reevaluate and make better use of my own time and energies. As for the election, I’m voting Johnson/Weld for experience and integrity. I mean, if we keep surrounding ourselves with crap, it’s a little tough to find our positive way out…
I worry about voting off the two main candidates despite the fact that both suck. When this happened the last time, the election was lost because Ralph Nader pulled enough votes to tip it to the Republican candidate. I cannot, in good conscience, let Donald Trump be the nominee. That said, I support your decision to cast your vote as you feel you must.
Understood. If everyone who recognized that Johnson would do a better job of leading our country actually voted for him, he would win. At this point, the other two options are so awful, would it really hurt to vote for someone worthwhile? And however you vote, I’m glad you do.
Kate, this is the first election in years in which I am actually conflicted! You are right, both options are awful. So I am keeping an open mind and heading for the polls. Ditto to you on voting; it is one right I will not give up without a fight.
I find it so offensive that you paint Hillary, who has devoted her life to social change & improving the lives of women, children & minorities before she ever married Clinton; with Trump, a self-serving rich kid whose dealings have bankrupted many small businesses including two families known personally to me, who is a thug with the vocabulary of a 5th grader, who sounds like he is in a playground argument – mine is the best ever, I’m smarter than the generals, not to mention the disgraceful comments he’s made about the disabled & women who have a fantastic brain but not a knockout body & plastic surgery…. Hillary is a politician, Trumps negative comments could be applied to any politician because to get anything done in America they have to make deals. The emails – would you trust the email to the govt? If a Republican had done it this would have been a 2 second news story.
All of your observations about Trump are true…and he is definitely not a person I would consider as a candidate to lead our country. But I am sorry to say, neither is Hillary Clinton. Look at what’s happening in North Dakota and her response – that the decision has to be for the greater good. When has it ever been the greater good to decide to tear up sacred land, frack, send tons of oil shale through a river and ignore the ownership and rights of the people whose land you are using? I think Hillary’s politics are expedient…and that is not something that I can stand behind either. I need moral, ethical, considerate and honest. Too bad Hillary stole the nomination from my candidate – Bernie Sanders.