"Rounding The Turn" to Election Day(s)

 In a few days (or so) will come the event we've waited four years for.  Will President Donald Trump win another four year term in the White House?  Or will defeat at the polls to former vice president Joe Biden finally do what scandal, impeachment, Covid-19 and just plain buffoonery could not--remove him from office?  If that's the case, will Trump do so gracefully?

Most of the polls nationally and in battleground states indicate that Biden has a sizable lead over Trump.  But no one, not even Biden, is convinced that the Democrats have this one in the bag yet.  Remember 2016?  Or even 1948, if you've done your research?  Those elections taught us that polls and the popular vote doesn't matter.  Only the Electoral College matters, and a few votes in the right places is Trump's best hope for defying the experts once again.

Trump's (mis)handling of the coronavirus crisis has led to (as of 10/29) nearly nine million cases and over 227,000 deaths, including himself and most of the White House staff.  And the worst is yet to come as winter approaches. Yet he insists on jetting around the country to rallies attended by thousands of supporters who don't mask up, spreading disease wherever he goes.

Lacking a real plan to control the virus without hurting the economy, the President tells anyone who'd listen that we're "rounding the turn" in developing a vaccine that won't be available to everyone until next summer.  Trouble is, it sounds like what President Herbert Hoover kept saying as the Great Depression got worse:  "Prosperity is just around the corner".

It also doesn't help that the Trump administration has all but surrendered to the virus, offering scant suggestions that don't involve mask wearing and social distancing while muzzling the experts, who have a better idea of what's going on than the politicians do.

The U.S. Senate's confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett as the newest Supreme Court justice, so soon after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg as Americans are voting early, is a clear indication that Trump and Senate Republicans are imposing their will on the country long after they're gone, leaving hot-button issues like abortion and the Affordable Care Act at the mercy of a conservative-majority court.  The Democrats, if not Biden, are screaming about the GOP's "court packing" and vow revenge.  But any attempt to do some of that themselves, including adding two more seats, will likely result in leaving the Court's conservative majority intact.

In spite of the millions of people who waited in line for several hours to vote in a shrinking number of polling places across the country, and in spite of all those who wanted to avoid getting sick on Election Day by voting early by absentee ballot (your Postal Service mail delivery might vary), the winner might be determined by six conservative justices and three liberals if the totals between Trump and Biden are close enough, and Trump demands a recount  If there's interference by a foreign government, that's another story altogether.

So yes, we're "rounding the turn" all right.  Do we really want to know what's around the corner?

Debates and Consequences

 For someone who loathes wearing masks and thinks a deadly virus that has so far killed over 210,000 people in the United States alone is no big deal, it came as a shock when President Donald Trump was forced to spend last weekend fighting COVID-19 symptoms in a military hospital.  He has also infected nearly everyone in his path, which includes White House staffers, key associates and wife Melania.  Not to mention those he met along the campaign trail, and in his first presidential debate with former vice-president Joe Biden (who tested negative), all with nary a mask in sight. 

If you thought getting the virus would somehow humble the President into understanding the devastation around the country he helped create, you'd be wrong.  Trump made a dramatic, made-for-TV return to the White House, declared victory even though he's still contagious and should really be in quarantine, and claimed that if he beat the virus, we can too.  That is, if we had the superior medical care Presidents usually get (and even if he weren't President, Trump would still be able to get the best docs available) and experimental drugs that are more powerful than, say, Tylenol.

The first debate with Biden was such a disaster that it was suggested none ever be held again,  But the committee handling the debates insisted on another one, so they scheduled one for October 15.  Because the President got sick, what was supposed to be a town hall setup has been changed to a glorified Zoom meeting.  But Trump said he didn't want to waste his time on a virtual debate, so unless he's persuaded otherwise, there's not going to be one.  Biden will use the time to do his own town hall for ABC News.

The debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic challenger Senator Kamala Harris in Utah did come off Wednesday, plexiglass and all.  Neither candidate answered critical questions from moderator Susan Page of USA Today about whether Trump would accept the results of the election, or whether there would be a peaceful transfer of power if he lost.  Harris won the debate because Pence was too busy talking over both women and going past his allotted time to notice that there was a fly on his head.

Whether you think President Trump is hopped up on drugs and can't think straight as he's recovering, or if he's just being himself, you have to wonder how much longer America and the world can put up with his antics.  Whatever happens on or around November 3, we'll have to live with the consequences.