As you get older or old enough, you’re more inclined to disconnect the governor that regulates what brain you have left — leaving you to foolishly publish what thoughts demand your attention. Although your intent is to be constructive, the likelihood is that family, friends, acquaintances and certainly enemies will say those thoughts are simplistic, have no validity and are capriciously fault-finding. You can’t argue with that assessment. That said, you excuse yourself for having unsubstantiated opinions because you represent the vast majority of other slugs like yourself — ordinary people who walk through life thinking what they think based merely on deduction or presumption or prejudice. Well, Matilda, America is a great country because Her people are free to presume — free to offer dumb opinions, offend a grandmother or call the president a jerk. If there were no other reason to live in America, being free to speak your piece is worth “a king’s ransom.” Which brings you to say some things you’ve always thought but mostly kept to yourself out of self interest. But now that your sense of self is quickly vanishing and your interest is basically irrelevant, why not stick your neck out?

Barring another bombshell accusation, it seems that DT is the GOP standard bearer. That fact shouldn’t come as a surprise to you, but it does; because most of the people you hang with prefer that Donald hop the Trump Tower UP escalator and stay up,  to remain unseen indefinitely, like the famous germaphobe celebrity Howard Hughes. The people you hang with, and countless others who populate the Internet and mainstream media, concede that President Trump did an impressive job while in power, but they can’t mask a veiled sneer as part of their acknowledgement. The people you hang out with prefer political corruption and tyrannical stability over political brawls and uncertainty instigated by master provocateur and political trespasser Trump. There’s more to it, of course. They don’t like a wise ass, a bragger and name caller. It turns out that the people who detest Donald are movers and shakers, good citizens, church goers, business owners and educators — by and large, America’s respectable white-collar citizenry. They in fact represent town establishments, city and state governments, dedicated to economic growth, opportunity, health and prosperity for all. Politically, they are quick to declare that Federal Government power should be limited. That something needs to be done, by golly, about the national debt. Also about the border. About inflation. About corruption. About Ukraine. That’s what they say. That’s what they say — for show. But deep down, admit it or not, the establishment at home is precisely like the establishment in Washington. Deep down, the establishment is OK with business as usual. Stability is their idol. However it may be justified, disruption to that stability is not in their immediate interest. For example, the legal profession loves rigorous, complicated government regulations for reasons that don’t need explaining to anyone with a heartbeat. The financial sector loves government spending and convoluted tax law. Accounting firms would blow a fuse if governments implemented a fair, simplified tax form that any slob could understand and file. The bigger the government, the better it is, for big corporations, big non-profits and lobbyists who love doing business with the biggest buyer in the world. Now that your Federal Government runs the medical establishment, the insurance companies and HMOs can rely on rules that assure hospital and  doctor compliance. Why go on? The Federal Government runs the show and has no intention to limit its jurisdiction and power — not an iota. The people you hang with and don’t hang with, the billionaire set, the ordinary filthy rich, the vast media industrial complex, military industrial complex, as well as the vast welfare complex — all have a vested interest in the Federal Government gravy train. The only group off that train is a big one — the broad American working class. You call them producers. They are blue collar and white collar. They make things, build things and fix things. They drive trucks, fly planes, climb poles and protect the vulnerable. Millions of them own small businesses. The gravy train is not for them. Never has been. They don’t prosper because of Government policy. They prosper despite government policy. They don’t ask. They don’t take. They give. They are the original Tea Party. They populated Jan. 6, not out of self-serving interest. No. Out of love for their country. And here’s the thing that gnaws at your gut. Some people you hang with blame them. Blame them for protesting. Blame them for being there. Imagine that. Imagine that. It’s a chilling realization. You have only one regret — you weren’t there to stand with them.

Despite Biden’s destructive administration and low poll numbers and Donald’s sweeping nomination, you have not an ounce of confidence about 2024. Despite the Trump momentum, you worry because some people you hang with and other people of substance who truly don’t appreciate Biden, are madly in love with the gravy.

www.conventionofstates.com