“And where are the clowns? Send in the clowns. Don’t bother, they’re here.”
Judy Collins, singer and songwriter

My best guess is that there are about 87 or so days left until the November elections. It’s going to seem like an eternity, so I figure I can only go nuts if I’m not already insane. What’s even worse is the fact that it doesn’t make any difference whether the elections are local, county, state or federal. Well, yes there is a difference because as one listens to the candidates, the higher the level that one goes, the worse it gets. I say it’s high time to set a strict campaigning time limit like some countries do, and two or three weeks already sounds too long for me.

Let’s face it, the presidential election this year is far from being presidential. Who would have thought that we would see an election for our nation’s leader where one candidate is a liar and the other an idiot? The problem I have is figuring out which is which, or it just might be that both are the same? Someone once stated that we are capable of destroying ourselves and it now looks like that process has begun. Then comes the problem of some of the press being obviously biased, but that’s another column for the future.

At the national level, I haven’t a clue as to why the Republican Party is hell-bent to destroy itself. The old saying about united we stand, divided we fall comes to mind. It’s not that I consider Donald Trump a Republican, but then again there are many that call themselves Republicans but never really act like they are one. What’s even stranger is that as Trump falls in the polls, more and more Republicans denouce him as a viable candidate. It appears that the Grand Old Party is destroying itself, which is the reason I left it years ago and became an Independent. I hate the term other political junkies use by calling us unenrolled.

That’s a term meant to cause hate and discontent for those of us that no longer believe that either of the two major political parties are really for the voters that support them. I certainly don’t know the answer as to how to break up the political monopoly that the two major political parties have over politics, especially at the state and national levels, but I now believe it’s time to figure out how to accomplish that. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are two facts that prove it to me. One is making promises that will never happen and the other is making promises, maybe?

I thank God that at the state and local levels some things are a little bit clearer. No, I might be wrong there because a lot of times voters seem perplexed at what those candidates’ platforms really are. I would say even more so at the local level unless there are candidates like Trump or Clinton who can get the attention of the news media. Here in Windham we might see an article in local newspapers giving us a glimpse of the candidates and their views and maybe one or so appearances on Speak Out with Bill Diamond. I seldom get a candidate at my door, but then again I am sure that most believe that they know how I will vote. Clue: I will state how I think I should vote but I keep my actual votes to myself.

I use the term of clown for more than one reason but when it comes down to it, what have all of the many political promises ever accomplished? It has become obvious that the newest generation of Americans will more than likely be worse off than their parents. Sorry, that’s a fact that’s becoming true. True the low unemployment figures look great, but the percentage of eligible workers actually working is at an all-time low. It’s truly a shame that in the end it is more than obvious that political candidates don’t care how much they spend to get themselves elected.

Lane Hiltunen of Windham believes that politicians are absolutely the same as diapers.