“I don’t even like clowns. Clowns are not normal people.” Barbara Park, author.

Who would have ever thought that the famous clown Ronald McDonald would have to go into hiding? It’s sad to state that it probably is a good thing that Bozo the Clown is no longer on television as far as I know. With so many clown sightings in the United States and other countries as well, one would think that the national media would tone down some of the clown stories. I understand that the fear of clowns (unofficially coulrophobia) is a natural thing that can happen to people, perhaps ever since Stephen King’s “It” hit the big screens, along with killer clowns in other movies as well. Unfortunately, the days of horror scenes being seen today are visually and acoustically very graphic in nature so that more than likely enhances the arousal of terror in people about clowns.

Since I mentioned clowns, one doesn’t have to go far to see why politics in our country has gone to the clowns at many levels. I find it sad that the national media tries to make us believe that this is the first time it has happened, but almost every election for President of the United States has the same fears that one or both of the candidates are, in fact, clowns. Even Ronald Reagan was considered unfit by many, but what a president he made, not that I am saying any of candidates this year could be even close to as great. One goes around to rallies dressing in Zhongshan, or if one prefers, Chairman Mao, suits, while the other shouldn’t even be going to rallies in the first place. I probably am a clown as well because I am going to vote for one of the two although this year is not a choice of a lesser evil but the guess as to who is more disastrous to us.

Then we have the not-so-legal clowns that like to destroy the political advertisements of the candidates that they cannot stomach. Recently a Republican Party headquarters in Hillsborough, North Carolina, was fire-bombed, and cars were spray-painted at a Trump rally in Bangor. If that’s not bad enough, I have noticed some of Trump’s signs in Windham have disappeared, and I doubt that it’s people who collect political signs or are moving them to a more visible place, but there is a slight chance it is. I can’t complain, they are not my signs, but I must add that isn’t it weird that those who state Trump is corrupt turn around and steal his campaign signs? I have to label people like that as clowns. I don’t care which political candidate loses signs, it’s a crime and hopefully some of them will be caught.

In Maine the national vote might not mean much as in other states because of the citizen initiatives that are on the ballot this November, some of which are capable of really hurting small businesses in Maine. Let’s see how the clowns vote on them. I expect that initiatives on legalizing recreational marijuana, increasing the minimum wage and adding a 3 percent income tax on those making over $200,000 for the sake of education will all pass. I seriously hope that the initiatives for added background checks on the purchase of firearms and ranked-choice voting fail and a miracle will have happened if they all fail. In the end we will know the election influence of money from out-of-state clowns, which is something I totally feel should be outlawed. It’s our state and the federal government should stay away.

If the referendum question on recreational marijuana passes, I wonder if our local government in Windham will react fast enough, or if at all, to stop the sale of marijuana in our town. I firmly believe it’s the last thing this town needs, because the shame of it is that there is already plenty to be had from what I have either heard or witnessed. Windham has had plenty of overdoses from drugs, and I believe there are many more to come.

Lane Hiltunen of Windham will definitely vote.