And then I wrote...

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that my fears of rioting at the Republican convention were not realized, possibly because there were more cops than protesters in the streets. As I write this, the Democrat convention is starting, and it sounds as if protests may threaten there, too.

Oddly enough, on this weekend between the two conventions, I finished reading Golleen McCullough’s book, Bittersweet. She writes about Australia, with her most famous work The Thorn Birds, a great book, being made into a very good movie some years ago.

Bittersweet deals in part with politics, around the 1930s, and indicates things were not much different “down under” than they are in the United States. The book was published by Simon & Schuster in 2014. There, unlike the GOP candidate’s wife, I cannot be accused of plagiarism!

She writes: “Under the skin, they (the candidates) are all alike, despite their political differences - and those can be assumed or discarded in a trice. Politics has to be played like a game, and those who throw themselves into it wholeheartedly are bound to be cruelly disillusioned. For it isn’t a fair or clean game. It’s a tissue of lies - deceptions - personal ambitions - false hopes. It’s devoid of ethics or morality and designed to give victory to the unprincipled.”

With the candidates of both major parties so strongly disliked by huge numbers of citizens, and campaigns marred by “fixed “ charges in both cases, a thought crept into my weary brain uninvited. Having listened to interviews with both vice-presidential candidates, wouldn’t a lot of us rather have a choice for president be between Gov. Mike Pence, Republican, and Sen. Tim Kaine, Democrat? Each seems steadier and less offensive than the chosen candidates.

Then again, vetting for the office might unearth some previously unknown skeletons or character flaws.

Long exposure to public scrutiny seems to reveal something about everybody.

Latest causality seems to be the head of the Democrat National Committee, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, whose E-mails revealed her efforts to “fix” the outcome. It isn’t fair of me to mention it, but her name always reminded me of the medical test with the same name, except for another “n” at the end.

You can look it up. And it probably does not represent present day medical progress in testing.

Perhaps contributing to my malaise is the long, hot summer we are experiencing.

And I notice we can blame it on the corn crop here in the Midwest. Apparently every acre of corn sweats off between 3,000 and 4,000 gallons of water each hot summer day!

Stay cool, crop!