Not only does today appear to be the last day of Fall around here, with the dreaded “Lake Effect Snow” warnings out (supposed to turn to shit sometime after midnight tonight), but it’s another day I dread – the start of shotgun season here in the Southern Tier of NY. So, come sunrise, I expect to hear an untold number of Elmer Fudds out there blasting away. Not only would I just as soon not catch a stray deer slug, I’m afraid for the dogs. It’s been a while since anybody made a break for it over the fence, but I’d hate for today to be the day. I can see some asshole mistaking them for deer, or one of our brave hunters shooting one of them down for chasing a deer (which the hunters enjoy doing because they’re so concerned for the welfare of the deer, of course, and not just because they like to kill things). All of which is legal, and even if it wasn’t, in Trump’s America, pretty much anything goes these days.

Speaking of the election, I guess I’m slowly getting to the point where I don’t wanna slit my wrists. Sorta.

For quite a while now, I’ve been using PocketCasts to download podcasts to listen to on my morning commute and also for use while doing things like weed whacking or cutting the grass. I’ve also started listening to them during the day at work now that I’m sequestered in my little jail cell of a cubicle (now I know why the Borg ship was shaped like a cube – conformity is compulsory, and resistance is futile; I guess it’s been good practice for what’s coming in January). Still, I have more hours of material than there are hours in the day available to listen, so I’m backed up quite a bit.

Presently, I’m into the end of June and Trump has secured the Republican nomination (and Clinton has the Democratic nomination locked up as well). With hindsight, it’s been fascinating (and rather chilling) to listen to people treat the Trump candidacy first as a joke and then with disbelief at what the Republicans had done. And of course with the certainty that there was no way he was going to become president. Knowing now how things would turn out, it’s really depressing.

What’s truly maddening, though, is listening to the pundits, talking heads, and comedians (mostly on NPR shows, so “comedy” is a relative term) treat Bernie Sanders as though he was some kind of a joke – a cranky, deranged old man spouting nonsense. I’ve heard a lot of talk over the past, what is it, year or so (seems like a hell of a lot longer than that) about how unfair Clinton was being treated (and I don’t disagree with that – it’s been shameful and disgusting), deriding her for her hair, her clothes, the way she spoke, her demeanor, the e-mail non-scandal, etc. But Bernie got pretty much the same treatment (though, obviously, he’s a white male and we’re a lot tougher to insult than people of color or females. I mean, you can call me a cracker or a mick or a kraut or even a McKraut all you want to it doesn’t bother me in the least – a different story back when “my people” got off the boat here back in the day, I’m sure).

But what’s annoying is hearing people talk about Bernie like he’s a joke – some deranged lunatic. Universal healthcare? Free college tuition? Corporate money out of politics? That’s crazy talk! So crazy that his message resonated with a lot of voters (especially the younger ones) and many of his proposals were adopted by Hillary Clinton and added to the Democratic platform.

Say what you want about him, he’s been a public servant for a lot of years, mostly on the right (and by that I mean “left”) side of things (not 100% – unfortunately nobody agrees with me 100%, which is too bad for the world – or from my perspective at least), and he’s been able to work with people on the “other side” (though I’m not sure that’s even possible any more – if it was before, it won’t be after this last election) to accomplish more than he’s been given credit for.

Whether or not you thought any of Bernie’s ideas were plausible given the the nature if the way our government works (and I use the term “works” loosely) and whether or not you thought Clinton made for a better candidate (we’ll have to agree to disagree on that one), I’d like to think that we can all agree that the Sanders campaign wasn’t some big joke and that Bernie was more than some wild-eyed ranting nutty old man. That doesn’t mean I think Hillary deserved all the crap that was thrown at her (or for the past, what, 20+ years for that matter). I’m pretty sure anybody whose brain has developed beyond the reptilian stage would agree that either Clinton or Sanders would at the very least have been able to hold off the Republican barbarians at the gate, if not actually make some small advances.

And I don’t even want to think about SCOTUS, the Attorney General, Secretary of the Interior….

If only elections were about competence and real issues – at least then even if somebody I had disagreements with got elected, I could at least respect them and the results. The way things are? Not so much.

God, this is just all too depressing. Plus if I have to listen to this “wrapper cheese” commercial one more time, I’m gonna go fucking nuts(er). Wake me when it’s over.

Oh well, big day today getting ready. Winter’s coming.