It’s Monday, September 5, 2016.

It’s Labor Day – so a happy one to all workers.

It’s also the last day of psychological summer. That’s why few holidays are quite as sad as this one.

And, of course, it’s 64 days until the election.

One word you associate with this time of year is kickoff.

The college football season began this past weekend – although Northwestern losing to Western Michigan makes me want a do-over. The NFL season begins Thursday night, for those few of you interested in it.

The school year kicks off here in my neck of the woods this week. In many places, school began weeks ago, which just doesn’t seem right to me.

And every leap year, Labor Day traditionally kicks off the home stretch of the presidential election campaign. To which, in 2016, a loud “hallelujah” resounds across the land.

Because this campaign seems to have gone on for-goddamn-ever. In fact, it’s almost hard to believe we’re going to actually vote for the person who gets sworn in as President of the United States on Jan. 20, 2017.

Having already written thousands of words about this campaign, what’s a few hundred more? Here are two ideas that have been bouncing through my head as we reach the turn.

I. GOVERNING AND NO GOVERNING

Here’s the difference between Democrats and Republicans, and why the situation – if not the morality – favors Republicans.

Democrats believe in government. They believe that while there are times and ways government can be oppress, if guided correctly, it can do great good for great numbers of people.

It’s why Democrats brag of their triumphs: Social Security, Medicare, the civil rights movement. It’s why Democrats see health care reform as another stone in the pyramid of American civilization.

Republicans – or, at least, 21st century Republicans – don’t believe government is for anything but providing for the military. It should not be doing anything to help people – that’s a role for people themselves to handle by themselves.

Because Democrats like government, they bend over backwards to make it work. They have this belief that if they could just get a few Republicans to sign on, we could tackle all the problems of the nation and leave the weekends free for football games.

Republicans, because they don’t like government, will do anything to thwart it. That explains the Clinton impeachment, the Benghazi hearings, Fast and Furious (remember that?), the Garland nomination, and so on.

This impasse comes to a head in the 2016 election.

Hillary Clinton is the ultimate government do-gooder. She wants to solve problems left, right and center. And she has this crazy notion that she can work with Republicans – she did it before – to get things done.

Trump wants nothing done – other than build the goddamn wall. He wants to keep Muslims and Mexicans out. He wants to disengage the United States from the rest of the world, except in cases where he can send the military in the event of a flare-up. He wants to give police free reign because he doesn’t want to be bothered listening to the grievances of people in need.

And that’s how his supporters feel. Don’t give anything to anyone. Everybody’s gettin’ free stuff.

This election is a test of the two philosophies. The anti-government position is so extreme that even some Republicans who have worked in government have cast their lot with Clinton.

But that anti-government position is strong. It’s why nothing gets done, and it has the advantage of being the default position. You need some drive to do things, and this aging nation – check out the average age of Trump supporters – doesn’t really have that kind of drive.

Kids and those slightly older, on the other hand, want to do stuff – when they’re motivated.

That will be the key to how this election goes.

II. HILLARY CLINTON HAS TO WIN THE ELECTION

That is not the same thing as Trump has to lose the election.

Yes, Trump has to lose. There’s little doubt that his election would be a nightmare for a country marching tentatively forward into the middle of the 21st century.

But when I say Clinton has to win, it’s meant to put the impetus on her. She can’t just be our anything-but-Trump President, who we elected because we were terrified about what this guy and the people who support would do with real power.

Being the United States of America isn’t easy. We are the world’s most important nation. That’s not just our usual bragging. Every other nation – even those whose aspire to supplant us – need the strength of our financial system and our military to maintain themselves.

So the people of this country need a President who is more than just not Trump. They need a leader. Someone who understands the problems and challenges America faces, and who is willing to lead on important matters such as infrastructure, climate change, income inequality and the global fight against terrorism.

They need someone who can capture the imagination of the people of the nation and remind them that we are a country of doers. We don’t hide from a challenge – we confront it and conquer it.

Hillary Clinton can be that leader. She’s certainly smart enough. And if she doesn’t know the answer, she seems to embrace the idea that someone else might.

So what she needs to do in the next 64 days is make Americans want her to be their President. Not just not want Trump. Want. Her.

It’s a tall order. Trump is the biggest noise machine in American history. He’ll throw up stuff to sully her reputation, to echo the cabbages who support him with their Hillary for Prison memes and suggestions that she’s not physically able for the job.

But, like few other people in my lifetime, she exudes presidency. She’s handled herself and situations like a Commander-in-Chief since she was First Lady. She’s calm, self-assured and knowledgeable.

She has to show all that, in spades, at the debates and on the campaign trail.

Hillary Clinton needs to show off. She needs to eliminate all doubt that she’s the smartest person in the room. She’s a leader, and the other guy is a fake. And she needs to demonstrate that leadership over and over again.

And not just once she’s won on Nov. 8. Presidencies shouldn’t be something you get by default. She needs to make her mark and set the course. That’s why she needs to win, and not just be the other one standing when Trump falls.

You know who Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln and the Roosevelts are. Most of you have no idea what Pierce, Arthur, Harding or Ford did.

Being the first woman President would certainly assure Hillary Clinton a place in history. But if she is to be remembered in 2116, she needs to assert herself on how she’ll extend America’s greatness.

That starts with this campaign, this final push for the White House. Yeah, Hillary Clinton can win by being not Trump. But that would not be enough for someone this talented. She needs to win by being Hillary Clinton, showing her vision of the nation’s future and inspiring people to follow her.

It’s a tall order. It’s not undoable.

It’s September 2, 2016, and 67 days until the election. Welcome to 20 Questions Friday, when I decide to ask questions for the sake of asking questions. It’s a different way of thinking and a chance to tie up any loose ends from the week.

Have a great holiday weekend, and here we go:

— How great would life be if, on Nov. 9, Donald Trump has lost and there really is a taco truck on every corner? 

— Are there really people in this country who watched Trump’s Mexican debacle on Wednesday and said to themselves “Now that’s leadership”?

— What is the percentage of Americans who are descended from slaveowners?

— Are your Labor Day weekend plans affected by Hermine?

— Will the taco trucks on every corner sell only tacos, or will there also be enchiladas, flautas and tostadas?

— Is a report showing 151,000 jobs added in August a disappointment or a reflection of the fact that the U.S. economy might not be growing as quickly as we believed?

— Do you think “Uh-oh, Zika virus” every time you find a mosquito bite on your body?

— Would it bother you if you knew that one of your ancestors was a slaveowner?

— Can expired epinephrene in EpiPens be recycled to help bring down the cost?

— How much does kids going back to school diminish the Labor Day weekend?

— When will Dixie Chicks release another album?

— Are you as disappointed as I am that someone from PBS, such as Judy Woodruff or Gwen Ifill, isn’t among the presidential debate moderators?

— Does anybody still use Bosco?

— Is there a portable dome that you can bring for use if there’s bad weather at your outdoor event?

— Did wearing socks with pigs in police outfits diminish or enhance Colin Kaepernick’s position on not standing for the National Anthem?

— If Georgetown is offering preferential admission consideration to the descents of people it sold into slavery, should others descended from slaveowners do something similar?

— Who came up with the stupid idea that people – especially women – shouldn’t wear white after Labor Day?

— How deep is the ocean? (First in a series of question song title questions)

— What’s the most memorable thing you’ve ever done on Labor Day weekend?

— Will the taco trucks on every corner if Trump loses also sell those Mexican sodas that are so popular?

1. It’s Thursday, September 1, 2016. The election is 68 days away. The year is two-thirds over.

2. It’s the beginning of what the National Weather Service calls “meterological fall.” Phooey.

3. When this week started, I mentioned how it’s normally a quiet one news-wise, with so many people on vacation ahead of Labor Day.

I also said there was a chance that quiet would be shattered by a presidential candidate incapable of controlling his craving for headlines.

Alas, that brings us to the last 36 hours.

The scramble to find out if Trump was really going to Mexico ahead of a speech on immigration in Arizona. The announcement that he was really going to do this. The trip to Mexico City. The meeting with President Enrique Peña Nieto. The news conference that made it seem like Trump acted like a president – except that he said Mexico paying for his wall didn’t come up and Nieto said it did. The Arizona speech where Trump acted like Trump, yelling, talking tough.

Sound and fury signifying nothing.

4. But, when afflicted by insomnia around 3 a.m., I checked The New York Times app for the iPad, the first page was covered in Trump in Mexico stories. And then there was another one on the second page.

As if nothing else happened yesterday or early today. As if something was actually accomplished. As if one of the problems of the nation or the world was resolved.

I’m hoping to write about the election over the weekend as we kick off the two-month run from Labor Day to Election Day.

But one of the problems here is that, no matter how hard we try by going away from vacation or getting the kids back to school, we still can’t away from Trump.

He’s on TV or in the news. Every. Single. Goddamn. Day.

It’s tiring. It’s depressing. Is there anyone who doesn’t want this election to be over?

And will it be over when it’s supposed to be? Even if Hillary Clinton wins in a landslide, will Trump pull some stunt on Jan. 20 to upstage the inauguration? Would you put it past him?

5. The problem is also the acquiescence of journalists. In this case, the Times – which is my go-to source for news.

You can’t tell me it was such a slow news day that the Trump debacle warranted six or seven prominently placed stories on the app. (To be fair, it’s merely the top story on the Web site, with a big photo and a few sidebars.)

The Times itself had a great examination of how the supposedly anti-authority WikiLeaks seems to benefit Russia with each disclosure of documents, most of them pilfered from governments or political parties.

I don’t see why Trump’s debacle supersedes the announcement by Georgetown University that it will give preferential consideration to the descendants of 272 people it sold into slavery in the 19th century.

There’s the conviction of Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff and the challenges facing her successor, Michel Temer. There’s a terrific story by my friend and former colleague, Katie Benner, about a suspected fraud case that’s roiling Silicon Valley.

The point is that, even in this quiet week before Labor Day, there is real news in the world. Trump’s stunt Wednesday was worth covering. You can argue it’s the lead story.

It didn’t deserve to bigfoot everything else going on. It’s how Trump has campaigned from the very start.

1. It’s Wednesday, August 31, 2016. The election is 69 days away. The end of the year is 122.

2. There must be some mind game that Trump is playing with us in which this whirlwind trip to Mexico makes sense.

Is he trying to prove he can meet the president of Mexico on short notice? OK. Not sure what that accomplishes, but hey.

Is he cramming before he gives his scheduled speech on immigration tonight in Arizona? I don’t know how it goes at Fordham and Penn, but cramming usually doesn’t work. If you don’t know the facts about Mexico by now, you probably should have spent the time reading the books you have no patience for, instead of tweeting gossip about Morning Joe.

Does it make Trump look presidential? I suppose it does to the people with the Trump signs in their yard.

Normally speaking, though, when a leader travels outside his or her country, you would hope there would be some understandable agenda. If all Trump is doing is meeting the Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto at the palace and then flying back, then it’s just a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.

We’ll know in a few hours how this all goes down. As with everything else Trump, he’s determined to be the center of attention today, too.

3. Speaking of planes flying south, the first commercial flight from the U.S. to Cuba in 55 years landed this morning.

It was a JetBlue jet from Fort Lauderdale to Santa Clara, and was the first of what will soon be scores of daily flights from this country to one that has been verboten to Americans since the days of the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

I imagine there are two types of Americans who would want to visit Cuba.

The most prominent would be those of Cuban descent who would either be visiting their native land for the first time since fleeing it, or those born here looking for never-seen relatives. From a humanitarian viewpoint, that’s the best thing about the thaw in relations between the two countries.

The other group is the one inspired by “The Godfather, Part II,” “Guys and Dolls” and other films. It’s the lure of a Havana with crazy drinks, great music and wild dancing. It’s driving through a city – in a vintage American muscle car – that hasn’t changed much since Fidel Castro took over in 1959.

I don’t know that Cuba is high on my list of places to visit. But I am a little curious. Some of you who might be a little more curious might find the lure of the island too much to resist.

1. It’s Tuesday, August 30, 2016. It’s 70 days until the election.

2. I don’t want to say Twitter is strange. But both Thurgood Marshall and Larry the Cable Guy are trending right now.

Are there two less likely people to be in the same sentence?

3. Can you think of anything that’s more of a waste of time than a debate about how someone marks the playing of the National Anthem?

Why does anyone care whether Colin Kaepernick stands or sits for the anthem? Did he weaken the defense of the nation? Was the gross domestic product diminished?

Now, Kaepernick says he’s making a statement by not standing for the anthem, saying he believes he can’t while there is racial inequality in the land. And he’s expressing a viewpoint, for which he’s as entitled as anyone else.

And here’s what gives his statement more power:  the whining of people complaining that he did what he did.

Here’s the proof: The football game in which Kaepernick sat through the anthem was Friday. Today is Tuesday.

We’re still talking about it. We’re still talking about the fact that one of thousands of people in a stadium didn’t stand for the two minutes it takes for whoever sang the anthem to sing it.

In fact, there’s a good chance that 50 or 60 years from now, when Colin Kaepernick leaves this vale of tears, this whole flap might be higher in his obituary than the Super Bowl game he won for the 49ers.

The National Anthem is a song. Not an especially good one, by the way – I wish Ellington, Gershwin or Brian Wilson would have come up with something better.

But because it’s the National Anthem, it is a touchstone. For some reason, people care whether other people stand or sit or take off their hat or put their hand over their heart.

They also care immensely about the performance. Jose Feliciano faced opprobrium surpassing Kaepernick’s when he sang a non-traditional version of the anthem at the 1968 World Series. 

But then we look back at Feliciano’s performance with almost reverence. And we realize that, much like the nation it represents, the anthem is different things to different people.

None of them are wrong. You are free to do what you want when the National Anthem is performed where you are. Many Americans think of the men and women who have sacrificed their lives for this country, and that’s great. Many Americans burst with pride at the accomplishments of a nation whose people are so diverse.

Then there are Americans like Colin Kaepernick, who believe America has yet to live up to the standards it has set, and that’s fine, too.

And thus I have wasted my time and yours over the past 14 paragraphs, including this one.

4. “The Producers” is my favorite movie comedy. And while Gene Wilder is the co-star and was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor, he seemed glad to let Zero Mostel, Kenneth Mars and Dick Shawn outshine him in the Mel Brooks classic.

He was clearly a talented actor. He made people laugh, and for that he made the world better.

Congratulations to Mr. Wilder on a life well lived.

1. It’s Monday, August 29, 2016. The election is 71 days away.

2. When I was a working journalist – we’re now talking two years ago – this week was considered similar to the week between Christmas and New Year’s.

It was the week most in demand for vacations, especially among colleagues with school-age kids. It was either the week to get ready for the new school year or, for the older parents, the week to send the kids off to college.

Those without kids took the week off because they could extend their time – Labor Day is a week from today, and that’s a holiday for just about everyone.

The news flow usually helped. Other people had the same family issues. So, the President – whoever he was – usually spent the week wherever he usually vacationed. Wall Street endured its quietest week of the year so far. Companies didn’t realize news. Congress was in recess.

So it was quiet.

3. Not sure if that’ll be the case in 2016.

On the plus side, for the first election year since 2004, there’s no political convention this week. Someone finally wised up to the idea that maybe there aren’t enough people paying attention this week.

On the minus side is this particular election year.

You got the guy, Trump, who seems determined to capture the news cycle no matter what. I wouldn’t put it past him to moon somebody in order to grab a headline, under the  premise that there’s no bad publicity if they spell your name right.

This weekend was a prime example. The tweet attempting to use the murder of basketball star Dwyane Wade’s cousin as a lure for African-American voters seemed almost as if someone hacked his account. It was tone deaf to the point of near sabotage.

I would think the idea that nothing like that will happen this week – heck, will happen later today – is, as they say in gambling, off the board. No one would bet against it.

Then you got the gal, Secretary Clinton. She’s going to do her damnedest to make this a no-news week. But, until she does something to put all her e-mail questions to bed once and for all, there’s always the chance that another headline that detracts her from the campaign message will grab the spotlight.

For my sake, for your sake, for the sake of my friends who are working in newsrooms while their colleagues enjoy their vacations, I hope it’s a quiet week.

It’s August 26, 2016, 74 days until the election.

And, after a one-week hiatus, it’s time for 20 Questions Friday.

I ask a bunch of questions. The reader is free to answer, or at least think about them.

Here we go:

— If you were Hillary Clinton, would you do what she did in her speech yesterday and give Republicans an opportunity to repudiate Trump’s racism, or would you have gone “You broke it, you own it” on them?

— Who is the imbecile who thought banning Muslim women from wearing burkinis on a French beach was a good idea?

— Does anyone, other than business journalists and bankers, know what’s going on in Jackson Hole, Wyo., this weekend?

— Who’s for scrapping Halloween this year? Next year? Every year from now on?

— Can you imagine the look on Shinzo Abe’s face when somebody told him the proposal for his Super Mario entrance at the Rio Olympics closing ceremony?

— Is there hope for the Mets this season?

— Do you think there are drug companies watching how Mylan jacked up EpiPen prices and wondering if they have products for which they can do the same thing?

— What was the worst year for popular music?

— Why would my local independent league baseball team here in New York’s northern suburbs hold a promotion featuring the Phillie Phanatic, the sport’s stupidest mascot?

— Should Hillary Clinton hold a news conference, or are she and the voters better served when she does interviews like the one she did with Anderson Cooper this week?

— How does a 66-year-old guy perform a 3-hour, 52-minute high energy rock show, and then come back to the same stage two nights later and perform for 3 hours and 59 minutes?

— Do older people still tell toddlers they’ve stolen their nose, or have toddlers wised up?

— Does Trump ever do a campaign appearance where he doesn’t stand in front of a podium with his name on it in big letters?

— Rudy Van Gelder died this week. Are you aware of his amazing contribution to the history of jazz?

— Why is someone leaving crickets and worms on a New York City subway car any different from someone who feels compelled to bring their dog on the train?

— Do the forces that determine value in old stuff – like, say, VHS tapes – wait until I’ve thrown the stuff out before deciding that the stuff is now really valuable?

— Will President Obama and the First Lady cringe if and when they see “Southside With You,” the movie about their first date?

— Are your kids, or the kids in your community, back in school yet?

— Am I the only person who hasn’t had a really sweet ear of corn this summer?

— Do you believe that one reason I do this question post each week is that I have trouble remembering to put question marks at the end of questions.

1. It’s Thursday, August 25, 2016. It’s 75 days until the election.

2. It’s the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Park Service. Not only does the NPS oversee the sprawling parks such as Yellowstone and Great Smoky Mountains, but it also is custodian of monuments including the Statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore.

The Park Service says that, to celebrate, there are no fees from today through Sunday. I’m not sure how that works, but if you have a chance, go. Especially the parks. I’ve been to seven of them, and they are all unique experiences.

Of the seven national parks I’ve been to, the one that stands out is Haleakala in Hawaii. I think that’s as close as any of us will ever come to seeing what the moon’s like. It’s also cold, which is a word you don’t often use on the rest of Maui.

If you can’t take part in the NPS Centennial, make a note to visit a park or monument sometime soon. They’re wonderful, and among the greatest things about this country.

3. The most recent addition to the National Park Service roster was made this week by President Obama. It’s the Katahdin Woods in northern Maine.

The President, who clearly was a fan of “The West Wing,” took a page from the Jed Bartlet presidency and declared the land a national monument by use of the Antiquities Act. This way he could bypass the Republicans in Congress, who wouldn’t throw a life preserver to someone who was drowning if President Obama asked for it.

In this case, a family that made a fortune getting people to pay crazy money for lip balm – Burt’s Bees – donated the land and pledged support to make the park operational.

And, of course, Maine’s zucca of a governor, Paul LePage, raised all kinds of objections to the idea of federal control of the land. It’s amazing – these people who cry about individuals lose their freedom have a problem when individuals decide they want the nation to share in what they have.

Not sure I’ll ever get the opportunity to get to Katahdin Woods – I haven’t even been to Acadia, which is Maine’s great seashore national park. But I’m glad it’s there if I’m ever in the neighborhood.

4. Hillary Clinton called into Anderson Cooper’s CNN program last night. This was shortly after Trump accused her of being a bigot – somehow, he’s thinking there’s some way he can mitigate the almost unbelievable disadvantage he has with African-Americans and Latinos.

Cooper didn’t softball anything with Clinton. But she stayed pretty true to her honed answers on such matters as the Clinton Foundation and why she hasn’t held news conferences in nearly a year.

There was also an exchange on the e-mail questions. The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza thought it was her best response to this matter yet.

Here’s what she said: “I have been asked many, many questions in the past year about emails, and what I have learned is that when I try to explain what happened, it can sound like I am trying to excuse what I did. And there are no excuses. I want people to know that the decision to have a single account was mine. I take responsibility for it. I apologize for it.”

That’s good. For starters.

What she really needs to do is go into detail. Explain why she did it. Explain why she now understands it was not the right thing to do. Explain that it doesn’t matter what Colin Powell or Condoleezza Rice or, had there been e-mail at the time, George Washington did. And explain what she’ll do to make sure she and others don’t do anything like that again.

Once she does that, she’ll have really done all she can to get this over with. Calling Anderson Cooper or Rachel Maddow or whoever and repeating the long quote three paragraphs up won’t really do that.

1. It’s Wednesday, August 24, 2016. It’s 76 days until the election.

Of all the disasters that can befall us on this planet, earthquakes rank among the most capricious.

Yes, we know where the major fault lines lie. And Italy, devastated by this morning’s quake, is as prone to them as any place in the world.

But we have no idea when and how hard they’ll hit. They’re not like hurricanes, which we can track for days and warn people to get out of the way.

I suppose we could tell people not to live in earthquake-prone areas. A lot of folks avoid the whole state of California for that reason.

And yet, people choose to live where the ground tends to shake. For whatever reasons. And there’s nothing they can do when their devil’s bargain goes sour, and the lives they’ve created are reduced to rubble.

So today is a sad day. At this writing, there are at least 73 people dead, hundreds more injured, many still trapped in the ruins of what were gorgeous villages.

The people in the area will most likely rebuild their communities, because that’s what they’ve done for hundreds of years. They’re also Italians, which makes them a little hard-headed – I can say that. We can only wish them the best, and mourn those lost in a random moment when the earth shook.

2. If you know or – in my case – love someone who needs to carry an EpiPen, you understand that there’s no price too high for these potentially life-saving devices.

But that’s because I’m willing to go into bankruptcy so that I have the peace of mind that, should my wife ever need the epinephrine injection to save her life, she’s got it. A lot of folks who need – or whose kids need – these devices can’t or won’t do that.

Unfortunately, you know who else understands this. Mylan Labs, which makes the EpiPen. It has jacked up the price for a two-pack of the injection devices to more than $600 from about $100 less than a decade ago.

Now I know how inflation works. Using the government’s Consumer Price Index inflation calculator, something that cost $100 in 2007 should cost a little more than $116 this year. 

So, basically, EpiPens have risen more than 300 times faster than everything else.

Does that seem logical?

So the people at Mylan have a little explaining to do. It’s good to see that members of Congress from both parties are interested in getting their – and our – questions answered about this.

Maybe there’s something about the ingredients of epinephrine, or the composition of the injectable device itself, that warrants price increases this steep.

But if this is just a Martin Shkreli-style money grab, then Mylan needs to get the demonization it deserves. Hopefully, starting with its stock, which is down more than 7% in the past five trading days.

The rest of the pharmaceutical industry needs to show Mylan the back of its hand, too. Because all this is going to do is strengthen the hand of those who want to find ways to bring down drug prices that won’t make the industry happy at all.

Please don’t give me the crap about free markets and risk-taking and insurance coverage and fiduciary duties to shareholders. That’s not going to cut it with a family whose kid will die if it can’t afford access to an EpiPen.

At some point in this freaking century, the greed has to stop. Hopefully, the EpiPen Scandal of 2016 will help do that.

1. It’s Tuesday, August 23, 2016. It’s 77 days until the election.

2. The latest Hillary Clinton e-mail stuff reenforces what I’ve said for months: She needs to get past this.

Because it’s not enough for Trump to lose this election. She has to win it.

What I mean is that people should want to vote for her as much as they don’t want Trump anywhere closer to the White House than that hotel he’s building on Pennsylvania Avenue and 12th Street.

And the e-mail thing gets in the way. It makes it seem like there’s something she’s hiding.

The latest revelations aren’t particularly damning, but they do paint a picture of people involved with the Clinton Foundation trying to influence the then Secretary of State.

So, even though it appears she and her campaign aren’t listening to me, let me try this again:

3. Get it all out there. Now.

Yes, you might think there’s nothing to hide. But some of the people who are voting for you reluctantly have questions.

Answer them. Answer them the way you did when you answered every single damn question that the morons at the Benghazi committee threw at you for 11 hours.

That, Secretary Clinton, is when you shine. You put these imbeciles away and you make people realize, yet again, why you’re the good guy. That you are trying to do the people’s work and those who stand in your way aren’t.

Do a serious one-hour interview with a real journalist, a Gwen Ifill or Scott Pelley. Let them ask any question they want. Answer them all. With the truth – don’t try to fudge or play word games.

Or do a news conference, and let it go as long as it needs to. Two hours? No problem. Answer every question. Answer questions from Breitbart and Daily Caller and Fox News and anyone else. Stand there and stand firm. Tell the truth. Admit mistakes. Apologize for leaving the wrong impression or mishandling the situation.

And while you’re at it, try to blunt whatever it is that WikiLeaks might try to leak out just before Election Day in an effort to embarrass you, your husband and/or President Obama. Get whatever’s questionable, whatever’s iffy, whatever’s whatever out there ahead of the bastards who would bring you down.

Then, you can win this election on what really matters. The issues. Who will handle the economy best. Who will protect the nation best. Who will advance our society and raise our standard of living.

Those are the things about which Trump has no clue. You do. That’s what we should be talking about.

Not, as Bernie Sanders would say, your damn e-mails.

4. The heatwave that gripped greater New York the past few weeks has broken. But with the cooler temperatures comes the realization that summer is winding down.

I hate that. I love summer. I love the light. I relish the warmth, even when it’s a little excessive. So I always sense a tinge of sadness when the weather turns cooler. There’s the realization that this doesn’t last forever, unless you live in San Diego or Miami.

There are many places where kids are already back in school. Personally, I think going back to school before Labor Day borders on criminal, but I guess so does keeping them in school past the first day of summer at the other end.