It’s September 16, 2016. It’s 53 days until the election and 100 days until Christmas.

And it’s Friday. Which means it’s 20 Questions Friday, my effort to put my wisdom for the week into interrogatory form. This is done for your information, your entertainment and your love of quizzes.

Here we go:

— Hey, Trump supporters and enablers, what’s the word – hint, it begins with a “c” and ends with “oward” – that describes who shifts a notable position he’s held about the President of the United States, attributes it falsely to his opponent – and then runs away from reporters without answering questions?

— Isn’t it ridiculous that any attention should be paid to Trump’s position on whether President Obama was born in the United States?

— Should President Obama be honored or thrilled that Trump deigns to agree that he was born in the United States?

— Why does sarcasm, such as the previous question, drip? Is it wet?

— Shouldn’t CNN, Fox News and MSNBC send Trump a bill for the ad he got them to run for his new Washington hotel?

— Who really thinks Trump would pay that bill, either?

— Should Hillary Clinton offer Trump a $5 million donation to his, ahem, foundation if he can prove she started the birther movement?

— What possible negative question could I ask about Hillary Clinton so I can show “balance” after the Trump debacle of the last 24 hours? Or the last 13 months, for that matter?

— Does the fact that the first eight (now, nine) questions in this week’s 20 Questions show how pissed I am about Trump?

— How clueless did Samsung have to be for the Consumer Product Safety Commission to step in and conduct the recall of fire-possible Galaxy Note 7 phone?

— Do you think Christoph Waltz is wondering if he put a match to his career with those dopey Galaxy Note 7 commercials that ran during the Olympics?

— With the release of Oliver Stone’s “Snowden” movie, am I in a minority in not seeing this guy as any great hero?

— Does this New York Times piece on the new National African-American History and Culture make you as eager to go here as I am? 

— Why would any sane person go to Missouri after its legislature overrode the governor’s veto and enacted insane gun legislation? 

— Does anybody know the combination to the gym lock in my kitchen?

— As the Mets try to secure a National League Wild Card game berth, what team should I root for in their head-to-head series – the Giants, who are a game ahead of the Mets, or the Cardinals, who are a game behind?

— As good as the numbers were in this week’s Census Bureau report on income, poverty and health insurance coverage, won’t it be hard for Democrats to capitalize on something so wonky and abstract? 

— What becomes of the brokenhearted? (Third in a series of song-title questions)

— Have the leaves started to turn where you are?

— Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?

1. It’s Thursday, September 15, 2016. We’re halfway through the month and 54 days from the election.

2. The lead Hillary Clinton held over Trump through much of August has narrowed, if not closed altogether, according to some recent polls.

Nate Silver, the mastermind of fivethirtyeight.com and statistical journalism, seems to believe Democrats don’t take this narrowing seriously. He says as much in one of a series of tweets this morning – one that also wonders if the narrowing is a sign that recent events have dampened Clinton’s supporters’ enthusiasm.

3. I stopped thinking Trump was a joke late last year.

When this campaign started, I liked the idea of calling him Donny. It just seemed annoying enough – you can imagine the underlying red in his face with the overlapping orange blending into a full-blown firehead.

But he stopped being funny when he won Republican primaries and survived.

What’s lost in all this is what the American people need when there’s an election. A discussion of real issues and how candidates will deal with them.

Hillary Clinton keeps playing by that book. She thinks that putting out plans and offering ideas for solving problems and making Americans’ lives better is how you’re supposed to run for President.

She’s right, of course.

So Nate Silver’s comments should be a wake-up call for Democrats. Believe the numbers. He’s not making this stuff up – he’s basing it on polling from organizations with firm reputations and, despite what Trump says, no bias.

4. And it’s time to go back to what makes Hillary Clinton the best qualified candidate for President in 2016 – and one of the best ever.

She’s smart. She knows what she’s talking about. She’s taken blows from all sides and she’s still standing.

She needs to double down on that.

Clinton might be able to win the election by painting Trump as the dangerous demagogue he is.

But she’ll crush the jackass if she can make people understand why she should be President.

Here’s one counterintuitive tip: Limit the campaign in places where she’ll draw enthusiastic crowds. She’ll get warm greetings among in community college auditoriums where people of varied races and ethnicities show up. She’ll get a big turnout when speaking to groups of women, for whom she represents the hope of breaking the ultimate glass ceiling.

5. But Clinton should take on the doubters.

She should campaign in parts of critical states where she isn’t popular. She should go to VFW halls in rural Ohio. She should speak to farmers in North Carolina. She should talk to factory workers in Iowa.

She should tell them why she’d be a good President for them. She should take on the skeptics and answer questions. She should show off her fearlessness and her intelligence. If crowds persist in shouting up Trump, then she should explain why he’s bad for them.

But the emphasis should be on what Clinton will do to make Americans’ lives better. To show that she understands that the economic recovery hasn’t reached everyone. To reiterate, without equivocation, that America is great – that its diversity, its tolerance, its innovation are what separate it from the rest of the world.

Yes, Clinton is right – at least half of Trump’s supporters are a “basket of deplorables.” I know. I live around them. Their antipathy toward anyone who doesn’t fit into their group is tangible.

Yes, Trump is the most dangerous presidential candidate in American history. Should he win, we will have become supplanted as the world’s No. 1 power by a Russia that would like nothing better than to have a manipulable dope in the White House.

But for Clinton to win, she has to prove why she should be President – and not why Trump shouldn’t be. By definition, you go to the polling place and vote FOR someone. You are not asked who you don’t want.

Clinton needs America to want her. That’s how she should go after this.

1. It’s Tuesday, September 13, 2016. The election is 56 days away.

2. You know all that presidential campaign talk about how Americans are working harder and making less money?

The less money part is now less true.

The Census Bureau announced this morning that the nation’s median household income rose 5.2% last year, the biggest single-year jump since the government began accumulating data in 1967. The gains cover all demographics and regions of the country.

If anything, different groups might begrudge the gains of others. Hispanics saw their income rise 6.1%, while Asians only got a 3.7% boost. Those between age 35 and 44 got a 7%, twice the rate of increase as my 55-to-64 group. Of course.

Still, a raise is better than a drop. And drop is what median income has been doing since 2007, as the recession got underway.

And income wasn’t the only good news about this report. There’s the biggest drop in the poverty rate since 1999. And 4 million fewer people don’t have health insurance.

3. It would be an understatement to say the Obama administration is ecstatic about this.

Up to now, the administration has had an uphill climb in its effort to boost the economy. It came into office amid the worst recession since the Great Depression. And Congress, whether in the hands of Republicans or reluctant Democrats, has been of zero help for most of the eight years.

And yet, the stimulus package, the push for infrastructure improvement, the drive toward more renewable energy and the oft-cursed Affordable Care Act have finally resulted in impressive gains.

The trick, of course, will be to keep going. The White House says it’s confident the 2016 figures will be strong. But after that, the economy will be in the hands of someone else.

You can bet Obama will tout these numbers for the next 56 days as he pushes to have Hillary Clinton succeed him.

And the Clinton campaign, rather than focus on the latest Trump stupidity, should double down on this: While median household income is up for the first time in eight years, it’s still below the peak. That peak was reached in 1999 – when Bill Clinton sat in the Oval Office.

4. All Hillary Clinton’s pneumonia represents is bad timing.

It’s a wonder presidential candidates, who travel constantly in the germ factories that are airplane cabins and shake the hands of people who may have just coughed into them, don’t get sick all the time.

And, like so many other workers in and out of politics, Clinton didn’t feel she had time to let illness slow her down. She paid for it Sunday with the wobbliness at Ground Zero, and that led to the revelation about the pneumonia.

Now if it leads her to be a little more forthcoming about her health, that’s not bad. For one thing, it answers the meatballs who have given her every disease and affliction known to the human race. In fact, it’s surprising that the Trump supporters haven’t speculated about hairballs and ringworm.

Sometimes the Clinton people flinch at the idea that she should reveal more about herself. But here’s the thing: We’re coming off eight years of a president whose been seen draining a 20-foot jumper. And if you want to be non-partisan, his predecessor was supposedly a fanatic about jogging around the White House.

Americans not only want to know that their President is healthy, they want to know how he – and if Clinton wins, she – gets that way.

The Clinton people should, as soon as they can, release more details about her current condition. And I think they should disclose what she does to maintain her health.

No, it’s not as important as being a knowledgeable leader and having ideas for change. But it’s a good way to show people the clearly better candidate.

It’s September 9, 2016. It’s 60 days before the election. It’s my son’s 22nd birthday.

And, because it’s Friday, it’s time for 20 Questions Friday. I’ll ask some questions that have been on my mind for the past week. You can answer them, not answer them, point to them and say “What idiot would ask that?” (which would leave you with 19 questions to go)

Enjoy your weekend. Here goes:

— In a race in a full glass of champagne, which would rise to the top faster, a bubble or Matt Lauer?

— How about that Trevor Siemian? (DISCLAIMER: Mr. Siemian and I attended the same best-in-the-world educational institution, although not at the same time)

— If Trump somehow wins, will President Obama join the Adamses (and, of course, the guys who died in office) as the only Presidents not to show up at their successors’ inauguration?

— How pissed are those 36 people who spent the night trapped in a cable car above Mont Blanc?

— Doesn’t not knowing anything about Aleppo disqualify Gary Johnson as a presidential candidate, even if he’s only running on a third-party ticket?

— Is anybody going to see the “Sully” movie?

— Was the “Commander-in-Chief Forum” debacle a blessing in disguise, possibly leading to three serious presidential debates?

— Isn’t it a little early for pumpkin stuff on menus?

— Will Tim Tebow ever play a game for the Mets in Citi Field?

— Do you think the fake Wells Fargo accounts opened by employees had better interest rates than the real ones opened by customers?

— Does Kim Jong-Un have a death wish?

— If you’re a part of my generation, do you miss Howard Johnson’s?

— If you’re not a part of my generation, do you know what Howard Johnson’s is? 

— Is anyone ever going to call Trump out when he keeps saying he was always opposed to the war in Iraq?

— Does anybody really think a ring-through-the-nostrils looks good?

— Other than watching your team win a championship, is there anything better in baseball than watching young players develop into great players?

— So how do you think Roger Ailes is spending the weekend?

— Who, if anyone, is excited about iPhone 7?

— Wouldn’t it be nice? (Second in a series of song-title questions)

— Can the Mets hold this playoff spot for three more weeks?

1. It’s Wednesday, September 7, 2016. The election is 62 days away.

2. Today is mathematically correct.

3. Roger Ailes apparently doesn’t plan to just cash his $40 million Fox News severance check and retire.

The New York Times says Ailes’ lawyers deny what was widely reported yesterday, that the Dr. Frankenstein of right-wing TV news is paying part of the network’s $20 million settlement with Gretchen Carlson. She’s the former Fox News host who sued the network alleging that Ailes sexually harassed her. 

As part of the settlement, parent company 21st Century Fox apologized to Carlson for the way she was treated. That treatment was not explicitly attributed to Ailes, but since that was her allegation, it’s a pretty fair conclusion.

Ailes’ lawyers are also on an offensive – a good word to describe anything involving this overgrown slug – against Gabriel Sherman. His story for New York magazine details how Carlson got the goods on Ailes by taping incriminating conversations, and how other women at Fox described his harassment of them.

There are indications that Ailes is planning to sue Sherman and New York. He’s retained the same lawyer who successfully sued Gawker on behalf of Hulk Hogan, resulting in the demise of the gossip site.

Ailes isn’t saying anything himself. He has been counseling Trump ahead of the presidential debates.

You would think he would slink away. He’s been given the opportunity to hide somewhere with his money and live out his days.

I guess once you’re addicted to being a serial jackass, it’s hard to kick the habit.

4. President Obama’s trip to Asia didn’t go perfectly.

There’s confusion about whether he was dissed by the Chinese in his arrival at the G-20 summit in Hangzhou. And there was the whole flap with the moron who’s president of The Philippines.

But the President was there to sign the Paris climate change accord and put the United States on the roster of civilization trying to combat this scourge.

And he demonstrated our nation’s responsibility when he visited Laos, where the United States left millions of unexploded bombs during the Vietnam War era, killing and maiming thousands of people.

Obama didn’t apologize – I’m sure his critics will say he did, again. But he put this country on the side of doing right, something it hasn’t always done.

That will be his foreign policy legacy. The outreach to people and places that the U.S. has treated brusquely for most of its rise to empire. If those countries don’t want that outreach – we’re talking the Philippines and North Korea – it is their loss.

1. It’s Tuesday, September 6, 2016. The election is 63 days away.

2. Fox News thought better of the idea of a protracted legal battle with Gretchen Carlson. So, instead of pressing to enforce its claim that her sexual harassment suit against the network go to arbitration, it settled for $20 million, according to Vanity Fair. 

But not only is parent company 21st Century Fox paying off Carlson – it’s apologizing for the way she was treated. “We sincerely regret and apologize for the fact that Gretchen was not treated with the respect and dignity that she and all of our colleagues deserve,” the company said in a statement. 

The settlement comes not long after Gabriel Sherman’s disturbing piece for New York magazine about former Fox News chief Roger Ailes, painting a picture of a serial sexual harasser for almost a half century. Sherman says that Carlson had a weapon on her own – she secretly recorded incriminating conversations with Ailes. 

Ailes didn’t like Sherman’s piece. He hired the lawyer who took down Gawker and is said to be mulling a suit against New York.

But here’s the problem for Ailes. One, his employer has settled with Carlson and apologized for the misbehavior attributed to Ailes. Two, there are indications Ailes is on the hook for some of the $20 million that Carlson’s getting. 

That’s going to make it hard to prove that Sherman doesn’t have at least some of what he wrote right.

3. It’s great that Carlson won this battle for dignity, and actually won it fairly convincingly. It was only two months ago that this whole controversy broke into the open – often, stuff like this takes months and years to come to resolution.

The settlement gives her an opportunity. TV networks and newsrooms of all kinds aren’t the only workplaces where women are sexually harassed. It happens all over the country, and often to women who don’t feel empowered to fight back.

A woman who’s won big over a powerful media outlet can be quite a symbol for others who don’t have her resources but certainly match her problem.

Carlson is politically conservative. She worked on Fox News. She once implied that Ted Kennedy was a hostile enemy of the United States because he opposed funding for the Iraq troop surge. A member of the Bush White House team actually disputed her characterization. 

But this doesn’t seem to be a conservative-liberal thing. Respect isn’t political. Or it shouldn’t be.  Respect is basic human civility, and a workplace in which women don’t feel comfortable should be unacceptable to everyone.

Carlson, in her statement released by 21st Century Fox, seems to be on track. “I’m ready to move on to the next chapter of my life in which I will redouble my efforts to empower women in the workplace,” she said. “All women deserve a dignified and respectful workplace in which talent, hard work and loyalty are recognized, revered and rewarded.”

4. The new president of The Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, is a jackass.

What he did over the weekend, dissing President Obama, is only a microscopic part of why. He and Obama were supposed to meet during a regional summit in Laos. But if Obama brought up a Filipino crackdown supposed to target drug dealers, Duterte would call the President a Tagalog curse that means “son of a whore,” according to The New York Times.

Obama, who only has 4-1/2 months left as President, doesn’t think he wants to waste any of it talking to a crackpot. So he canceled the meeting.

Now, of course, that he looks like the fool he is, Duterte is apologizing. But, instead of having his stature raised by being seen with the most respected figure in the world, he’s reduced himself and his country in the eyes of the world.

Duterte’s crackdown is a serious matter. Estimates put the death toll at around 2,000, as Duterte has empowered police and vigilantes to take justice into their own hands. That thing about giving the accused a trial is too annoying for him to deal with.

So Obama was right to cancel. And because the United States remains an important part of Filipino life – the country was an American colony until 1946 – giving Duterte any sort of standing until reason bites him in the butt is unacceptable.

The U.S. should treat Duterte the way it treats other tinhorns – as clowns on the world stage, undermining their standing with the people of their country.

If Duterte wants to see what happens with that sort of treatment, he need only look at Venezuela, which is on the verge of revolution in the wake of the oil price collapse. The Obama administration, insulted by the late President Hugo Chavez and his successor, isn’t about to help them out.

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.