I love writing a blog like this, expressing my viewpoint on our world for your consideration.

I donate money to candidates. It heartens me to know I possess resources to help people who deserve public office achieve it.

But nothing, nothing gives me political satisfaction, nothing makes me feel as if I’ve accomplished something, like voting.

Which I did yesterday.

To be sure, there were about 50 people who did the same thing at Clarkstown, New York, Town Hall. I can’t speak for their level of accomplishment. And I suspect the majority of those in the room did not vote for the same people I did.

Doesn’t matter. I did it. I exercised my right as a citizen of the United States to help determine who represents me and who provides the services I pay for with my taxes.

And thanks to that ballot, the opinions expressed in this blog gain more credence. I put my franchise where my typing fingers sometimes take me. I stood on a line, filled in the circles on the ballot and made my views actually count. When the votes get counted Tuesday night and the numbers change on TV and computer screen, one of those will be me.

We live in one of those dysfunctional political thrillers of the past. What would happen if the President of the United States went insane? What would happen if a foreign power gained control of our government? What if, after more than a century, we turned on our devoted allies in an insulting and disgusting manner?

Too many of us still believe that it doesn’t matter. That it doesn’t affect them. That politics is only about people with the means and there’s nothing we can do to change that.

It might be easy to be cynical after 72-1/2 years. I never believed this country would actually restore Donald Trump to the White House after what he did in his first term. COVID. Stupid tax bills. Kissing up to Putin. Refusing to concede defeat when he lost to Joe Biden in 2020.

It remains a mystery how he won in 2016. A miserable failure in most everything he did. A miserable, unhappy human being who stiffed his contractors, displayed loyalty to no one but himself and anyone who paid him, played on racial and religious and sexual stereotypes. Treated women like objects for his pleasure.

Should have known better. This country elected Ronald Reagan, twice, in the 1980s. It elected Richard Nixon twice, It has elected men and women to Congress with the morals of a shark and the brains of a rock.

But I cling to the belief that I can change the world. That there is something I can do to stop the Titanic from sinking, to keep the runaway car from going off the cliff. To preserve a country I still believe is worth preserving.

And the bad guys believe it too. Yeah, a few hundred million dollars is something Elon Musk might find in an old jacket pocket. But he’s been spending it trying to preserve the Republican majorities in the House and Senate. His money is littering the roadside in nonsensical yard signs that will take until Christmas to remove. In nonstop TV ads that question the patriotism and humanity of people who want affordable healthcare and a sustainable environment.

So much crap has happened since January 20, 2025 – hell, since that day the orange fool rode down the escalator as his New York lair. And the way to begin – again, the word is begin – to clear this crap from our lives is to vote. To vote early if that’s more convenient. To vote Tuesday if that’s easier or the only way.

To stay in line if it’s late. To resist intimidation and misleading information. To report to someone you trust anyone – including people from this administration – who tries to intimidate voters or fellow citizens.

I can spew whatever thoughts I have for as long or as short as I want. I could write a masterpiece of prose that might make you cry or laugh.

But nothing is as powerful as the show of hands you, me and every other responsible American makes culminating Tuesday.

Go get ’em!