One of my sister-in-laws recently told me that she reads my blog, except for the political posts. I chuckled, and changed the subject.

I understand that politics turns most folks off. Sad, but true. Washington’s current chokehold doesn’t help. Who among us wants to watch our supposed-representatives in a war of words, while…mass shootings continue…terrorist threats continue…narcotics continue to flow across our borders…millions of immigrants await their fate…and on and on.

Everyday politics fails to grab my attention, unless there’s some big brouhaha in Washington. When Barack Obama hit the national scene in 2008, that all changed. Like the rest of America, I was glued to my TV. Since then the presidential election has become a staple. My passion for it might wane, however, if it ever becomes humdrum. Obama’s presidency has never been that and the current campaign is anything but ho-hum.

If there’s any wisdom I can pass along to younger folk…anyone under 66…it’s to find something about which you’re passionate. Something that gets your brain buzzing long before you open your eyes in the morning, nags at you throughout the day, and keeps you up at night. This is life…not passing you by. This is being relevant…no matter your senior citizen status.

Passion takes many forms.

After my daughter’s birth I was an exercise fiend determined to rid my belly of excess fat. When I got hooked on antiques, I was forever on the hunt for that next best deal. The day I saw a ballerina blossoming before my very eyes, I was on a mission to help make my daughter’s dream of a career come true. Decorating and/or remodeling each of the places we have called home, 9 in all, over four-and-a-half decades, has kept me happily occupied. And the collection of pets that have shared our lives…one guinea pig, 2 dogs and 10 cats…have required lots of passion to keep them thriving. Gardening is a passion rooted in childhood, inherited from my mom. Later in life, books and writing absorbed my waking hours…minutes here and there really…whatever could be spared from more pressing business.

And from now until the election in November, my passion is the presidential campaign. My decision continued to evolve as I listened to what the candidates and pundits had to say. I didn’t wake up one morning deciding to vote for Hillary Clinton. She has earned my vote, just as others have not. Aside from the obvious reason of electing the next president of the United States, the stunning revelation that millions of Americans are right-wing extremists is a sobering fact.

Today’s endorsement of Trump by David Duke, spokesman for the Klu Klux Klan, is proof. Trump’s popularity is riding the waves upon which the KKK is founded. That Trump hems and haws about distancing himself from the Klan is because he wants them on his side. Trump is adept at sidestepping principles when the prize is great. And he desires nothing more than to be the most powerful man in the world.

Another endorsement today by Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, was wholeheartedly welcomed by Trump. According to an online article…

…a black former assistant U.S. Attorney in Alabama named Thomas Figures–testified that, during a 1981 murder investigation involving the Ku Klux Klan, Sessions was heard by several colleagues commenting that he “used to think they [the Klan] were OK” until he found out some of them were “pot smokers.” Sessions claimed the comment was clearly said in jest. Figures didn’t see it that way. Sessions, he said, had called him “boy” and, after overhearing him chastise a secretary, warned him to “be careful what you say to white folks.” … he too had heard Sessions call various civil rights organizations, including the National Council of Churches and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, “un-American.” Sessions denied the accusations but again admitted to frequently joking in an off-color sort of way.

There’s passion and then there’s…

…trump’s brand of passion.

………hugmamma.

(photo…breitbart.com)