The final Rhino Times Schmoozefest of 2016 will be held on Thursday, Nov. 17 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Blue Agave Mexican Bar & Grill at 3900 Battleground Ave.
As always, hors d’ouevres, beer and wine are provided to those who sign in and wear a name tag.
*****
The power of suggestion is amazing. Friday morning I got something in my eye. After an hour, a couple of gallons of saline and with the help of the Muse, evidently we got whatever it was out of my eye.
Since my vision in that eye was really blurry I went to the optometrist where I was told that if you poke your finger in your eye for an hour it has a tendency to blur your vision. Dr. Heather Oman didn’t find anything in my eye or any scratches, but what she did find were cataracts starting to form in both eyes. I’m 62, so this is not surprising news, but what is surprising is that intellectually I know that on Saturday I was seeing just as well as I was on Thursday before I spent a morning poking at my eye. But now I’m also convinced that I can’t see as well and that everything is cloudy. Dr. Oman said that the cataracts were not big enough, thick enough, whatever the word is, to affect my vision, but eventually they would be. However, now that I know I have cataracts I’m convinced I’m not seeing as well.
*****
I’ve heard Hillary Clinton say that this is the most important election of our lifetime. You know what candidates were saying in 2012? This is the most important election of our lifetime. You know what they were saying in 2008? This the most important … Really, can the election held every four years really be the most important election of our lifetime? What Hillary Clinton and all the other candidates actually mean is, “This is the most important election of my lifetime.” I can agree with that. It is the most important election of her lifetime, but for the rest of us, it is simply another presidential election that shows the country is deeply divided.
*****
I have spent the last couple of weeks and months talking to candidates, reading about candidates, listening to campaign speeches and listening to what other people had to say about candidates.
One thing always impresses me with the local candidates, which is that, with some notable exceptions, they are good, honest, well-intentioned people running for the right reason: They want to make a difference.
I am also always impressed with how naive some first-time candidates are about how the political process actually works. It isn’t nearly as easy or pretty as they think it is. There are always a couple who think that because they know a lot of people and their name is going to be on the ballot that they will win. It rarely happens that way. Most of the time the candidate who raises and spends the most money wins.
