Last mound of earth

Understatement of the century: A lot has happened in the past two weeks.

Let's summarize:

• Jen and I became parents again with the birth of Annabelle Rose on Feb. 19.

• I turned 37 on March 1.

• The future of the nation became beyond cloudy thanks to the results of Super Tuesday.

Annabelle Rose.

In a way, all three of these are related.

First, the joyful news.

Annabelle arrived at 1:24 p.m. She was eight pounds, eight ounces and 21 inches long. Though Jen was induced, much like she had been with our first daughter, Sophie, the process was far less traumatic.

Sophie took more than 22 hours, with four hours of pushing, before she was brought out with a suction cup. Her sister took only about six hours (much of that was so the different medications could take effect), with about 45 minutes of pushing.

I wonder if this is a predictor for my children's personalities?

Jen, Sophie and Annabelle.

Regardless, all three of my girls are doing well, and we're all adjusting to life with five adults and two children in my in-laws' house.

Side note: The search begins in earnest for a place of our own.

Now, the less joyful news.

I'm 37.

I suppose you could argue that this is good news, that I've made it around the sun 37 times, that I'm still relatively young and that there's much to look forward to thanks to Sophie and Annabelle.

Try as I might to focus on that, things have been cropping up that make that news less joyful. My back hurts all the time, reminding me that 37 is considered an antique in the automobile world. Hair is sprouting from places on me that it never used to. And the number of pills I'm taking to battle my afflictions is beginning to rival my father's regimen.

But the biggest thing that has cropped up is the 2016 election and how it relates to my children.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are in the lead after the major primary elections and caucuses. Neither of them are palatable to me. In this day and age, how can people not see a snake-oil salesman when he or she is standing right in front of them?

Then again, there are explanations, such as this, or this, or this. Personally, I think a lot of it has to do with this.

The more painful part is the rhetoric and downright stupidity of other political operatives, such as congressmen, senators, governors and the like. To be honest, the problem is less the presidential candidates and more these background characters.

What kind of world did Jen and I bring our children into? What kind of future will they face?

Sure, every generation says that. Fear is a natural human instinct. The wiser humans don't let it bother them.

What does bother me, though, is that there seems to be very little that I, my generation, or even the next one, can do to fix things.

Is it too late?

Will I look back on the end of February/beginning of March 2016 as the point where the last mound of earth holding back the dam gave way?

You can't always get what you want

I was voter No. 237 in Precinct 1-2 of South Abington Twp. on Tuesday.

The woman handing out the ballots, noting that I was registered non-partisan said, “Oh, we only have 35 people like you” in the precinct.

She said I was No. 8 to vote.

I told her there was no way I was going to miss this vote. It’s one of only two times in my life I’ve been able to vote in a primary.

Thanks to the Lackawanna County commissioners and a local businessman, there were some countywide questions to vote on.

Ignoring the politics behind the ballot questions (let’s just suffice to say it seems to me to be more Lackawanna County politics as usual, just in different clothing), there’s the bigger issue of not being able to cast my ballot for judge, sheriff and a host of other county row offices, as well as a few municipal and school board seats.

The simple answer is, of course, I’m not a Republican or a Democrat, so I don’t get to pick who represents that party in the general election come November.

But the real answer is, actually, I’m not being allowed to truly pick my representatives in government.

Why?

Because, in a lot of these small races, the only candidates running are in one party. By the time November rolls around, I only have one choice.

The other reason has to do more with the demographics of primaries.

Ask any political science major and you’ll hear about how the “base” of the party turns out to vote at primaries. 

Total countywide turnout is usually no more than 20 percent. That means the reasonable, rational candidates are shunted aside and the extremist, who matches the base’s extremist views, are the ones that make it on to the next round.

Then, who's left for me to vote for?

Partisans.

I don’t want partisans.

I’m tired of partisans.

I want compromise. That’s the way government works. In fact, loyal patriots, that’s the ONLY way it’s worked since 1787.

Why?

I answer that by quoting the great 20th Century philosopher, Mick Jagger:

"You can’t always get what you want. But if you try, sometimes, you get what you need.”

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