OPINION

I don’t know about you, but twice a week when I go to Buckeye Brothers in the South End of Springfield to buy Powerball tickets and receive wisdom from my friend Dave Glantz, I play a little mental game.

What goes into your process of determining how you are going to vote? Now, I realize many people instantly would talk about party or their self-described political status such as conservative, liberal, libertarian or other, but it’s historically clear that many factors come into play.

There are times I wish there could be more candid discussion in government.

So, last Tuesday evening — Primary Election Day — I was at Smokey Joe’s Cigar Lounge, known the world-wide, having my usual Tuesday stogie and a beverage with some of the smartest guys I know and yet despite enjoying myself, I felt like the retired horse that pulled the fire wagon when there was an alarm going. I had an itch, a feeling that I should be in the fray.

I really get tired of people claiming they have lost their “freedoms” during liberal administrations such as Biden/Harris.

It’s interesting — and frustrating — how memory works. I forget why I walked into the kitchen to get something and once I get there I have no idea what my mission was about. Inevitably I have to walk out of the room and walk back into it to dislodge the thought from some closed part of my brain. And yet a whole flood of memories about events from years ago bubble up to the surface.

To be clear, I have never been in favor of violence being a change agent in politics. I did not post anything gleeful about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, because I was not happy that once again someone has decided to affect a political race with a bullet.