If You're American Here's Who You Should Vote For in 2016

The only time I saw Hillary Clinton was in 2007.

She walked past me down an otherwise empty hallway of the Russell Senate Office Building, with no staff in tow, but with a security detail.

We won't discuss the size, appearance, or tactical behavior of the detail, or the way she related or did not relate to it.  Suffice to say it was gratuitously over-the-top, considering this building complex was secured at all doors by Capitol Police and metal detectors (which even badged staff had to go through), presumably with some quick reaction teams somewhere on a hair trigger.

Not to mention, the Democratic National Convention was still almost 18 months away.  So far away, in fact, that I doubt the Secret Service would have gotten into the mix.

Maybe she was paying for this detail out of her "exploratory committee" funds.  Or perhaps she was entitled to Secret Service protection after living in the White House—but given where she was, why not leave some of it at the door?

Was she afraid of getting jumped by some intern?

If you recall, a man named Barack Obama was thinking of running for president then, too.  I saw him a few times (even sat just behind him once), but did not witness such a blatant display of godlike apartness.

So as you can see, the security was to some extent personality-dependent.

I also saw Bernard Sanders many times.  Once, I saw him in the Senate cafeteria, alone, sadly hunched over just a bowl of soup, nothing else.

It was the only time I ever saw a member of Congress (that I recognized, anyway) in either the House or Senate cafeterias.

Really, I could have sat down at that table and talked to the guy.

So it's clear that Bernard Sanders is a mortal like you and me.

At least back then, he looked like he could use a stylist.  Someone to recommend some "product" for his hair.

He may have splurged on a haircut since then.

But it would be no surprise if his wife still patches the holes in his socks.

And I believe he is the real deal, a true old-school Jewish utopian socialist from the years before mass-market color photography.

A real blast-from-the-past.

He does have some hare-brained proposals, but I'm pretty sure he would not write a blank check to Big Finance or the defense-industrial and "intelligence" complexes, among other rent-collecting cartels and oligarchies.

Who knows, he might even close Gitmo.

Granted, I've no idea where he would draw his appointees from if he resolved to avoid getting mugged by the recidivist cliques left over from other administrations.

Probably it would be amateur season like the early days of Bill Clinton or, frankly, Sanders' own Senate office in its first year or two.

But it can't be worse than returning the White House to someone who (stepping back in time) could have played Angela Lansbury's character in The Manchurian Candidate, or Livia Drusilla in BBC’s I Claudius.

Speaking strictly and only for myself (as always), I endorse Bernard Sanders for U.S. President.

I also endorse Donald Trump, who was never short of hair product, and whose ex-wives likely can't sew to save their lives, though he makes up for that by driving terror and panic into the Establishment in a manner not seen in my great country for probably over 100 years.

Either of these guys would shake up what needs to be shaken up.

Either would throw up some tariffs and let come what may.

And either would be great for U.S.-Russia relations.  (Probably Trump more so, but I'll take what I can get.)

Please, America, vote early and often for these two.

I’m quite sure it’s too late to save much of anything, but at least we can go down kicking, while cutting short the looting operation that our politico-financial elites—I don't consider Trump to be one of them, as his activities add real value and he has no true friends in Government—have now shifted into highest gear even as they contemplate Learjetting off to their ranches or wherever they think they can get away from what’s coming.