...the racial divide in America.

I'm sensing a deeply entrenched racist element in America. Oh, maybe it's only 1 in 10 people who are overtly racists in their souls. But that could be troubling for Barack Obama. Maybe it could even cost him the presidency. And my greatest fear is that it's even more than 1 in 10 Americans. Maybe 1 in 5. If that's the case, Obama's chances of getting to the White House are nil. Imagine that. What if 1 in 5 people wouldn't vote for Obama just because he's black? Oh, it's nice that Obama got nominated by the Democrats. A sign that America is moving in the right direction to ultimately achieve racial equality. But hey, now we're talking about a vote by the entire nation, not just the Democrats. Some of my brothers tell me that Americans aren't nearly as racist as I portray them. I hope they are right, and that I am wrong. I'm usually an optimist. Even a pollyanna. Except when it comes to what I perceive as the racial divide in America. --Jim Broede

...all the way back to last October.

I guess I refuse to be discouraged. No matter what happens. I always find something to be happy about. Used to be that I thought everything had to go right. Which was stupid. In other words, I wanted perfection. Smooth sailing all the time. When really all I needed were periods of calm. Opportunity to savor a few moments. Precious moments. Really, all I needed in my life was a little love. Yes, a little love goes a long, long way. Even if I have a bad day, and it ends with a little loving -- well, that sort of makes it an acceptable day. Yes, I've learned to put things in perspective. I think I have put together a string of consecutive joyful days stretching back all the way to last October. --Jim Broede

...the shortcomings of democracy.

I'm not sure that democracy is the best form of government. For sure, it's far from perfect. But then I suppose, no government is perfect. Every government has weaknesses. I guess it's that I feel that majority rule isn't always good. In fact, sometimes it's downright bad. For instance, slavery was introduced in the U.S. by majority rule, more or less. That didn't make it right. Minorities are often discriminated against simply because they aren't in the majority. Yes, we have a history of gross injustices being perpetrated by the majority. And yes, our leaders are often elected by a majority. But sometimes by an ill-informed and ignorant majority. In other words, if the majority happen to be ignorant, should we still let them decide the fate of our nation? The relatively ignorant masses, for instance, can be easily manipulated. Through sound bites. Conditioned almost subconsciously to do things without much forethought. Without thinking. I saw this happening at the recent political party conventions in Denver and St. Paul. So much of the political rhetoric was just that -- insincere and grandiloquent speech. Much of it disparaging. Meant to ridicule the opponent. Rather than to make a persuasive and polite argument on an issue. Yes, one example of the shortcomings of democracy. --Jim Broede

As if the GOP knows how.

John McCain ain't a stupid man. He knows what he is doing. Picking Sara Barracuda for his running mate. Yes, she's just the right surrogate for McCain. A feisty barracuda. A veep who will avoid the issues. And instead, launch a negative campaign against Barack Obama and the Democrats, like she did at the Republican convention Wednesday night. She's good at making attacks on personalities. Because the Republicans really have no issues to run on. The economy has gone sour under their administration. We've got almost 50 million Americans without health insurance. A record high national debt. A widening gap between the rich and the poor. And a senseless and obscene and costly war. But McCain and his pet barracuda and the Republicans won't focus on that. They'll tell us that Obama and the Democrats are unfit to run the country. As if the Republicans know how. --Jim Broede

The truth about taxes.

The Republicans are telling us that the Democrats will raise taxes. But they aren't telling us the whole story. Yes, Barack Obama has proposed raising taxes -- on the 5 percent of the richest Americans. So that he can lower the taxes on the other 95 percent. I can support that. It's time that we soaked the filty rich. They haven't been paying their fair share of taxes. I mean the billionaires and multi-millionaires and the corporations with ungodly annual profits. And the Republicans aren't telling us that they're the ones supporting the senseless war in Iraq -- a war costing tens of thousands of lives, and in the end, trillions of dollars. Little wonder that America is operating with the biggest deficit in history. Little wonder that we have to raise taxes on the obscenely rich. That's a lot better than soaking the middle class to pay the bills. --Jim Broede

And I'm focused...on the ups.

My gosh, how I've changed. I even surprise myself. The Cubs have gone into a slump. And I'm not all shook up. Used to be, that would have sent me into a tizzy. Maybe even a state of depression. But I've learned to put baseball and the Cubs into perspective. It's just a game. Yes, it would be nice to see the Cubs go all the way for the first time in 100 years and win the World Series again. But it's not that important. If it happens, it happens. If the Cubs fail -- so be it. I ain't gonna lose sleep over it. I ain't gonna lament. The Cubs aren't at the top of my priority list. Instead, I'm in love. With life. And with someone in particular. It's very clear to me. That life is good. Many, many more things are going right than wrong. Like my love life, for instance. And even in the realm of politics. I think there's a decent chance that Barack Obama will be our next president. Can't be sure of that, of course. But I have reason to be optimistic. And at 72, I am still alive and well, or so it seems. And I spent 5 weeks in Europe this summer. Much of it with my love. And more and more, I'm learning to live one day at a time. And not to anticipate what might go wrong tomorrow or next week or next month. Besides, the Cubs are still in first place. Second place Milwaukee has lost three straight. Sure, two of the Cubs five starting pitchers are out with injuries. And things ain't looking good at the moment from that perspective. But life is full of ups and a few downs. And I'm focused...on the ups. --Jim Broede

...not even worth praying to god.

The Chicago Cubs keep losing. Shutout by Houston tonight. It's 5 straight losses. All of them at home. For a Cubs fan, this should start to trigger memories of 1969. When the Cubs blew a big lead in September and succumbed to the New York Mets. Funny. Many Cubs fans just figure that something will go wrong. High hopes. And then failure. Something like what the Mets did last season. New York blew a 7 1/2 game lead with only 17 games remaining. That's pretty hard to do. Anyway, I've learned over the years to accept fate. What happens, happens. And I don't lose sleep over it. Because the outcome is out of my control. It's not even worth praying to god. --Jim Broede