Bennett, first I love that you are engaged in politics at this age. You sound a lot like me 50+ years ago. Back then I was staring at a war that made Afghanistan and Iraq look like a mild cold, with the knowledge that I needed to either get into and stay in a college I couldn’t start to afford or make a really tough decision. That decision? For me it was either to go underground and accept a felony status that would rule out degrees or any “normal” course in life, or participate in that evil criminal enterprise. I wasn’t going to participate.

Things looked starkly clear when I was young. My country had abandoned the values I held most dear. My dad gave me the only advice he had ever offered, enlist and fight. I hated Lyndon Johnson with a passion, I was ready to blow the whole thing up.

I did “drop out”, burned my draft card, got rid of my Social Security Card and ID, and moved into the hills, convinced I would hear any guys in brown shiny shoes coming long before they got close. Then the draft lottery became law and while my number was scary low they never called me up (I think).

I give you this short bio to show some shades of gray. While I never got a degree I did teach myself a trade, dropped back in, built a couple of small businesses, and came to realize over time that despite LBJ’s horrible decisions on war he was also a near great president. Without his term it’s hard to tell how long it would have taken to pass the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, Medicare, Medicaid, and “War Against Poverty” programs that still help lift people up. We just don’t know in most cases how a president’s term will play out. The exception? Trump will continue to be a disaster, and the clock is ticking.

Stay engaged my friend, we’re counting on you.