March Letters to Jim: We’re in Trouble Now

Time to March toward spring and see what is on the minds of my readers.

Dear Jim,
Why is it that neither Biden or Trump can pull away from the other in the race for the White House? It seems that by now, we know enough about both to have made up our minds and yet much of the nation is undecided. How come?

Until both parties decide officially on who their candidate will be, we are bound to see little movement in the polls. The biggest movement so far has been in the increase of undecided voters as it appears Americans are not thrilled with either candidate.

It’s hard to believe we have morphed into a nation where our biggest political concern is over the mental capacity of candidates. It goes beyond both Biden and Trump. Let’s face it, before she passed, Dianne Feinstein was mentally checked out. Mitch McConnell appears to be playing a part in The Walking Dead. Then there are the crazies like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert. Add in those who are on the take and you have a nation led by mentally unfit people.

The nice thing is, with a rise in mental illness, we are at least seeing the mentally ill well represented in government.

Dear Jim,
What keeps you awake at night? Do you even have a conscience or are you so cold hearted that you sleep without worry? This country is falling apart because of liberals like you and all you care about are programs that hand out money to people who do not work or who even belong in this country. Your thinking is dangerous and you should not have a platform to push your ideas onto Americans.
A Real American

Dear Real,

To answer your first question, some nights it is my bladder that keeps me awake and other nights it is my restless and playful mutts. If I get up to pee, they think it is go time and they are going to be fed which makes falling back to sleep a challenge.

As to the rest of your diatribe, I can only say I would rather hand out money to people not paid a livable wage by a wealth hoarding class of a-holes than to hand out more tax breaks to the top one percent. I have no idea who these folks are who work but do not belong here because we employ an E-verify system for legal residency. Even an old white guy like me has been validated through the system.

Finally, as for having a platform, I guess you are too fixated on the Second Amendment to grasp that before it comes something called the First Amendment. It allows me and you a platform to express ourselves and disagree, even though you do not agree with that concept.

Dear Jim,
Do you believe the information when we are told President Biden is fit to run for office after his annual physical? You must admit his age is a big concern for voters. Why not limit the age in which a person can serve as president?
Concerned

Dear Concerned,

Age is a factor for both candidates. That said, I believe it is the man with a family history of dementia, whose doctor claimed him fit when he was actually obese, and who has been increasingly showing signs of mental decline who is the greater concern. Trump is neither physically or mentally fit for office let alone morally and even legally fit.

If Biden is hamstrung by anything, it is the lack of faith the general public has in Kamala Harris as his VP. It seems voters are not thrilled she is a heartbeat away from the White House. However, wait until we see what nut job or bimbo Donny puts on his ticket.

There is much to be decided that won’t be until we are actually under the official presidential campaign following Labor Day. Until then, most of this nonsense is just to rile up people.

Dear Jim,
I have a problem that I hope you can help solve. Basically, my wife wants to kill me. Her cooking has gone downhill fast. It’s pig slop at best and when I say something about it, the next night she serves me something worse. Also, she’s been in a foul mood for weeks because I only gave her a card for Valentines.
It also seems that my message to her, “Roses are red, violets are blue. Let’s hop in bed and screw, screw screw,” was not appreciated. Now she has cut me off in bed to go along with feeding me garbage. What can I do? A man deserves better.
Not Getting Laid

Dear NGL,

For the life of me, I can’t imagine why you are not being treated better. I would think a man like you has women lined up around the block wanting you. If only there was a way for your wife to change her ways. My suggestion is to just keep hounding her on her cooking and maybe for her next birthday a card with some new recipes for her to try on you will help. Suggest she try adding arsenic to her meals. Guys like you love it.

Dear Jim,
Why is it we have so many people collecting free money in this nation while the working person can’t pay their bills?
Mad as Heck

Dear Mad,

It starts with the people who have the most money not wanting to pay people a decent wage. This results in those who hold jobs doing as little as possible for a paycheck. Some feel insulted and quietly quit working while still collecting pay. Others have to pace themselves because they work more than one job.

As for those who collect money from our government. I am sure there are moochers, but for the most part, the people I see receiving help are in need of it and certainly not getting rich off it. Besides, if we do not help them out, then people like you bitch about there being more people living on the street.

If we had a more compassionate class of wealthy people, this might not be the case. If corporate churches spent more time actually doing the Christian thing and taking in the needy rather than pushing their politics, there might not be a problem.

If we fought fewer wars, spent less on our military, and if we weaned ourselves from spending money on worthless crap that keeps us in debt, we might be able to address the financial woes that plague many of us.

Dear Jim,
In your opinion, what is the best path for personal growth? Why do so many wait until they are older to do this and why does it cause us so much inner turmoil?
Trying to Grow

Dear Trying,

We do not live in a nation that encourages personal growth. At best, we are pushed into whatever church our parents choose for us and brainwashed into thinking as they want. As we become adults, we tend to become too busy to give it any thought. Our family and career take over our lives and any free time we have is centered around distracting us.

We are encouraged to avoid our problems by consuming too much alcohol and food. We engage in activities sold as fun but that are expensive and keep us living in debt. We over schedule ourselves and our children and remain glued to our phones so there is never a down moment for us to ponder the real meaning of life. Then we are flabbergasted when we realize things like mental illness, mass shootings, and suicides are on the rise. We demand quick fixes to complex problems because we expect everything instantly.

Personal growth requires time. It is a lifelong journey that means sacrificing the distractions meant to keep us from realizing there is more to life than the box we are placed in by a class wanting to extract all they can from us before we die.

It’s not until we are forced out the door by retirement that we begin to wonder if what we did was worth it or was there perhaps a better path to have followed. We have more free time on our hands but realize our time is limited so we begin seeking answers to questions we were never encouraged to ask, let alone find answers to, when we were younger.

Dear Jim,
Why in the world is your crap now only on Facebook and no longer with that website? Let me guess, they either canned your ass or replaced you with AI. Either way, it was long overdue.
Laughing at You

Dear Laughing,

Laughter is the best medicine so you must be one healthy SOB. If I was fired, no one told me and I have yet to receive a severance package (usually a $5.00 gift card to WalMart). If I was replaced by AI, that is a compliment because it means it required some level of intelligence, real or man-made, to replace me.

As it turns out, I have been writing my column the past month from my prison cell in Pelican Bay where I am allowed access to my Facebook account but not to the Los Angeles Post Examiner. However, I am promised once I bust out of here, LAPX will provide me with a new identity and safe haven where I will resume writing under the name of Beyoncé Swift.

Editor’s Note: We thought about firing Jim but nobody wants to pay for the Walmart gift card.