The country is playing divided. Playing is a word that means make believe. Parties are presently playing make believe in my book. That is, I cannot believe either of them, and I am inclined to think it is all a charade.

I am more moved by David Brooks discovering that the upper class is not just snotty, but a practitioner of what I regard as one of the mid-range evils -- exclusion -- midway between selfishness and killing. That to me is real.

Is the media real?

Reporters are definitely real. But look at this story.

Of course, Don Jr.

said he loves dirt on Hillary. He is with Trump, you might say. Is Trump going to call that fake news? Latest word is the White House is letting the Don.Jr. story play out.

Endless story

All we seem to do is go from Day To Day, following the same story that boils down to Putin likes Trump more than Hillary. Donald had dreams of being the guy that ended the cold war ages ago. It adds up now to the Russia matter now and going forward.

In the words of Holden Caulfield, is it all phony? I think Donald read "Catcher in the Rye," whose author William Saroyan made up the name Holden Caulfield. Among Holden's typical terms is phony ranks high. But, he is also always saying "if you want to know the truth." I have heard Donald repeat that phrase over and over, and the answer is, yes we do.

There's a way of looking at this

We could see this as the slow working out of justice. Justice might move Trump out of the White House, and precipitate a special election and pop Hillary in the seat she wanted. Not Pence? Oh, no.

Let's look at the story. It has to be heading either toward Trump is innocent, or concluding that yet to be specified crimes and misdemeanors make him guilty.

Since stealing an election is the crime in question, you should give it to the actual winner.

This is absurd

I know giving the White House to Hillary is absurd, but it is exactly the conundrum we are placed in by the voting we have already done.

If Trump won the paper-thin swing state margin fair and square, the story is over.

That doesn't mean much will change. Trump will be Trump. But if we do not want to be driven mad, we need to make sense of whether or not there is a real reason for all of this.

Who actually won?

How about saying this is about who actually won the election. The GOP has been known to steal a few votes over the course of elections, and the Dems have too. I'm going with it being, this is all about who really won the election.

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED