Highway 61

“…Well, God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son”. Abe said, "Man, you must be puttin' me on." God said, "No", Abe said, "What?" God said, "You can do anything you want, but the next time you see me comin' you better run." Abe said, "So, where do you want this killin' done?" God said, “Do it out on Highway 61…” Highway 61 by Bob Dylan. Folklore says that on the stroke of midnight at the intersection of Highways 61 and 49 outside of Clarksdale, Mississippi, Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil to become the best guitar player in the Delta. This weekend a group of select politicians won’t be on Highway 61, they’ll be southbound on A1A, headed to 1100 S. Ocean Blvd in Palm Beach, Florida, a place better known as Mar-A-Lago. Like Robert Johnson, they’ll be there to sell their soul, but this time to Donald Trump. A group of men and women, all potential Trump running mates, are there to audition in front of a group of Republican fat cats and be judged on their credentials and fundraising ability. Fundraising has taken on new importance, because Trump’s legal bills have pretty much bankrupted the Republican National Committee. As a passing thought, I’ve always wondered how the small dollar donors who send their hard-earned money to the Republican Party feel about paying a millionaire’s legal bills. The group of men and women invited to be judged are Governors, Congressmen and Senators. They’re all honorable and honest public servants, respected by their peers and constituents, except for Marjorie Taylor Greene, who’s bat-shit crazy, and was probably invited to offer comic relief because it was cheaper than hiring a band. So why would anybody want to play second banana to the volatile and unpredictable Trump? Let’s look at the pros and cons- when asked one time, about the benefits of the VP job, Bob Dole quipped,“…it was an inside job with no heavy lifting…” Harry Truman was a little more succinct, and said the VP’s job, “…wasn’t worth a bucket of warm spit…” The advantages are obvious-anybody who runs for political office craves the spotlight, and you’ll be playing on the biggest stage. You’ve made into the history books, you’re the second most powerful man, or woman, in the world. You’re recognized everywhere you go, you’ve got an army of minions attending your every need, you get a nice house, an airplane, the Secret Service drives you everywhere, so you’ll never have a parking problem, you to get to hear bone-chilling CIA briefings and sit there as Special Forces missions are being planned. You won’t get to say anything in the meetings, but you’ll get to hear everything, and that’ll be pretty cool. Along the way, you’ll get to attend every funeral, fund raiser, candle lighting, prayer meeting, and tractor pull the President doesn’t want to go to. As a bonus, if Trump has a stroke, gets impeached, or ends up in the slammer, you get the big job, and then the CIA and Special Forces guys will actually talk to you. So, what are the negatives of being Trump’s running mate, aside from having to regularly talk to Jesse Watters and Jeannine Pirro on Fox? Trump has already publicly said, if elected, he won’t make the same mistakes he made last time. This time he’ll be surrounded by people loyal to him, and not to any system. Here’s a few things Trump has said and his VP is going to have to swallow-the last election was stolen, and he won’t guarantee he’ll accept the 2024 election results, he won’t guarantee there won’t be violence if he’s not elected, he’s proud he appointed the Supreme Court Justices who overturned Rowe vs Wade, he has no problem with the state monitoring women’s pregnancies to assure they haven’t violated abortion laws (that rings of George Orwell and 1984), immigrants are poisoning America’s bloodlines (Hitler said this about the Jews) , he’ll use the military to combat street crime and he’s thinking about pardoning the January 6th rioters. These are issues that will be stapled to the VP’s coat tails. If Trump loses the election, and you’re his running mate, kiss your political future goodbye. If you believe in Trump and his ideas, I wish you luck, you can run on his platform and see what happens, but you can’t run away from it-you’re either in or out. Before making a decision, I’d recommend you fly up to Indiana, and have coffee with Mike Pence, a thoroughly decent guy, and ask him about being Trump’s VP …As to selling your soul to the devil, I’d strongly recommend you get the deal for those guitar lessons down on paper….