Following national politics has been a tough slog recently so I’m just going to cut to the chase.

The most pressing issue is the caravan of migrants slowly heading towards the US border. A group of Hondurans fled their country, hoping for a better life in America. Predominantly traveling on foot, they have reached Mexico and swelled to 7200 people after being joined by other Central American migrants. Honduras, with a population of just over 9 million, experiences thousands of murders every year and has an unemployment rate hovering around 7%. Its GDP per capita is nearly 30 times lower than the United States’ and it has the second highest rate of HIV infection in Latin America. It is one of the 50 most corrupt countries in the world and ten percent of all children lack access to safe drinking water. Neighboring countries’ statistics are no better and we all know how dangerous Mexico is right now. So we are looking at thousands of people walking across deserts and through cartel-controlled towns to escape disease, violence, and poverty. They have chosen the United States as their destination because of its schools, hospitals, and jobs. They are not asking for special treatment and do not expect any handouts. They are only requesting a chance at living into old age with pride and dignity.

In response, the President of the United States threatened to send additional troops to the border to physically block the caravan. He also stated his intention to cut aid to all countries whose citizens attempt to enter the country “illegally.” Then, without a shred of evidence, he told the American people the migrants included terrorists and criminals, inciting fear and hatred for a group of people that has done nothing to deserve it. As with all far-right leaders in history, he is creating an enemy so as to justify his actions and say he had a mandate from the people. It is hard for voters, especially Americans, to undermine a president who wants to protect them from “criminals and terrorists.”

I will stay on top of developments and let you all know how America treats its neighbors in need.

Georgia may very soon provide American conservatives with another reason to cheer. Recent research suggests Brian Kemp’s disenfranchisement efforts may affect as many as 900,000 voters. Should that many, largely minority, citizens have their votes stolen, it is all but certain Republicans will control every level of the state. Then because Republicans always operate on a full-court press, Gwinnett County rejected 595 absentee ballots, more than 50% of which were submitted by Asian Americans and African Americans. The county is using the same “exact match” rule as Kemp, stealing votes over missing punctuation and non-identical signatures. How many people can say their signature always looks exactly the same? If it really must, I have filed dozens of illegal documents because my signature was slightly longer or loopier in some of them. My daughter is surely now a bastard, my wife and I are not really married, and I should expect federal agents from three different countries to kick down my door and arrest me.

A Kemp victory and no subsequent election reform will mean three things: it is perfectly legal to steal an election, the perpetrators can do it out in the open, and only white people have the right to vote. Emboldened conservatives may then take their efforts a step further: the disenfranchisement of poor people and women.

While rich white men do not have to worry about their votes, this week raised an issue that should give even them cause for concern. John Bolton, whose moustache is probably an asshole too, persuaded Trump to pull out of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty. It is an agreement between Russia and the US that prohibits ground-launched nuclear weapons that have a range of between 500 and 5500km. Trump and Bolton say new Russian weapons violate the treaty and they are pulling out in protest. Their logic is impressive. They hate Russia possessing weapons of mass destruction, so they are making it easier for Russia to possess weapons of mass destruction. The administration is now looking at pulling out of more arms control treaties, making nuclear proliferation not only more possible, but more likely. Nuclear war threatens the entire planet and the president is playing around with the idea to distance himself from Russia and maybe increase the Department of War’s, sorry, the Department of Defense’s budget. Any position other than the elimination of all weapons is an endorsement of war and mass murder.

I generally try to stay away from campaign coverage as most campaigns are predictable, uninteresting affairs, and most races focus on local issues that not everyone needs to read and know about. However, one issue has received attention in campaigns across the nation. Private insurance coverage of pre-existing conditions will help decide races in places as diverse as Florida, Ohio, and New York. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) ended the practice of insurance companies being able to refuse new customers with existing health problems. Republicans want to renew the practice, allowing companies to refuse the neediest of patients so they can save money which will go straight into the pockets of shareholders. Democrats want to leave Obamacare as it is.

In the event of Republican wins, fewer people will have coverage and more people will either go into debt for healthcare or will avoid it altogether. The sum total of the Republican plan will be a poorer and sicker population. Should the Democrats make big electoral gains, nothing will happen. They will bask in past glories and their inaction will equate to the protection of Americans’ healthcare. Some candidates, such as Andrew Gillum in Florida, are daring to mention something like a single-payer system, but either refer to Medicare-for-All (which is either a terrible name for a great plan, or an accurate name for an atrocious plan) or use the Clinton-Kaine definition of universal coverage which is that everyone should have access to expensive private insurance. It is yet another campaign issue that sounds sexy to politicos but one that will bear no fruit for most people.

I had been hoping to write an extensive paragraph on all of the legislation that is flying through Congress before the lame duck session begins. Alas, I have nothing exciting on which to report. Most bills involved enhancing, protecting, or improving existing legislation. Those words teach us a lot about a bill’s author(s)/sponsor(s). First, they are lazy. It takes far less work to tweak an old piece of legislation than it does to write a whole new bill. Next, they are too politically cautious. They don’t want to open themselves up to attacks on the campaign trail but want a little something that may turn out their base. Finally, they are not earning your votes. When healthcare, public education, energy production, homeland security, and our elections need major overhauls, baby steps are a waste of time and allow problems to worsen.

We all fretted through 2015 and 2016 about what another conservative government would do to the country. We wondered how much of the campaign rhetoric was just hot air and how many of the proposals could be realized. Now we know. The racism was very real, and the consequences are horrific. Thousands of African Americans and Asian Americans are being denied the right to vote while Central American migrants are left to suffer and die in the wake of capitalism and coups. The hawkish bluster is leading us all towards armed conflict and nuclear proliferation. The healthcare of millions of Americans could soon disappear.

Saving money and attacking the needy and people of color. That’s what conservative America is all about.