More About the Office

The strangeness continues. Been meaning to note that I seem to find the vice presidency more attractive than the prospect of being POTUS myself. Our original "Veep," John Adams, said of the position something to the effect that it was the most insignificant office human ingenuity had ever devised. Much later FDR's first mate Garner also famously despised it. But that was then; this is now. In recent decades its occupant has been allotted more influence. He gets that cool Victorian Naval Observatory house to live in while hanging out at the White House. Somehow I can't believe he's under as much pressure most of the time as the Big Boss--& what's expected of him is no doubt subject to circumstances & what the Prez wants.

So am I running for VP? Received wisdom declares that no one does, & candidates are typically quick to deny that they'd even accept the #2 slot on the ticket. Well, I would! Except, of course, that I'm much disinclined to campaign--& it's been claimed that the #2 traditionally acts as an attack speaker on the ol' stump. Well, maybe I could find something nasty to say about the competition should they start the usual ruckus, but obviously I'd prefer a low-key approach.

The Middle

For some time I've been meaning to add here a phrase someone once recommended as ideal for politicians: I was born into the middle class in the middle of the 20th century in the middle of the United States. In my case it has the advantage of being true--if we accept halfway across the nation's northern tier as still qualifying for "middle" status. It's certainly near the center of this continent!

Holding Office

Although I strongly suggested I wouldn't run for office, that doesn't mean I wouldn't accept said office. It does mean that I won't campaign for another term--if it's an elective position. You want me in, you vote for me. I've heard that in the past, at least in some US states, expressing interest in office disqualified one for it, & some organizations still do things this way.

Titles! Mere Names...

What to call this thing: Such questions have long tended to slow down my creative process. I'd devote so much time & effort to names & settings, then come up empty when it came to plot. Well, at least I did some thinking beforehand & came up with this blog's self-contradicting title months, if not longer, in advance. Additionally I began to consider alternative names for it, & here are some:

If Nominated, I Will Not Run. If Elected, However...

A Majority of One

The Dull Life & Interesting Times of Protogenes Letzter

Man of Lead (A nice ambiguity there)

Attack of the Chinese Scotsman (Actually I'm all roundeye, &
while we're on the subject of ethnicity--Ich bin ganz goyisch)

The 144-Year-Old Virgin (Derives from an old fragment)

The Nine Billion Names of Man (Based on a projected maximum
world population for the 21st century)

Lastly, in another nod to the late Sir Arthur Clarke, as well as the fad for
six-word narratives, I offer a phrase lifted from the end of an already-
obsolete introduction prefacing The Lost Worlds of 2001--a book
which now seems lost itself--that I perhaps remember because I used
it in a little autobiography I had to write in high school:

For Who Could Possibly Have Guessed--