It's that time for presidential politics, again

Well, it's the beginning of the really silly season. Excuse me, I mean the start of the race for president of the United States of America. From the looks of things and some of the candidates, it is past time to trade in that clown car for a bus. Please make that a double-decker to make room for all of them. The number of retreads for this high office is simply astounding. And that is just the Republican side of the whole mess. The latest one, Donald Trump, is just another warm body with a less-than-full deck on this bus loaded with fools. There may be a good candidate hiding amongst them but it would take some time to weed him or her out from the rest.

I'm not decided yet on just who to support but I can tell you who I don't want. For starters I don't want a legacy president. So Jeb Bush is out in my opinion — twice is more than enough, thank you.

Then there is Hillary Clinton, who thinks she is a shoe-in for the win. Not in my book. While she has proven to have a hide of cast iron, she has way too much baggage to be truly effective for the win in November of 2016. Then there is her husband, former President Bill Clinton. I don't know about you, but I find the notion way too weird to have him as the “First Dude” and a former president in the White House. Honestly, it gives me the shudders just thinking about it.

Then there are all those retreads. You know the ones, the guys who have tried before and were either voted out or hoisted out on their own petard by their numerous gaffes in the public spotlight. Some, for very good reasons, need to stay out of the running and return to whatever rock they were under.

And absolutely no one remotely related to the Tea Party. So bye-bye Ted Cruz and friends. Please watch your step as you exit the clown bus. Please take Trump with you when you leave. He may not be Tea Party but he sure is a party of his own design, the flake party. I believe you deserve each other.

Another I'm not a fan of is Rand Paul. While his dad Ron made some sense at times, Rand doesn't come close to his daddy. His arrogance will be his undoing.

Rick Perry can step back into obscurity as well. Texas is calling you home. Please listen to the voices of reason, sir.

Now Carly Fiorina and Dr. Ben Carson show some promise and more than a few brain cells, which is something many of their comrades in political arms severely lack. Hence that double-decker bus. Whether or not they survive is uncertain. If past trends hold true to form, the ones that make sense lose and the fools take over.

I would love to see a woman president take office, just not Hilary. The democratic side of the house is still very light. I think that most are intimidated by Clinton, which is a big mistake. I believe someone other than Hillary will end up being chosen by the Democrats. She has way too much in her closet, and a special seat on the bus by the way. There are two other women on the democratic side that have yet to step up to the plate. It is my belief this will be the election of the first woman to the oval office. That is, if they survive the selection process.

Right now only Bernie Sanders make sense from that end of the spectrum, too bad he is a guy. But it is still very early in the silly season and anything can happen. And it looks to be a very, very, very long haul to November 2016. God grant us all sanity, we'll be in sore need of some well before the end.

Wasilla resident Daniel D. Grota retired from the U.S. Army after more than 21 years of service.