At the time of this writing on Thursday afternoon, Hurricane Matthew hasn’t yet struck Florida with its full power, but there is an unstoppable quality about this literal force of nature that is frightening and somewhat overwhelming. Hope n’ Change offers our sincere wishes for the safety of everyone in the affected areas, and as little damage as possible.

And frankly, we’re feeling the same way about the state of politics in our country right now. We can see the immense storm and chart its approach and growing intensity – but we haven’t yet felt the full brunt of its impact, nor can we predict its ultimate path of destruction.

The upcoming election is part of that metaphorical storm, of course. As is the revelation that the FBI agreed to destroy evidence-containing computers from Hillary Clinton’s underlings, which makes it absolutely official (as if it hadn’t been evident for a long time) that the FBI and DOJ are now entirely corrupt entities of political manipulation rather than law enforcement.

Speaking of corruption and political manipulation, Barack Obama is attempting to illegally funnel billions of taxpayer dollars into propping up Obamacare (basically putting rouge on a corpse) just long enough to help Hillary Clinton stagger over the Presidential finish line.

And of course, there’s so very much more. It all feels a bit overwhelming.

We apologize for our melancholy tone today, but we’re worried about the hurricane, worried about our country’s future, and – to be completely honest and possibly too personal – somewhat drained after spending time today with a good friend who is fighting Alzheimer’s.

Whether the source is illness, politics, or meteorological disaster, sometimes we just know that we’re in for a real pounding…and the most important questions become how well we will weather the storm, and what we can do afterwards for ourselves and others.

For starters, we’re thinking it’s time to stockpile beer.

FROM THE VAULT: YES, OBAMA, THERE IS A SANDY CLAUSE

In 2012, Obama got a big pre-election boost from Hurricane Sandy and a passionate hug from Chris Christie for expediting emergency funds.  

Hope n’ Change is not looking forward to seeing how the Obama White House will now use hurricane Matthew to try to make Hillary Clinton look more palatable, but it’s a certainty that the administration which prides itself on “never letting a good crisis go to waste” will be doing so soon – and with uncharacteristic transparency.