Here are this week's thoughts: another Democrat in the race?; migrants; a vote of conscience; the Latino vote; mountain arts festivals; Labor Day.

Vice President Biden. Will he or won't he? The Washington Post's Ed Keefe said, Rarely has a speech on the importance of community colleges been more closely scrutinized. That was the central theme of remarks delivered by Vice President Biden on Wednesday at one of the nation's largest universities -- at least, the stated theme. The other theme, which he only hinted at, was the political subtext: Still grieving from the death of his oldest son, Biden is weighing a presidential bid. And until he makes his 2016 decision, everything he says and does will be viewed through a campaign prism.
     Indeed, given his age, should the VP decides to run, he may well have to fall back on Ronald Reagan's famous words from that second presidential debate with Walter Mondale. "I want you to know [Reagan said] that....I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience."

European Migration. Neil Diamond sang in Coming to America: "Home, to a new and a shiny place / Make our bed, and we'll say our grace / Freedom's light burning warm..." reminding us that a desire for freedom takes many forms. While Trump and others worry about Latinos heading north, another of history's true mass migrations is taking place in Europe as millions flee Middle Eastern violence and stream north and west across the Mediterranean Sea. In Europe, freedom from violence is proving as strong as our closer-to-home economic magnet. It is only a matter of time before a European Trump" proposes fences to stem the flow. Obviously, these domestic and foreign fence "begaters" do not remember that even Khrushchev's Berlin Wall was not 100% effective. A wall built by a dictatorial regime in a puppet state was fallible. People still found ways under, over, and through.  

Study, look inward, then vote. I have written to my US representative and both senators asking that they study the Iranian agreement and then vote their conscience. Wikipedia offers this definition: "A conscience vote or free vote is a type of vote in a legislative body where legislators are allowed to vote according to their own personal conscience rather than according to an official line set down by their political party."

The Latino vs. African American vote. An op ed in the Washington Post by Bruce Bartlet suggests that Donald Trump need not fear losing the Latino vote -- IF he can swing enough of the African American vote his way, not an easy task. Bartlet bolsters his argument by reviewing the past anti-immigration stance taken by Frederick Douglas, Booker T. Washington, A. Philip Randolph, and various influential African American publications. More recently he notes that, " 'By 1993, poet Toni Morrison put the issue succinctly in an essay for Time, saying, “Whatever the ethnicity or nationality of the immigrant, his nemesis is understood to be African American.' ” Politics surely makes for strange bedfellows.

Breckenridge arts scene. The Labor Day weekend brings the yearly Arts Festival to town. Nearly 100 artists, most of whom are "on the circuit," working in a wide variety of mediums, set up their white traveling booths and engage in the normal give-and-take of greeting, explaining, selling. One booth provides music as the two CO-based guitarists entertain, sell their CDs, and display more than ten guitars, including some rather innovative designs.

Labor Day. Traditionally this holiday marks the beginning of fall and also the start of the "real" political season. All of the candidates fan out among the potential voters, early polls abound, and the pundits are busily discussing what might or might not occur. Candidates parade around, partake of the local delicacies, and make statements, some of which, down the road, may be thought to have been "spot on" or "foot in the mouth."

Thank you for reading. I hope your Labor Day weekend was pleasant.