Here we are over half way through January and we can already see 2020 taking shape. Cynics may take heart. There are no disappointments in store for them. Some may have hoped that the Democratic presidential debates would go on and on until the audience completely disappeared, but they must know that this was really too much to ask for.

They will find ample consolation watching the remaining competitors desperately trying to shin up the greasy pole that leads to the nomination. During the last encounter Elizabeth Warren strode across the stage to accuse Bernie Sanders of accusing her of being a liar—“I think you called me a liar on national TV,” said she severely. Stunned, Bernie tried to fend her off, then counter-attack, then went back to fender-mode. She sticks with her accusation that he told her a woman couldn’t win a national election. He sticks to denying he ever said that. This “she said/he denied,” “he said/she denied” routine may continue to the Democratic convention. And maybe into 2021.

Pete Buttigieg has spent more money on polling than his rivals, in a desperate effort to discover what he really believes. As the first openly gay contender for the presidency, he has a fair claim to membership in a “marginalized” group of Americans. More impressive, he is the “wife” in his marriage. But there are suspicions among the more zealous gayetarians about the depth of his commitment. A 2016 photo shows Mayor Pete in a Salvation Army uniform while ringing the regulation bell. Since the Army has not abandoned its commitment to traditional marriage, that makes it an enemy and Pete has been denounced as “the gay version of an Uncle Tom or Auntie Em.” The most militant gays have taken offense because his husband cancelled a rally at a gay bar that features a dancing pole. “Love us, love our pole” seems to be their rallying cry.

Pete’s credentials—-Harvard, Oxford, McKinsey Consulting, U.S. Naval Reserves—have endeared him to educated suburbanites. His mid-western manners are appealing to some. He’s as glib as Clinton or Obama. He appeals to the moderately leftist Democrats as the moderate who can save America from four more years of Donald Trump if Joe Biden bumbles and bungles his way to defeat.

There’s a problem. Mayor Pete has no perceptible following in the Afro-American population.

It appears that his attempts to compare the sufferings of prosperous white gays with impoverished black folks generates more resentment than rapport.

And that brings another entertainment to amuse the cynics among us. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland, California), a leading progressives is denouncing her party’s criteria for choosing presidential debating participants as “systemically discriminatory” against people of color. The Democrats started out with a presidential campaign field they acclaimed as the most diverse in history and ended up with Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer and Elizabeth Warren—all shamefully white. “I’m not a happy camper.” Lee explained, “When you establish rules that become systemically discriminatory against people of color, then you’ve got to question your party and how they’re making all these decisions. I don’t like the message it’s sending.” One solution she proposes is to reduce the importance of financing as a qualification for participation.

And this brings us to Tom Steyer, the lone billionaire among the six debate finalists. And that brings to Michael Bloomberg, the fourteenth richest man in the world with an estimated fifty billion dollars at his disposal. According to the New York Times he has already spent $200 million setting up his campaign organization and claims he may spent a billion. His primary objective, Mike tells us, is not so much to become president as it is to prevent Donald Trump from getting re-elected. He does not rule out spending millions on behalf of Warren or Sanders if one of them get the nomination. This sounds right and may even be true. But cynics will have reason to rejoice if Bloomberg receives the Democratic Party nomination. The left-left-left “Bernie Bros” will explode in fury. Their hatred for what they call “corporate Democrats” will set their eyeballs rotating, their noses bleeding, and their mouths frothing. This is a lot to hope for, but even cynics must sometimes allow themselves to hope.

Let’s not forget the impeachment farce yet. The House impeached, but there must be a trial in the Senate where a two-thirds majority is needed for conviction. It’s possible that a couple of Republican senators will vote to convict, but it’s not likely. Sen. McConnell seems intent on a rapid verdict. It will be acquittal. Senator Schumer, who has no hope for conviction would like to prolong the trial so more garbage can be dumped on the gilt-tipped head of his arch-foe. He’ll be disappointed. A successful farce is a funny farce and most of the impeachment foolery has been boring, but I’ll always treasure the memory of Speaker Pelosi signing the impeachment documents with multiple pens. Every participant will get one of those souvenir pens. Her conscientious signature work went on and on.

According to my informant a pen used to write a period on the document can be sold for $1,250, one used for a semi-colon goes for $750 and complete letters vary from $200 to $300. I can’t vouch for my informant’s accuracy. He came in a dream and didn’t give me his name.

This is a just a sample of the delights that await us in the year 2020.

John Frary of Farmington, the GOP candidate for U.S. Congress in 2008, is a retired history professor, an emeritus Board Member of Maine Taxpayers United, a Maine Citizen’s Coalition Board member, and publisher of FraryHomeCompanion.com. He can be reached at jfrary8070@aol.com