ROTHENBURGER – The week in politics or, ‘What the hell is going on?’

LET’S SUM UP the week in politics.

Donald Trump thinks the cops should do “profiling” and what’s called stop and frisk on people. This is his idea of how to stop the racial violence in the U.S. That is, do stuff that has been proven unconstitutional, ineffective and discriminatory.

Justin Trudeau is catching it on the chin over moving expenses incurred by a couple of staff members under policies used by the former Conservative government. The Tories made quite a fuss about it, until it was revealed they’d been doing the same thing now that they’re the Opposition.

How much simpler everything was in the days when the government kept everything secret.

Nancy Bepple, seeking the NDP nomination in Kamloops-South Thompson, thinks something should be done about the social housing situation. She is “raising concerns” about things. She thinks “more needs to be done” about poverty. She has questions about Ajax. And she doesn’t think the B.C. Liberals have been doing a good job.

Yes, indeed, somebody really ought to do something.

Peter Milobar is running on his experience, and so is Steven Puhallo, both wanting the Liberal nomination for Kamloops-North Thompson.

Michael Grenier, who wants the same job, wants to subsidize snow tires for people who drive cars in the North Thompson Valley.

And suddenly, the B.C. Liberals are behind the NDP in public opinion polls (as of Thursday, the NDP are favoured by 34.8 per cent compared to the Liberals 34.4 per cent. Which cynical STV people will tell you, should pretty much guarantee the Liberals a majority.)

Interesting to note that here in the Interior, the Libs hold a comfortable lead, 37.3 compared to 29.2 per cent. The B.C. Conservatives (Who? Exactly) are ahead of the Greens in these parts by a couple of percentage points.

Which brings us around to the new leader of the B.C. Conservatives, Dan Brooks. He was also the old leader. The one who quit as leader of the party a few months ago, then decided he wanted his job back.

Brooks is from Vanderhoof, but he lived for awhile in Kamloops, where he rented a small office in an effort to establish the party headquarters. He even moved his family here, but eventually gave up on the idea.

Which makes it interesting that there was a sign back on the door of that same office announcing that he was a candidate for the party leadership. Was he in town again? Did anyone see him?

Brooks, incidentally, attributes his victory second time around to a clear vision for determined leadership. Determined, definitely. Clear, maybe not so much.

By the way, he’s another one who doesn’t think the Liberals have been doing such a great job.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin called former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell a liar this week. This is the man Donald Trump says is a better leader than Barack Obama.

Ted Cruz, who once said that if he endorsed Donald Trump he would be no better than “a servile puppy dog,” endorsed Trump on Friday.

He explained that he’d prayed on it. He now believes the man he warned to leave his wife “the hell alone,” and described as “a sniveling coward,” would make a good president.

The mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, would like both Trump and Hillary Clinton to stay away.

I’m searching for a common thread in all of this, some clue as to where we are going as a region, a province, a country, the world, a hint, perhaps, that it actually all makes sense — or, as The Donald once put it, to figure out “what the hell is going on,” but I’m not finding one.

Maybe it will all be explained when he and Clinton get together for the debate on Monday night.

But I won’t be holding my breath.

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