The Day After (just MY opinion)

  

Yesterday’s horrendous events have left a scarred country, at least four people dead, calls for the 25^th Amendment to be invoked, a president banned from Twitter, and probably a very over-tired Congress who worked until 4AM the next day to complete the task they were given.

As I sat and watched the horror unfold on my television screen yesterday, I ran a full gamut of emotions including tears, anger, fear, and pride in the actions of those who saved the important electoral ballots. Most of all I experienced shock that my country, the United States of America, was literally under attack — and the attack was being perpetrated by our own citizens! Even worse, the attack was instigated by the man who currently holds the title of America’s president!

It is incomprehensible to me to understand how people can so blindly follow what I can only describe as a “madman”. Throughout Trump’s term he has pushed for violence, created more of a racial divide, denigrated females, ridiculed the disabled and, in MY honest opinion, stolen from the American taxpayer. Yes, I am aware that he did manage to “speak” to some people’s needs and they were willing to put up with his rhetoric and sometimes irrational behavior thinking that he would actually “Make America Great Again”; I never voted for him, not in 2016 and not in 2020, but I do know a few who did and I respect them whether or not I agree.

With Donald Trump complaining about a “stolen election” (which btw, was confirmed multiple times as authentic) and instigating yet more angry reactions he encouraged his die-hard followers to march up Pennsylvania Avenue with a show of “strength” to take the election back… he also promised to “be with” them, and of course he wasn’t, he hid in the White House while he sent them on a rampage. After several dire requests for him to speak to the crowd, he posted a video telling them he loved them, and yes the election was stolen, but they should go on home — it was a less than half hearted attempt to quell a situation that he caused and probably even added more ire to their already brainwashed minds. Trump turned a group of ordinary Americans into domestic terrorists with the mindsets of ISIS suicide-bombers.

Our TRUE AMERICAN HEROES, no matter which party affiliation, were the senators, representatives, and congressional staff who had to run for cover AND who thought to save the ballot boxes. When the invasion of the rioters was over and it was deemed safe, they resumed the business that they were constitutionally bound to do, even shaken by the events. And at 4AM this morning, they concluded discussions after entertaining any objections and declared Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the official winners of the 2020 November presidential election.

This is not something America will heal from easily. When we were attacked in Pearl Harbor, and we were attacked at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, it was outsiders who perpetrated the atrocities. But yesterday we were sadly attacked from within and the ringleader was someone we should have been able to trust to keep our country safe.

There were at least four deaths yesterday, people who stormed the Capitol building. Yes, I tend to mourn every death, but honestly the only tears I shed for the individuals is that they were sent to cause this destruction by someone who is not fit to run our country, they were misled. I do however mourn for their families because even horrific people usually have someone who loves them.

God bless America.

 January 6, 2021
“This is a day that will live in infamy.
The very people who believe they are protecting our democracy
have succeeded in destroying it.”

- Representative Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio)

#JustMyOpinion

To Vote, to Vote, Perchance to Vote

 

 In just under two weeks, Americans will go to the polls (or will have mailed in or walked in their ballots) to vote for several candidates, most importantly for who will be the next President of the United States. It’s a heavy burden on each of us. Anyone who follows me on social media knows who I support, but this post is not about WHO – rather it is about YOU.

 

I recently posted the following on my Facebook page:
     I remember, in 1960, one of our neighbors sitting on the front stoop of the Bronx building she lived in and crying her eyes out. My parents stopped to speak to her to find out what was wrong... she wanted to vote for JFK but her husband told her that if she didn't vote for Nixon she had to leave their home.
     My dad told her "when you get into that polling booth, who you vote for is YOUR business, no one else's..."
     In 2016 I heard a father screaming at his daughter over a cell phone (standing in the center of CVS), apparently she made it known she wanted to vote for Clinton, he screamed at her that if she didn't vote for trump she could pack her bags that day.
     It truly doesn't matter who you vote for (well it does, but I am not trying to make THAT point), YOU have to vote for the candidate YOU choose.
     Whether you are in a booth or filling out a ballot, you have privacy and NO ONE has the right to tell you how to vote - certainly NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO THREATEN YOU IN ANY WAY.
     Even if your polling place has "observers", YOU NEED TO VOTE FOR WHO YOU WANT.

 

Your vote DOES count. A lot of folks cry that it doesn’t, that the Electoral College actually elects our president. There is SOME truth to that as we saw in 2016 when the Electoral College did NOT declare the popular vote winner as president. However each state is assigned a specific amount of electors (supposedly something to do with population) and the popular vote of each state decides WHICH electors will cast a vote. Even if the vote is close then the electors vote for the majority candidate. There are many arguments calling this system archaic, but for now it is what we are stuck with.

 

Understand though that the ONLY and very few times the Electoral College disagreed with the popular vote, the popular vote was CLOSE, VERY CLOSE (considering the percentage of votes against the people who voted). So your vote, along with others, DOES decide who the Electoral Collage from your state chooses. Unfortunately, especially in national elections, third party candidates have not historically shown enough strength. Those votes in effect do not help decide the Electoral College count. If 100 people vote and 46 vote for candidate A, 44 vote for candidate B, and 10 vote for candidate C (third party), then candidate A will receive the Electoral College. So even if 8 of those C votes were people who absolutely did not want A but thought B wasn’t perfect, A would win because those 8 votes weren’t enough to give any strength to C.

 

This year between the pandemic and fear of violence at the polls, as well as some areas closing polling places and creating longer lines, getting your vote in may seem more challenging. Remember though that whatever time you need to take to vote, or distance to drop your mail-in ballot at an authorized receptacle – well this vote will have a major impact on the next four years of your life. It is extremely important to make your voice heard.

 

YOUR VOTE IS IMPORTANT!

A state-by-state guide to voting in 2020

Politics ...ssh!

Politics… some would call that a dirty
4-letter word twice over. Campaigns and elections have historically brought out so much ugliness, attacks against each other, name-calling, manipulation, intimidation and sometimes even violence. It is not a pretty time in our society. During primaries and even election night itself there are often horrible displays of apathy, disappointments, name-calling and insinuations, tears for some and jubilation for others — and even that jubilation is sometimes guarded.

I’ve always said, not that any politico has listened, please tell me what YOU can do for me/us/our country and NOT what is wrong with “the other guy”. I am tired of voting for the lesser evil, I want to vote for a champion, for someone who will champion our country and all of its citizens. I want to vote for someone who I can take pride and have confidence in. I want to vote for someone who I won’t regret down the road. I don’t want to vote for someone because of their gender, race, religion, sexual preferences or money. And I don’t want the politics to divide families and friends or leave wounds on people who have taken the time to care.

“The eligibility of an individual for voting is set out in the constitution and also regulated at state level. The constitution states that suffrage cannot be denied on grounds of race or color, sex, or age for citizens eighteen years or older. Beyond these basic qualifications, it is the responsibility of state legislatures to regulate voter eligibility.”
[-Wikipedia]

Our Constitution gives us the right to decide (within set parameters) who we want sitting in the various government seats. Despite the constant
 hue and cry that “my vote doesn’t count” IT CERTAINLY DOES. Even our debatable Electoral College, used in Presidential elections, is based on each state’s popular vote. It has been a very rare occurrence when the elected president has not received a popular vote and in those cases where it has gone differently it has been VERY CLOSE. Yes, YOUR VOTE COUNTS. The President’s spot (and of course the Vice-President’s) is the only election decided by the Electoral College. EVERY OTHER SEAT IS CHOSEN BY POPULAR VOTE.

America doesn’t have a perfect system and there is no denying that dirty politics has reared its head more than once. But when our populace keeps itself informed, THINKS FOR THEMSELVES, and actually gets to the polling place and VOTES, we have a pretty good system where decisions can be made with the best of intentions. It’s also admirable when youth gets involved because, after all, this is their future we need to preserve. Yes, I WILL be fulfilling my responsibility of voting, it is more than just a “right”. You and I may not agree politically, we may vote differently, but it should not be construed that we are opposing one another, it is only with our combined voices that we can effectively keep our government representation on course.

Please do your research, be open to listening to all sides, and think of what is important to you and what you truly believe will be in the best interests of our country and our future. Make sure you vote in primaries and in EVERY general election.

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photo credit: John Galt

Why should you vote for the lesser of the evils? ~ #MondayBlogs

Like many, I haven't felt in recent years that there was a single candidate for President (or any political office for that matter) where I agreed 100% with his/her philosophies - but I did feel that there were some decidedly better than others.

I wouldn't expect any one candidate to make all of the decisions I would want, how could he? It would have to be ME making those decisions and hoping that I got it all right. So each year I go to the polls and vote for the candidate that I least disagree with... you may call it the lesser of the evils, I call it the best choice of what is available.

So far in my years of voting I haven't yet regretted the vote I cast and there have even been a few rare times where I begrudgingly have felt "hey this one isn't AS BAD as I thought he would be."

Every politician is a con-artist, he or she has to be to convince others to do his bidding; every politician is in it for the glory, why else would someone subject themselves to that punishment?; every politician (in America at least) is a puppet because no office truly gives full, unequivocable power to the person sitting there; and most importantly every politician is a human being and more than capable of screwing things up.

But if I don't cast a vote for the candidate I think would do the least damage then I am handing over my destiny to others who, just like a politician, don't necessarily think the way that I do — it would be simply handing over my life without a fight.

I know which candidate I will probably vote for in the next presidential election, from track records and speeches I know which candidate comes CLOSEST to who I want in office. Even with our confusing electoral college elections, I still believe that majority votes will more likely get us the candidate MOST of us want IF WE GET OUT AND VOTE.

Please don't sit back and let a few make this decision; if you don't trust or like any of the candidates at least cast your vote for the one you LEAST DISLIKE... someone is going to get in, give yourself a say in the decision.

The United States presidential election of 2016 is scheduled for Tuesday, November 8, 2016.

(2015 elections will be held November 3, 2015)

for information on registering to vote
visit www.vote411.org/