DIRTY POLITICS

Well, I hope that you all voted yesterday in your local elections. While I agree your vote is only one of many voices, it is YOUR VOICE. Any politician who wins by less of a margin that he/she thought there would be, will have to rethink priorities and causes, especially if they are planning on another election down the road. And… if YOU voted (I am addressing those of legal age to vote) then YOU have every right to complain or celebrate the election outcome.

 

What disturbs me every single year during the build-up to the elections are the political ads spread throughout the media — so many of the ads are attacks against the opponents rather than telling potential voters what the candidate himself is bringing to the table. I want to know what YOU (the candidate) bring to the table, what YOU plan to do for me, my town, and whatever level of government you are running for. There is so much misdirection.

 

Even worse than slamming your opponent(s) are the OBVIOUS ads where soundbites have been twisted and melded to create totally false statements which often show your opponent unfavorably. My husband and I were watching television the other night when a political ad came on – it had nothing to do with our state and we don't have any strong opinions about the candidate. HOWEVER, it was more than obvious that the alleged film clip was pieced together, and not very well done at that (the film "jumped" several times and each time the candidate's pose was slightly different!). The result had this candidate supposedly saying something that was NOT in the best interests of his constituents. Now I don't know if or what this candidate said about the subject, but the very fact that someone (an opponent) was outright lying would certainly have made me question if the opponent should even be running.

 

I've always made a habit of researching ALL listed candidates, using multiple sources, to learn a little about their history, their affiliations, and their character. I also look to see if the source of information is sponsored by someone with a political stake and therefore may be slanted. And then I go to cast my vote… and hope for the best.

 

I hope for all of you that the best candidates win. I hope that you will celebrate YOUR choices rather than regret why you voted that way. And mostly, I hope that all the winners will act like true winners and do their absolute best for all of their constituents, and most, if not all, will be satisfied with the results.

 

It Ain’t Over ‘til It’s Over

 

So America’s 2020 Election Day is behind us… at least the voting part. Ballots are still being counted and we may not have all of the results for a few days. So we wait, not necessarily patiently.

 

No matter which presidential candidate you voted for, one of the two major candidates or a third party, electing our next American president is an important event. And there were many other races as well for state and federal positions, local mayors and governors and don’t forget a few referendums in some locations.  Every person who cast a ballot was part of a very important process of our democracy. It’s really a very heavy responsibility.

 

This year’s election was complicated because of the COVID-19 pandemic, most states made voting by mail an easy option. There was also “Early Voting” to try to keep down the election day lines, but there were long lines in almost every case both for the early voting and on the actual day of voting. Mail-in ballots also gave their share of consternation with delays, stories of lost mail and concern about alleged voter fraud. No wonder so many would-be voters have been complaining of tension headaches for the past week or so.

 

According to the United States Constitution, voting is a right and a privilege. Many constitutional amendments have been ratified since the first election. Surprisingly voting was never made mandatory for U.S. citizens. And also surprisingly, there is NO statement in the U.S. Constitution that does state, inexplicably, that our citizens have the RIGHT to vote. But there are inherent rights granted to our people and individual states included the right to vote. The original folks who could make decision regarding our leadership were landowners, and then MEN, and later specified that all men were allowed to vote no matter was their race was. Finally somewhere around 1919 women were finally allowed to make their preferences known and vote as well. It’s been a long road and many people fought for the right to vote.

 

And yet even in the year 2020, some people don’t bother to vote. Why not? There are a few who can’t vote because of religion. Then there are some who simply are not interested in the candidates or races. The most common reason given for not voting is “What difference does my one vote make?” Since states are permitted, within reason, to decide their own voting rules and regulations, some people don’t meet the requirements easily — someone may have missed the registration deadline, or they don’t have the necessary documents (including residence) to prove their identity and/or eligibility. Unfortunately, there are some (relatively few) cases that seem to be voter suppression such as not making polling centers convenient to certain populations. People may become disenfranchised when the person they want to win loses. There are even some who simply are not interested in casting their votes because they don’t like the candidates running or they don’t know enough about a referendum.

 

I like knowing that I have had a say in the government where I live, even if it is just one tiny vote, even if the candidate(s) I voted for didn’t win, and even if it means getting up early to stand on a line to cast my vote. Next year, or even for the next primary, think about voting. It may not be in the Constitution, but it is a privilege.

 

 

 

 

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.

.

CreativeCommons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International

photo credit: John Galt

#DailyPrompt ~ SAVAGE ~ #MondayBlogs

I found a terrific writing site (thanks to my friend Sugana) — The Daily Post: Daily Prompts provides a NEW daily prompt every day to give every writer a way to put a spark in her/his creativity. I decided to join this group every so often...

Today's Prompt is SAVAGE

Definition of SAVAGE[Adjective] (of an animal or force of nature) fierce, violent, and uncontrolled.[noun] (chiefly in historical or literary contexts) a member of a people regarded as primitive and uncivilized.[verb] (especially of a dog or wild animal) attack ferociously and maul.

How many are aware that this word, “SAVAGE”, appears in one of the most defining and important documents of the free world? Well buckle up and come along for a little history lesson:

Here in the U.S.A. we just celebrated July 4^th, our country’s “birthday”. For many Americans this means parties, barbecues and fireworks. For some Americans there is both a bittersweet commemoration of a momentous event that took place on July 4^th, 1776, and bitterness that’s been swallowed and yet keeps bubbling to the surface.

Every year, somewhere, it is traditional to find the American Declaration of Independence being read in its entirety. On July 4^th, 1776, in Congress, the signed Declaration of the thirteen United States of America was adopted and officially gave birth to a nation. The 56 (male) signers were from the 13 states that made up our young country: Delaware, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland.

While the Declaration was officially adopted on July 4^th it took until November of that year for all of the representatives to sign it. The very first signature in the Declaration, signed on July 4^th, belonged to John Hancock who was the President of the Continental Congress. The 56^th and final signature belonged to Matthew Thornton from New Hampshire. The oldest man to sign was 70-year old Benjamin Franklin. John Hancock’s signature is the most prominent one on the page.

One of the most famous lines in this very famous document says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” 

The document then continues with a long litany of examples about how the King of Great Britain violated the rights and rules of the people in the 13 colonies. 

One example included later in the document is “He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.”

The indigenous people living in this land BEFORE Christopher Columbus mistakenly labeled them “Indians” thinking that he had arrived in India were referred to as Indians and Savages. Also, wasn’t it kind of nervy to refer to these people as “the inhabitants of our frontiers”? They were here FIRST!

Ironically while many the people living in the 13 colonies came to this land to escape tyranny and oppression, the freedoms that the Declaration of Independence spoke of were not automatically bestowed on all the people living in our land — groups such as Women, Blacks, and Native Americans were denied the right of voting for many years.

Married women were also not allowed to own property or keep any money they earned. The 19th Amendment in 1919 granted women the right to vote, but it took more than half a decade, until 1984, for all of the states to ratify the agreement. In 1870 the 15^th Amendment granted Black men the right to vote, although there are many recorded cases where exercising that right was consistently challenged. 

Even though the 15^th Amendment granted voting rights to ALL male citizens of the United States, the Native Americans were denied citizenship (and therefore could not vote) until the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924. There were many instances of harassment and discrimination until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law.

Our country’s history is not without blemish, but at least today every citizen, regardless of age*(18+), gender or race, has the right to vote and hopefully will always be able to.

“And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free.

And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.

And I'd gladly stand up... next to you and defend her still today.

'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land God bless the U.S.A.”

("Proud To Be An American" Lee Greenwood)

The Toilet Paper Campaign Promise ~ #MondayBlogs

It was almost the end of my junior year in high school. We were running for offices in the high school Student Organization, S.O. for short, for what would be my senior year. A group of friends convinced me to run for the position of secretary and to my delight it didn’t take long for enough students to sign the petition to get my name on the ballot. Each of the candidates had their own troop of campaign workers and it seemed that all of the candidates were friendly and considerate of each other.

Home-made posters were hung on all of the walls and just like all of the other candidates for the S.O. I spoke to my fellow students in the classrooms and lunch room to learn what their concerns were and what I could address. I believed in keeping my campaign promises real. Fortunately our campaigns were “clean” and no one resorted to dirty politics or back stabbing. The school paper interviewed each of us and devoted more or less equal and non-biased coverage. In the long run we all got a very pleasant introduction to “politics”.

The school arranged a special assembly the morning that ballots were to be cast. We were each allowed three minutes to present our platforms and address the issues we would be fighting for. Speeches were prepared to keep us organized and the friendly competition felt very, very real. We were called to the lectern in turns; all of the candidates were grouped together.

There were two of us running for secretary and I was the first of our level. I promised to speak to the administration about things like the open hours of the school’s student store, access to our third-floor rooftop “courtyard” (the school was in the heart of NYC and sat in the middle of tall business-buildings), school dances, and other things students told me were important to them. I was so pleased to get a sizeable round of applause and I felt good. Yes, a little bit of me was beginning to want the win, but in reality whether I won or lost I was enjoying the experience.

When I sat the other student running for secretary, Fran, was called up. I remember how she didn’t even pull out any index cards for her speech. She addressed the full auditorium, repeated her name and the position she was running for and then made one campaign promise.

I can still hear her words, “I PROMISE YOU SOFTER TOILET PAPER IN ALL OF THE BATHROOMS!”

There was a standing ovation and loud whistles and cheers that finally had to be shushed by the teachers. When the ballots were cast that afternoon Fran won in a landslide. It was no wonder, she was brilliant — she told the voters exactly what they wanted to hear.

When she assumed her responsibilities at the beginning of the new school year, she did a nice job… BUT the one promise she had made was something she never had control of (the NYC Board of Education bought the paper in bulk and doled it out to each building). The toilet paper in the bathrooms remained one-ply and scratchy for my entire senior year.

She told the voters what they wanted to hear and they voted for her based on that. In the end the students never got what they were promised. Candidates in our “adult” real-world elections always make promises and so often, after their election, we simply don’t see those promises coming to fruition. Prospective voters are swept up by promises of what they want to hear and continually disappointed once their chosen candidate takes office.

While Fran and I remained friends with no hard feelings, I did learn a very important lesson that year. Research for yourself and check out the candidate’s political history before casting a vote. Be informed when you walk into the voting booth.

...