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

Time for Unity

 

We, as a nation, have gone through (most of) a year of… Hell. Folks used to joke, LAST YEAR, about 2020 and “perfect eyesight — well we sure have seen a lot since January.

 

Legendary basketball player Kobe Bryant and his daughter were killed in a tragic helicopter crash stunning sports fans and leaving a mourning mother and wife. Our 45^th president was tried, impeached, and eventually acquitted. The #MeToo movement encouraged many to speak about their sexual assaults (and rapes), and many survivors cheered when some big names who felt entitled to abuse innocent victims were finally served justice.

 

America heard about the first reported cases of COVID-19 on our shores; these spurred a lot of misinformation, prejudice against Asians, fear, hoarding, restrictions, lockdowns, fighting, and even a stock market crash. Police-involved deaths of several Black men and women, as well as the outspoken rhetoric of prejudice, spawned the Black Lives Matter Movement and instigated many peaceful, and some violent, demonstrations.

 

Meanwhile, many businesses closed (some permanently) due to COVID-19 related restrictions, many children “went back to school” via the computer, jobs were lost, and families were devastated financially. For those who were able to work from home, their homes became crowded business offices, schools, gyms and more. The name “Karen” became an insult for an angry, often middle-aged white, woman who lived a privileged existence and attempted to inflict her will upon others.

 

The sitting president of the United States came down with COVID-19, and survived, and other prominent Americans from politicians to actors and sports-stars caught the virus and some did not survive. Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg spent 27-years sitting on the Supreme Court and eventually died after a long struggle with Pancreatic Cancer; finding and appointing her replacement was a lengthy political struggle that led to a resurgence of the #MeToo movement. Beloved TV personality Alex Terek died of Liver Cancer after a courageous battle.

 

More than four-million acres burnt, and some still burning, in California and the western U.S. costing billions of dollars; firefighters from across the country flew in to help an area where the heatwave and Covid-19 caused complication during evacuations, hundreds of homes and structures were burned, dozens injured, and multiple firefighter fatalities were recorded.

 

We are halfway through December and celebrating the holiday season in a year where many family get-togethers were only virtual, where many restaurants are closed to dining, movie theatres remain dark, and few indoor recreational activities exist. America has lost more than 300-thousand people to COVID-19, families and friends did not even get to say goodbye to many because of quarantines. And numbers keep rising.

 

But now, halfway through December, a very contentious national election has seen its final result with the Electoral College, and progress begins towards a new presidency. Vaccines against COVID-19 have been approved and a limited number of healthcare workers are beginning to get vaccinated – more vaccine is coming and eventually the hope is that most, if not all, Americans will be vaccinated against this sometimes deadly and often disabling disease within the next several months.

 

Now is the time when Americans need each other, no matter what our political affiliations are, no matter what our ethnicities are, or our lifestyle choices, and no matter what our financial status may be. We have been through Hell and we are almost to 2021. Let us come together and recover, let’s work together and heal our nation, comfort those who mourn, strengthen those who have suffered, and be a united America.

Oy, Politics ~ #MondayBlogs

Election time is coming and if you are on FaceBook that probably means you are about to change your buddy list; you’ll drop some people and others will drop you often without warning. Indeed here are those who post pleas not to discuss anything political and others who constantly post the latest email rumor that makes “the other guy” look bad.

I admit to enjoying political discussions and even engaging in some debating, I like to hear other viewpoints and I like doing the research to back up many of the issues I feel are important. While I don’t expect to change anyone’s mind ultimately I would like to hope that I encourage more discussion and thought.

While I enjoy a good thought-provoking debate, I don’t appreciate it when it becomes personal, I don’t like name calling and foul language, or having my intelligence questioned. And I do get offended when ethnic slurs and outright bigotry works its way into the post.

If you are going to be open to debating the political situation, here are a few tips: by all means THINK or as my dad always said “put brain in gear before engaging mouth”; read what the other person has to say and not just the highlights like they are planning to vote for your favorite candidate’s opponent; especially if they aren’t responding to something you’ve posted there is no way that anything they are saying is personal.

If you are scrolling through your newsfeed and see that oh so perfect post that totally casts the opposing candidate in a terrible and embarrassing light, don’t just repost without checking the veracity (I use Snopes.com a lot) even though it might be tempting. Be sure that you can back up whatever assertions you are making with verifiable sources. And refrain from generalizations about the “people who would vote for [the other guy]. Finally NEVER tell someone to shut up, give it up, or (my “favorite) go back to where you came from — everyone is entitled to an opinion whether you like it or not and they should be allowed to voice it politely.

If you want people to listen to you and think about the arguments you make, try to put it into their perspective. What is important to you may actually be in direct opposition to someone else’s political views. If you can point out the benefits that they would like such as increasing the school budget and adding after school programs (usually a liberal concern) would help lower crime rates (often a conservative concern) as the youngsters and teens would be kept too busy to hang out on the streets.

If the other person insists on nastiness, just back away even if your inclination is to swipe back. And yes there may even come a point where you don’t want or need someone’s malicious and thoughtless words on your page at any time, so unfriend that individual. On word of caution though, don’t unfriend just because you share different views and expect them to want to welcome you back after the election, they might not.

No matter what, if you have made one person really THINK, even if you haven’t swayed them, then you have accomplished something very important.

I’ll leave you with this thought, please VOTE. Yes I have a favorite candidate but I will respect the office and whoever winds up sitting in it — so long as I can believe that true majority rule made that final decision.

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.

...

Everybody’s Talking ~ #MondayBlogs

On the average every year from late summer through early November everyone is buzzing about who is running for what office, rumors and meme’s overrun social media, and invariably some “friendships” are ended after heated exchanges.

Growing up all of the neighborhood parents painstakingly instructed all of us kids “Never discuss politics or religion”. To that I say HOGWASH. I believe discourse between opposing views is necessary to growth.

The meaning of the word discourse is “written or spoken communication or debate”; the key term is communication. When I was in junior high school my social studies teacher assigned all of the students to debate teams. Ironically we each had to argue the opposing view from our personal beliefs. The class of 30 (yes, large class sizes) was irate as we were tricked into voicing our honest opinions on subjects such as gun control, abortion, euthanasia,  the draft and other such hot-button items only to be told we had to argue against the very things we believed in!

Mr. L explained that the only way we could be sure of our convictions was to understand all sides and to respect the opposing views. Respecting other viewpoints does not mean we agree, as a matter of fact our willingness to hear other views indicates that we have confidence in our decisions; likewise closing our ears and minds to different beliefs may even be from fear that we could be easily swayed.

Now remember I called this exchange discourse. Discourse is not argumentative or insulting, it’s not threatening and should certainly not include generalizations based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion. Yes we are all guilty of chuckling and sometimes passing along a funny meme or two, sometimes these memes are applauding a candidate or political office without insulting anyone — and yet the vitriol that follows  gets out of hand.

These are the interactions I don’t care to entertain. When an otherwise intellectual conversation is polluted with nasty barbs, insults or profanity then the positive exchange of knowledge and ideas ceases to exist; when someone is being verbally (and sometimes physically) attacked thinking logically often flies out the window and the result is usually anger, yelling, cursing and insults that have no bearing on the original disagreement.

So let’s discuss the issues and stay informed, but leave the fighting elsewhere.

By the way, the next United States Election Day is ‎November 3, 2015. Have you registered to vote yet?

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/

#MondayBlogs: Negativity – a note to politicians

When I first started dating my husband he was selling appliances in a local store (no, that is not how I met him…) — he was pretty successful at his job. In our early conversations I once asked him how he managed to outsell so many of his co-workers. Here is his answer, “I don’t spend time knocking the competition. I sell the items we have and let customers know how good each of them is. People want to know what they are buying.”

Even though Mark has moved on to another SUCCESSFUL career which he does as well (and is happy doing), his lessons about salesmanship have always stayed with both of us. I’m reminded of his words EVERY election year and with potential presidential candidates announcing their intentions it’s more pronounced than ever.

So this is a note to those candidates: If you want my vote, please tell me what YOU can do for our country and why I should vote for you. I’m not interested in your criticisms about other candidates. I want someone who can offer solutions to our problems and make our lives easier, safer, and more productive. When you spend your time and campaign money to complain about someone else’s policies and actions, all I hear is that you know how to complain and whine, and that is no way to run our country.

Go back to basics – encouraging the average American to vote for you is tantamount to applying for a job and hoping to be hired. You should build your resume with your experience listing what your responsibilities and accomplishments are (were) in any relevant jobs. When you interview, promote yourself and tell the employer why you could handle/perform the job in the company’s best interest. Your voters are your (potential) employers, we are not social buddies who chit-chat and hear your everyday complaints.

If YOU want the job (aka my vote) please stop telling me what you don’t like about the OTHER GUY... 

Please tell me why I should want YOU.

Just a reminder...

5 More Friends


no matter WHO you are voting for, please make sure your voice is heard.