Tag Archives: election

The Times We Live In

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I’ve been taking a break from writing this summer as I enjoy the pool, time with the grandkids, learning pickleball with my husband, working on my jewelry and painting creations, and of course holding down a full time job that I am so fortunate to be able to do from my home. 

Wow, that was a long sentence.

I hadn’t planned on taking a hiatus, but it just sort of happened. Until now, that is.

Now, I feel compelled to write about what’s on my mind now, because if I don’t, who will say what I want to say in the way I feel it needs to be said?

I used to be a political person back many years ago. I thought it was fascinating. I liked the statesmanship. Watching our political leaders act like professionals in their chosen careers. Or so I thought.

I remember when these men and women spoke with dignity, addressing their colleagues and opponents alike with respect. They were role models. People we could be proud of.

What happened? And why?

The political climate today is anything but dignified, except for a select few individuals who still remember their manners and professionalism. But sadly most of those people are out of the picture now.

And they have been replaced by some of the most obnoxious, arrogant, and self serving individuals I’ve ever seen. Political clowns who take pride in spewing forth venom, putting their opponents down by name calling, lying, bullying, and spewing forth unproven innuendos and conspiracy theories to a public who’s heard it so much it’s become commonplace and acceptable.

Which it should never be. 

Many of them seem to do this because everybody else does, which doesn’t make it right. It’s not right to make fun of people, call them names, insult the differently abled in our society, or profess hate because of someone’s skin color, religious views, country of origin, age, or who they love or what gender they are. If they don’t agree with that person, then that person is evil and deserving of all the nastiness that can be thrown at them.

This isn’t right. It’s not who we are as Americans, or at least it didn’t use to be. It’s not who we should ever aspire to be.

We should be better than that. Some are. Many more are not.

 Like millions of Americans I watched and listened to the political news over the past two days. I was saddened to hear about President Biden’s decision to not seek re-election. I’m sure it was a very difficult decision for a man with his decades of service who loves his country and the American people, but it was his decision and we should respect the reasons he did it, which were not because he’s too old, or senile as many love to say (how derogatory is that!?), but that he determined it was time to pass the baton, and maybe, just maybe, he’d decided he’d had enough of this rat race and wanted to enjoy this time of his life in peace with his family, relaxing and writing his memoirs. 

Who can blame him in this nasty political climate in which we find ourselves?

Like many others, I have mixed emotions about his decision, because I truly believe he is a good man, a good president, and worthy of the country’s respect.

I am also appalled by the comments from the opposition to him. Awful comments ranging from saying “wait til Joe finds out he resigned”, or “now all the ballots the Democrats had already printed and filled in have the wrong name on them” or conspiracy theories saying he’s really already dead and they’re hiding it from us. And then there are the lawsuits being threatened by the other side to prevent him from making his decision, and saying that the party can’t make this decision and change their minds. Is that because they don’t want to run against the woman who’s poised to be the nominee?

And the name calling against the new potential nominee has already started. Almost as soon as Joe Biden made his announcement. And I am absolutely appalled at the statement made by one of the candidates calling Ms. Harris a childless angry cat lady who has never had a child. Obviously this person has no idea what he is talking about and especially has no right to question why or why a woman did not have children. As a woman who struggled with infertility for years and was finally able to have a child with the help of medical science, I find this unconscionable, especially realizing that I would have been called the same thing had my situation been different. It is not any of our business why a woman has or does not have children; it is not our business to judge a woman on that basis, and I will also add that she has stepchildren that she loves. That does not make her less of a person; we should never judge women on how many children they have or do not have, because it is no one’s business but her own.

As an American, I am so tired of it all. And personally, I will never vote for someone who is constantly doing nothing but name calling, accusing, bullying,  lying to us, and promoting conspiracy theories until we can’t even keep up with the latest one. Because it’s not the way we’re supposed to do things. 

I may be in the minority, but that’s my decision. And I hope others agree. Let’s bring some dignity back to our political system before we lose it entirely.

Why Vote?

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Today is Election Day. Mid term elections as they’re called, since the presidency isn’t at stake this time.

What is at stake, however is the future of how this nation will look in the years to come.

We are voting for each and every member of the House of Representatives. And there are 34 Senate seats to be decided; that’s 1/3 of that side of Congress.

Why should we vote? And why should we care?

Because if we don’t make our voices heard, others will. And those others can decide how the next two or more years of our nation will be run. You think it isn’t important?

It is, because our freedoms are at stake more than any time in recent years. There are people running who are promising to try and dismantle some of those freedoms because they don’t agree with them. But if you disagree with those running and don’t make your voice heard, or those who are already in office and trying to get re-elected, then don’t complain about how things happen.

Because if you don’t make your voice heard, your apathy doesn’t give you the right to complain. Yes, it’s only one vote, but if thousands thought like that and decided their vote didn’t count, think about the difference that makes. Apathy elects candidates as well.

Elections have consequences, and it’s more important than ever to go out and vote today and make your voice heard. I may not vote for the same candidate you do, but you have just as much right to vote for your candidate of choice as I do. And you need to do that.

You wouldn’t want to let someone else decide where you’re going to live, or where you’re going to work, or where you’re allowed to go?

Then why would you let someone else decide how your country is run, and who makes the laws that affect your everyday life and the lives of your children and grandchildren?

Our forefathers fought and gave their lives to give us the right to exercise our rights to have a say in our government by voting. In many other countries there is no such right, or if there is, it’s a sham, controlled by the government so that the people have no choice of candidates. Some countries have even killed those who had the nerve to go vote.

I remember the first time I voted, and how excited I was to finally be able to actually have a say in our nation’s government. And I have missed very few elections in those 50+ years. I believe it’s a right and a privilege too important to miss.

So please, sometime today, go cast your vote. No matter what the election deniers would have you believe, your vote does count. It’s valuable. And it’s important.

I’m voting. Are you?

Stop the Attacks

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The attack ads, that is. Those totally irritating and most often false claims spread by one political candidate or political party against their rival. I guess the candidates and their ad agencies think they help sway voters, and maybe sometimes they do. Or else they wouldn’t spend thousands of dollars to run them

When I was younger we called it mud slinging. Smear campaigns. And it used to be frowned upon. But not any longer.

Today that’s all we hear during political campaigns. This candidate caused children to starve. That candidate wants to let all the violent criminals out. This candidate plans to take away your guns by going house to house. That candidate is going to get rid of the police departments. This candidate is planning to raise your taxes by 15%. And this one is being investigated for tax evasion. That one is going to force teachers to teach fake history that was rewritten by the other political party. Another candidate even talks about how bad it is to run these attack ads, and then in the next sentence attacks his opponent for things that were said in that candidate’s attack ad…

Wow! If any of what’s claimed in those attack ads are true, those people shouldn’t be considered as serious candidates! How’d they even get on the ballot?

Why are they even running? In many cases that’s an easy answer. Most of the candidates who use these tactics are ego-driven, wanting to have their name in the forefront; to be known as a state representative, congressman, senator, mayor, governor, and yes, maybe eventually president. Do they really care about doing good for their district, their state or their country? Maybe. Or maybe they want the prestige, the limelight, and the power to say, “I’m the [whatever office he/she holds] and I make the rules! If you don’t like it, that’s too bad!”

And to hear some of these ads, if what’s being said is true, that particular candidate should actually be behind bars instead of running for office!

We are inundated constantly with these nasty, untrue, derogatory political ads to the point of total disgust. It makes me not want to vote for any of them. Because each candidate says they supported that attack ad!

Seriously? Why would I vote for someone who can’t run on his or her platform. Whose only claim as to why he or she should be elected is how bad the other person is?! I really don’t think any of them deserve my vote.

But if I don’t vote, then I have no right to complain and criticize who won when they do something I disagree with.

And that causes me to cast my vote for the candidate I dislike the least in order to vote against the one I don’t want in office.

That’s a terrible way to vote, but unfortunately I’m not the only one doing that in today’s elections.

I can still remember political ads that actually stated a candidate’s platform. They were running to do this or that. They had a reason for running, and wanted people to vote for them because those voters believed in what the candidate stood for, and believed he’d keep his promises. Bad-mouthing their opponent? That wasn’t done. Political debates were polite. There was no yelling and screaming at the other side. The candidates made their points in a positive manner without calling the other candidate derogatory names.

How things have changed. And not for the better. Politics has evolved to the majority of candidates acting like spoiled children who want their way, no matter what. They stretch the truth for their own means, call people who don’t agree with them insulting names, and accuse their opponents of all sorts of things, that if it weren’t for the election, would institute lawsuits for libel or slander.

And our children see this and when their parents don’t disagree or say it’s not right, those kids are taught it’s ok to act that way.

But it’s not. Not for our children, and certainly not for the politicians who are trying to get us to vote for them!

I’m tired of it all. Here in Virginia we are electing a new governor and delegates, along with numerous local offices. We have one more week of this mess. But every day it gets worse. I cannot wait until this election is over.

And of course, the way things have been going lately, then we’ll have to listen to all the unsubstantiated claims of stolen elections and voter fraud.

Because that’s unfortunately becoming the new normal in American politics. I seriously doubt our founding fathers would be happy to see how things have evolved.

Maybe one day politics will change and become more civil again, but I doubt it will be in our lifetimes.

And that’s such a shame.

I’m sure many of you will disagree with me. And that’s your right. But please be respectful about it. Our state and our country’s future is more important than blasting someone for opinions you don’t agree with.