Tag Archives: politics

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And they have been replaced by some of the most obnoxious, arrogant, and self serving individuals I’ve ever seen.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.

My Mind is Made Up

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Don’t try to confuse me with the facts.

My uncle used to say that all the time. Jokingly, of course, when people said really outrageous things that rational thinking persons would never believe.

Isn’t this what we have going on right now?

We want to believe something that we’ve heard because the person saying it is a hero figure of ours. No matter what we’re told, no matter what facts were given, we KNOW for a FACT that our hero figure is 100% correct. 

It doesn’t matter that the so-called facts have been certified time after time to be untrue.

Truth obviously doesn’t matter to so many people these days because they want what they believe to be true. No matter what. And they’ll keep searching so-called news reporters until they find someone who agrees with them. It doesn’t matter whether they quote facts or not; it only matters that their views are confirmed by others whose ideas are the same as theirs.

“My mind is made up. Don’t try to confuse me with the facts!”

Conspiracy theories are rampant. It doesn’t matter that they’ve been shot down by the courts; that there’s no credible evidence whatsoever to back up their ideas. As long as there are one or two other people out there spouting these unproven theories, people are always ready to believe them, because they just refuse to believe the truth.

One day, they say. One day everyone will see the truth (as they believe it).

What has happened to critical thinking? To reasoning? To looking at all viewpoints and all of the credible evidence and making an informed decision based on facts rather than theory and conjecture?

I guess it’s easier to believe what we want to believe rather than look at the evidence and make a decision based on facts rather than theories and ideas presented by people with a set agenda rather than with a desire for truth.

Open minds lead to educated discussions and truth. Closed minds only bring dissension and chaos. 

Which are you a part of?

Why Bother?

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To vote, that is.

“My vote doesn’t count. One vote won’t make any difference.”

“I’m too busy. Besides, nobody cares what I think anyway.”

“I don’t like either candidate, so why should I vote for one of them?”

“I don’t know anything about anybody who’s running. So why should l?”

“Elections are rigged anyway. The outcome is predetermined because the Democrat party has already paid off the companies who count the votes.”

“All politicians are crooks. Who wants any of them?”

Why bother? It’s very simple. Because we all need to voice our opinion and have our say in who’s going to make the laws that impact our daily lives, and our children’s lives. If we don’t voice our opinion, then we don’t have any right to complain about the outcome, or to complain that you don’t like the way things are being done.

I’m not saying you can’t complain after the election if you don’t like who won, but if you didn’t have any input, then it’s not your place to complain because YOU didn’t even TRY to make a difference!

Your vote doesn’t count? I’m sorry but every vote counts. There are any number of local elections, albeit in small towns mostly, which have been decided by one vote. And if one person had voted differently than the outcome would have been totally different. Other elections in other precincts, and even states, have had similar situations in which the outcome was determined by a small handful of votes.

No one should ever claim to be too busy to vote. Most employers allow time off for voting. Or if they don’t, not everyone works a 12 hour day to keep them from the polling places. Saying you’re too busy to vote isn’t a good excuse. It just means you don’t care one way or the other. And that’s just wrong. Going to be out of town on Election Day? Surely you could take the time to get, fill out, and return an absentee ballot.

I don’t always like any of the candidates either. Which many times causes me to vote for the one I dislike least. But that’s not good either. We have the right to write in the name of a candidate. And many people do. They know there’s not much of a chance that person will win, but it does show that there are voters out there who want other choices. And don’t write in Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck! You may think it’s cute, but the poll workers have to count every vote and tally up even ones like that.

If you don’t know anything about any of the candidates who are running, where have you been? In this day of nonstop media ads, and the internet, you can find out what the candidates stand for. And don’t listen to all the attack ads, because that’s what they are. Attacks against someone they’re running against. Go to the candidates’ websites and read about what they stand for. If you can take time to be on social media for hours each day, you can surely take time to do a little research for yourself.

Elections are NOT rigged. Those untrue and unfounded conspiracy theories being spread by poor losers are just ridiculous and designed to make people question our system. Of all the lawsuits that have been filed, none have proven any election tampering or rigging. Our system may not be perfect, because none are, but there aren’t people out there driving aound trucks full of fake ballots and substituting them for the real ballots after the polls close! Computers in China and Korea aren’t changing the results.

All politicians are crooks? Well…I imagine some may be. But all? No. That’s a statement that has no merit. Just because you don’t like what someone stands for doesn’t mean they’re a crook. Just because one candidate has more money than you think they should doesn’t necessarily mean they earned it illegally. Yes, there are most likely politicians that aren’t totally aboveboard, and we’ve seen many of those brought down, forced to resign, and some eventually end up behind bars. But that doesn’t make ALL politicians crooks.

Just bear in mind that in our country we still have the right to vote without the fear of being hurt or killed. We have a choice of candidates, not just one name on the ballot because the regime in power controls everything and will do anything to retain that power.

So now what’s your excuse? Did I miss one?

I’m voting on Tuesday. Whether the candidates I select win or lose, I will honestly be able to say I voiced my opinion and had my say in the outcome.

Will you be able to say that?

[Note:  Our state of Virginia has an off year election on November 2. Which is the reason for this post at this time.]

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.

Are We Actually Helping the Terrorists?

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I’ve seen so many posts and memes in the last few days of our President Biden, yes the president who was duly elected by a fair and not stolen election, being made to look like a Talib, a member of the Taliban.

I’ve also seen one of them of him made to look like Bin Laden holding ice cream cones. People think it’s funny. It’s not.

And let me explain why. And yes it’s my opinions and you ha e a right to your opinion, like I do. But please listen to what I’m saying.

I do not agree on how Afghanistan was handled. Is being handled. It began when a former president decided to negotiate with the Taliban, a terrorist group not in charge of the Afghan government. He made agreements with them and even invited their high ranking members to Camp David, one of the most private and secure places for our president and his family.

Fortunately that didn’t happen. Can you imagine if it had? That would’ve been opening the door to our country and saying, “Come on in. My home is your home. We’re all friends now! What can I help you with? I’m pulling our troops out like you asked.”

I didn’t see any postings of Trump made to look like a Talib, but I may have missed that.

In my opinion, which is just that, President Biden should have not followed though with the withdrawal when he did. Yes, I believe we needed to leave, but we did not plan well. In fact, it was very poorly planned.

Even worse, people are being killed because of it. Americans and Afghans as well. We are now in a very dangerous position. The Taliban sent suicide bombers to the airport like the threatened.

Thirteen American service members were killed along with Afghan men, women and children. This is an outage.

There are countless posts about

remembering and honoring these service members. About praying for their heartbroken families. Which we should do.

And then some of these same people start posting pictures of our president dressed in Afghan garb and implying he’s Taliban.

Now what do you think the real Taliban think of that? And don’t say they don’t know about it because they do. And I can assure you, they are even more emboldened because of it.

This tells them that the Americans are weak. That we have no respect for our elected leadership, just like the Taliban had no respect for the duly elected Afghan government. Just like they have no respect for women. Nor respect for anyone who doesn’t believe as they do.

People, you’re playing right into their hands. And they love it. You’re weakening our position in the Islamic world. You’re telling them you no more respect our president than they do. And in their mind you’re actually telling them you think they’re in the right.

That world kills people for doing what you’re doing. Literally.

Just because we have the right to make our opinions known doesn’t mean we should do it in this way. And how is this honoring the Americans who were just killed in that bombing? How does it make their families feel?

I know a lot of you will say I’m crazy, I don’t have a sense of humor, or call me a communist Democrat. Call me what you will, because I am not affiliated with either political party.

I don’t care how you feel. I’m just asking you to be careful of what you post during this time. You may think nothing bad can happen here, but it did and it could very well happen again.

I had a teacher in high school who had a number of favorite sayings, one of which was “a word to the wise should be sufficient.” So I close with that thought.