Tag: Voting

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Honest talk from a non-Trump voter

Honest talk can get you in so much trouble these days, primarily because no one wants to hear it. I bet you knew right away I was referring to politics, right?

Politics is not my choice of prime topics to write about these days. It’s positively exhausting and you’re going to get a guaranteed argument just because you dared to criticize someone from the same political party as any potential reader that comes across your site. However, sometimes my curiosity gets the best of me. After all, you know what curiosity did to the cat, right?

Honest talk
We have an awful lot of people who’ve spent decades working here. Based on the last several decades, does their body of work say they’re working for the people who elected them or for their own appetites? Let’s try a little honest talk and say no. So why do we keep voting for them over and over? (Photo from ncoa.org)

I didn’t vote for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton in the last election. My attitude toward both political parties is less-than-trusting. I voted for the third-party candidate because I thought he was the most qualified, even though I knew he’d never win. Was that wasting my vote? Depends on who you ask, I guess. However, I held my head high leaving the polling location because I voted my conscience.

I wish more people would vote for the best candidates, rather than just check the “R” or “D” boxes behind each candidate’s name, regardless of the position they’re running for. Minnesota is awful at that. Go back in history to find out how long Democrats have had primary control of state government. It’s longer than you think.

But I digress. That’s not my main point here.

As a non-Trump voter, I’ve been marveling over the past four years at the level of hate for the guy, simply because he’s not a member of the political elite. I’m not a big fan of his, primarily because of the way he’s handled U.S. agriculture, which is something near and dear to my heart, over the past four years. However, when you look at American politics these days, something is standing out as a bigger problem than the guy in the Oval Office.

Democrats (and more than a few Republicans) will list off all the reasons the U.S. is in trouble because of the current president, and frankly, there are some things I’ll agree with. However, my question is how much trouble can one guy be when he’s been in office for four years compared to people who’ve been in power for multiple decades? Well, that got me wondering about the shysters who’ve been in Congress for a long time and how they can call Trump our biggest problem?

According to The Stacker Dot Com website (all of these numbers are from late last year, so you do the math from there), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has been in the Senate for almost 35 YEARS. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has been in the House for just over 32 YEARS! Dianne Feinstein of California (boy, she appears to be quite honest and upfront, doesn’t she?) has been in office for just shy of 27 years. Heck, the 49th-longest-tenured member of Congress is David Price, who represents North Carolina, and he’s been in office “only” 23 years.

Even more insane is the fact that the longest-tenured member of Congress is Republican Don Young. He’s been in office for almost HALF-A-CENTURY at 48 years. Republican Pat Leahy of Vermont has been in office 45 years!

Are we just lazy? That’s not a rhetorical question, either. I’m looking for an answer because people can’t seem to grasp the fallacy of sending the same people over and over into government. Have you ever heard the cliché “absolute power corrupts absolutely?” It’s a cliché for a reason. It’s true. More honest talk here; You cannot look at Washington, D.C. today and not see the corruption on BOTH sides of the aisle.

But I digress, again. My question is this; How on Earth can Trump be our biggest problem when these morons have been in office for DECADES and had a chance to show real leadership and fix at least SOME of the problems we are dealing with now? Do you honestly think that they’re going to fix our problems NOW, as opposed to decades ago when they took office? Why is right now any different from the last 20, 30, or even 40 years?

Surely you can see the dangers inherent in keeping the same people in power for long periods of time, right? Eventually, those people begin to expect it. If they don’t have to worry about being elected because we keep sending them to DC, do they REALLY work for us anymore?

Maybe we need to send some of these people who’ve spent all this time in Congress packing. Is it even remotely possible that when they’re yelling about Trump to the mainstream “media,” they’re trying to distract you from something else they don’t want you to know about? That’s a rhetorical question because it’s exactly what they’re doing.

These long-time “leaders” have had their shot. Politicians have been padding their pockets and sowing division in this country for decades. They throw money at problems instead of trying to actually do some good. Here’s some really honest talk; It’s past time for some new ideas and new blood.  

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Voting; Why is it so hard to do?

Voting. Why don’t we do it? I’ve got a question I’m still looking for an answer to. Why don’t Americans seem to care about the future of our country? We’d rather exchange recipes on social media than read “one more damn political post.” I get that. I get tired of it too, especially as the liberal left leans more and more toward socialism. But that’s just a symptom. When did Americans stop caring about the future of their country?

Here’s something we can’t relate to. You likely didn’t hear much about it, but Pakistan had its first elections in decades back in July of last year. Elections turned violent during that time as an explosion at a polling place killed 31 would-be voters. About 50 percent of that country turned out for the first democratic election since 1947. They cared enough about the future of THEIR country enough to risk violence.

Voting
After researching this post and looking at these pictures from Pakistan and what voting cost some of them, I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t always been motivated enough to vote. (photo from mainichi.jp)

We likely won’t have to ever face that kind of a threat at American polling locations. At least I hope not. The problem was summed up well in an article on the website enidnews.com. “The problem is “our grasp on representative government is slowly slipping away for one reason: We simply don’t care enough about our system of government to keep it.”

Remember the 2016 election when Trump ran against Hillary? The media had us all up in arms about the importance of the election to the future of our country? Only 55 percent of our eligible voters turned out to vote “in the most important election of our time.” Seriously?

Just FYI: I didn’t vote for either of them. For the first time in my life, I voted for a third-party candidate (Gary Johnson) that I knew didn’t have a shot to win. He was still better than both candidates from the “established parties.” The reason I did that? I did some research. Johnson was twice elected governor as a Libertarian in Massachusetts, a MILITANTLY liberal Democratic-leaning state. Not only was he elected twice, he left the office in better financial shape than he found it. It’s called research.

How much research did it take for my state (Minnesota) to send someone like Ilhan Omar to the House of Representatives? You’ve likely heard the rumors that she married her brother and committed immigration fraud, right? I’m going to teach you a little something about journalism 101. If there’s enough smoke (stories out there that seem to tell the same story), then there’s likely some fire (truth to the accusations).

Voting
It’s really not that difficult to change the direction of America. High voter turnout and even a little candidate research could change everything. But we have to start caring about the country we’re leaving our kids first, don’t we? (photo from the Springfield News Sun)

For example, an article on the Fox 9 TV website in the Twin Cities looked into what the Congresswoman said in explaining the “miscommunication.” The TV station found some “discrepancies between Omar’s stated husband and marriage certificates that are on file with Hennepin County and the state.” How was she still elected? And why didn’t anyone push the issue farther? There are enough questions here that should have immediately disqualified her from even running.

What’s done is done, now.

She’s just one example of numerous people that likely have no business being in office. Don’t get me started on AOC out of New York. How many Republicans have spent DECADES in office? If we don’t hold our elected officials accountable with our voting, we deserve whatever happens to our country. And don’t kid yourselves, the extremist left in the Democratic party want to turn this country socialist as soon as possible. If you look at social media threads, you might be shocked at how  many Americans don’t seem to have a problem with it. Its right here in their own words.

And don’t think I’m on an anti-Democrat kick. Amy Klobuchar and Collin Peterson are just two Democrats I’ve voted for in recent elections. I don’t agree with everything they say and do but there’s enough common sense that I have no problem voting for them. Hell, I was a registered Democrat when I became old enough to start voting. As I got older, I switched to Republican (White privilege kicking into effect?). After that, I’m an independent voter and will stay that way for life.

Just checking off a series of candidates under either “Republican” or “Democrat” just because that’s what you’ve always done is foolish. Have you noticed how much the parties have changed over the decades? Do you really believe either one “cares about the little guy?” They don’t. It’s Republicans and Democrats that have gotten us into the situation we find our country in. Divided. Rudderless. Broke (we are). Meantime, we just keep voting to send the same people to Washington, D.C., because they’re in the party we’ve always voted for?

The article on enidnews.com lays it out. We Americans are “pitifully unprepared when we head to the polls, and that’s where the greatest threat to our republic lies.” We’ve got little hand-held computers with us that link us to the collective knowledge of the human race. “But, by and large, we use it to chase click bait that affirms our preconceptions, leaving us collectively ill-suited to guide our own nation.”

“We gorge ourselves on only those information sources that confirm what we want to believe, because we don’t feel any incentive to put in the work required to form independent, informed policy preferences. We pick a team, we let it speak for us, and we only listen to reporting that echoes our team.” For those that only vote “Republican” or “Democrat,” does that sound familiar?

“it’s just another damn political post on some random dude’s blog.” If that’s what you’re thinking, maybe you’re right. I don’t have all the answers. But I’m not convinced that America is so far gone that it can’t come back. Maybe keeping the phone lines open to our elected officials and expressing opinions is a good start? Then, actually doing research every couple years and making an informed choice? That’s an even better idea.