Anyone who’s as disgusted as I am with this year’s so-called political “campaign” will probably love the t-shirt offered at www.whatonearthcatalog.com (“I Already Hate Our Next President”). And no, I won’t get a commission if you buy one.
The reason I haven’t bought one is that I already have a target on my back for the prissies who brook no criticism of our insane election system. Yes, the system is better than in most other countries and somehow works in a Rube Goldberg fashion, but it isn’t critique-proof. Our society has fallen far from the lofty ideals of the Founding Fathers, who weren’t exactly perfect themselves. And don’t tell me they just did what God wanted them to do. They forgot a few things!
In coming to eventual agreement – more or less – the Founding Fathers reflected the societal norms of the time, such as women were chattel and had no rights. Period. Not even against a severely abusive husband who happened to be the mayor of the community and a member of the stick-together-at-all-costs old boys’ club. Yet had the Founding Fathers tried to include women’s rights and other issues, we likely would not have a Constitution nor a Bill of Rights to this day. Sometimes, waiting till the old men die doesn’t resolve anything. It takes additional generations to bring about needed change.
The November elections will be critical this year, if they happen. (There are those doomsday analysts who think the elections might be derailed, for a variety of reasons.) Even if either of the two worst possible candidates get elected this year, the protesters at the rallies did their part in standing up for what they see as a disaster for this nation. We don’t have to agree with their methods to recognize that no one will herd them onto trains bound for horror. Someone had the guts to speak up while too many of the rest of us won’t even vote.
Even while encouraging their employees to vote in both Primary and National Elections this year, employers may block employee access to information sites such as lavote.net. But check in your own city to find a list of qualified write-in candidates, especially if both leading candidates are poison to you and have no redeeming values that you can live with.
At lavote.net, enter “write-in candidate” in the Search box because they don’t make it easy to find the list! Or go here. Voting precincts are also required to display this list at the voting tables but it’s better to look at the names ahead of time if you can. A few might be familiar. If so, vote for someone you know to be honest and will do a good job if given the opportunity.
A vote for someone different isn’t a wasted vote. It’s one more vote the leading candidates don’t deserve and won’t get!
It’s not too late to wake up and realize we’ve all lost freedoms already but it is the 11th hour when tyrants of all stripes threaten our freedom to worship as we please. We are guaranteed that freedom by the First Amendment to the Constitution in the Bill of Rights. Even though we’ve been forced to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea for decades as corruption continues to corrode our political system, this year is presenting a particularly no-win situation. But truthfully, too many people just vote the party line without regard to the candidates’ woeful lack of qualifications. They vote that way because that’s how their families have indoctrinated them to vote.
We have the responsibility to think for ourselves after listening to a variety of people who may or may not be sincere about what’s good for this country. Just one example: when we refuse to do even the smallest thing to help the less-fortunate because our parents told us, “That’s the way those people are,” our own destinies are in jeopardy. “There, but for the grace of God, go I” has never been more true. We may have earned our place on earth by our obedience during the pre-mortal existence but we aren’t going to arrive where we think we will if we’ve been selfish while here on earth.
We need to consider our responsibilities in all areas and get out there and vote.