Tag: #Midterms

  • Morning in America

    Woke up this morning to the news that there was another mass shooting.

    Remember when the big news was the firing of Jeff Sessions?

    And remember when the big news before that was Trump’s weird confrontational press conference?

    And Remember when before that the big news was the mid-term elections?

    I find living in this country now is like having the attention span of a dog looking for a squirrel while being bi polar at the same time.

    I am starting to give up on the idea that we can return to a time when things were “normal.” I think it is past and this is the new normal that we live in.

    I always wanted to be the person that looked to the future, as that will be the better place to work for. Now, I am very nervous about what the future will hold. I keep thinking that we will reach a breaking point, when people will have enough of mass shootings, and a president who flouts the rule of law, or a political party that is becoming openly racist.

    But… no…

    I still can’t get over people who would vote for Ted Cruz. I mean, no one likes Ted Cruz, but he got re-elected… And no one likes him.

    I keep reading and watching the news, reading up on my history and political philosophy, thinking that there will be some new insight that will come to me, but I keep feeling despair. And the House flipped, bringing at least some over sight, but that hasn’t made me feel any better.

    It’s the gun violence. It’s like it just will not subside in this country, and after each shooting, the feeling grows that it is a ticking time bomb that will one day explode on each of us. And we will wonder how it got this bad, and didn’t we do anything before.

  • The Vote

    Is anyone out there voting?

    I will be, and I hope more people out there do as well. I also hope that this becomes a habit, and that we start getting to a level, let’s say 80%-90% of the voting age public starts to show up.

    But what can we do to change things? I don’t care about the cause, I just want to make things better.

    First of all, let’s change Election day to a weekend. Two days of voting when just about everyone will have access. Or, make Election Day a national holiday that everyone gets off.

    Next, why don’t we make voter registration automatic when you turn 18? Or, treat it like the selective service act, and make it the law that everyone has to register to vote. I could even see that there would be an option to opt out, because I am sure there will be people out there that just don’t want to vote no matter what.

    What if we encouraged parents to take their kids with them to polling stations? Or provided some form of childcare at polling stations so parent could vote.

    I also wonder why there isn’t some sort of app that is out there that lets you register to vote, or telling you what district you are in, the candidates that are running, issues up for a vote, and where your polling place is.

    The other thing I know is that none of these changes will happen unless we, the public, go out there and demand these changes.

  • What Is Happening?

    It has been such a strange news week. All of it bad.

    I try to avoid writing about politics as it makes me angry and I feel like not a whole lot gets settled.

    But this week has started me rethinking that decision.

    First of all, the context of this week’s events was clearly framed by John McCain’s funeral. From The New Yorker calling it the “…Biggest Resistance Meeting Yet,” to W. Bush and Obama saying nice things about an adversary while sharing a pew together. (And the two couples did seem to be enjoying each other’s company.)

    Then we get Bob Woodward’s book, “FEAR,” which proposes that things are very bad in the Trump White House. Only to be followed by the anonymous New York Times Op-Ed that pretty much confirms Woodward’s book.

    I agree with most of the late-night comedians, nothing about Woodward’s book or the Op-Ed piece make me feel any better. Trump is surround ideologies encouraging his worst tendencies, and  cowards who have a way to save the Republic, the 25th Amendment, but won’t do anything other than secretly try to thwart their boss when he’s not looking.

    I can’t help but wonder, how will this end? It just keeps getting worse every week. I’m ready to vote in the Blue Wave, but even then, it would only be a check to Trump’s power. What I fear, but know is right, is that we have to get through two more years of this, because I want Trump removed in an election. I want the people of this country to say, “No more,” and elect another person.

    And that is a dangerous gamble. I have a bad feeling that Trump could find a way to win in 2020.

    It’s not that crazy of an idea, because none of us thought he’d win in 2016.