Because I Still Believe

I’m sad for those people in Omaha. Not sad because they were stranded in below 32 degree weather after listening to a conman go on and on doing his stand-up act instead of giving them any kind of plan or direction he has for the country over the next four years. After all, it was their choice to attend.

No, I’m sad for them because they had some desire to attend. Some want. Some overwhelming need. Their belief that he is the best person to lead the country they live in because he is some kind of savior for an idealized America that never existed in the first place is more than sad, it’s depressing.

But that’s what they want. They want to make the “libtards” depressed...or angry. For them it’s not about what’s right or wrong, it’s about winning. It’s about doing whatever they must to ensure emotional, and sometimes physical suffering among those they view as their enemy. It’s about a hatred for the other side that we on the left are just now beginning to understand.

Playing “fair” or “by the rules,” while being the admirable thing to do, has been a losing cause for Democrats recently. The Republicans have taken so much while we did. 

I was taught that “right” eventually wins out in the end. I was raised that way. I have tried to live my life that way.

But lately that sure doesn’t seem to be true. It appears that playing “ruthless” is what wins in the end.

And that makes me sad.

We’re six days out from the end of the 2020 election cycle. Six days of Covid-induced, racial strife induced, economic uncertainty induced, and climate induced stress.

And everyday feels like it brings with it another fire.

America is evolving too fast for those people in Omaha who attended his stand-up show last night. The change is happening in real time. For the people who follow him with cult-like admiration and loyalty it scares them. They are desperate to make it to stop.

But it won’t.

Change is inevitable. If they don’t adapt then they will go extinct.

Because I still believe that “right” will prevail. It’s going to be difficult because so much is lined up against it, but it will win out in the end. I just hope it’s in my lifetime. A loss in this election will make that difficult to achieve, yes, but maybe then it will be achieved in my children’s lifetime.

I can hope.

Hoping for a better future for my children is certainly better than standing in the road, in the middle of a pandemic, in below 32 degree weather, hoping for a bus to arrive.

The Power of One

One person should never be allowed so much power. It's a flaw in our system of government. It allows one to abuse that power and hold the country hostage to whatever whims the one holding it craves.

One man has stopped the levers of government, made up new "rules" to prohibit Presidential rights given by the Constitution, and kept bills from being discussed (much less voted on), all while stacking the judicial system with ideological judges.

It's not Trump. And it wasn't Obama.

It's Mitch McConnell.

How can one man--a man where people in 49 other states have never had a say in whether he goes to the Senate or not--have so much power?

How can one man, voted to the Senate by a small number of Americans in the 26th largest state by population, be allowed to essentially decide the direction of this country?

How can anyone think this is a good form of government?

It's a flaw in our system. One that has recently had devastating consequences.

And together we all suffer for it.

806,787 people voted for Mitch McConnell in 2014.

806,787.

That’s half of one percent of the total number of registered voters in the country in 2014.

0.567% to be precise.

Yet he has controlled the direction of this country. He’s prevented judges from being confirmed, endlessly blocked legislation from reaching the Senate floor, changed rules when it suited him and the Republican Party, confirmed ideological judges at record pace once he had a Republican President in office, ignored the plight of everyday Americans, and now with eight days to go before the end of an election cycle (because yes, the election is happening now), he’s going to get his third Supreme Court Justice approved. The third one chosen by a President that was not elected by a majority of Americans.

All of that may be legal, yes. But it’s wrong.

The country should not be controlled by one man elected by 806,787 people from Kentucky. 

The country should not be controlled by one man, period.

Because it is, shows there’s a flaw in the system.

And for the country to survive, that system must change. 

If it doesn’t, then we should fear for our children’s future.

Because Mitch McConnell will not be the last power-hungry person to hold this position. Others will undoubtedly follow in the footsteps he has made in clay. And, although right now it may be hard to believe, they may be worse.

So I repeat: one person should never be allowed so much power. To allow it invites abuse and degrades the people’s representation. The 806,787 people from Kentucky that voted for Mitch McConnell don’t represent me. And they don’t represent the majority of the people in this great country. And if we’re not going to be faithfully represented, then we the people need to make a change. 

The Question

The question we should be asking ourselves, particularly GOP supporters, is not whether Kavanaugh is a good man or not, but rather why he, or anyone for that matter, needed to be rushed through so quickly? Why was it fine for the Supreme Court to be down a justice for ten months at the end of one President's tenure (more than ten percent of his entire time in office), but at this moment, this man (and it does appear that it had to be this particular man) had to be confirmed despite his low public approval rating and the severe allegations brought against him?

Unfortunately, your answer will probably depend on which side of the aisle you're on.

Yes, the midterms are less than a month away, and I have no doubt our political leaders used that fact to rush through this man's confirmation for fear of not being able to do so afterwards, but these are questions that should bother us. They should gnaw at our insides and keep us awake at night, pondering if these are the people who deserve to represent us and run our country. Do these people truly represent who we are, or are we content to just let such people be in power because at least it's not the other side?

If it's the former, then they are a reflection of us and we should be ashamed of who we turned out to be.

If it's the latter, then that's an emotional way to be involved in the political direction of this country.

And emotion mixed with politics leads to atrocities.

So again I ask you to ponder why Kavanaugh's confirmation had to be rushed through despite the many concerns about him that surfaced. They are questions that may make us uncomfortable, but they need to be thoughtfully considered. It is worth our time to do so.

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends.