And so, what have I to say? My brain is such a mish-mash of all sorts of thoughts. It is hard to pull anything out that makes much sense. At this moment, and for several long moments in previous days, I have been distraught. This has a great deal to do with our current political strife. Admittedly, I have never claimed to be of one party or the other, I have never voted a straight ticket (and probably won’t this election.) I try to look at the information available to me regarding those who are running. Most of the time, I have voted for the candidates in whom I believe. I usually don’t vote based on emotion. But, now, what a predicament! This year, the election campaign has “out eviled” all other campaigns in my memory. I’ve been watching the demise of one party, it being “led” by someone who seems to have no idea about the premise on which our country is based. The bullying, vicious words and blame-slinging of this one candidate over shadow the issues. I have read many vitriolic attacks on the candidates posted on social media sites, I have listened to the calling of names, the lies; I have listened to the debates, and I’ve researched various statements of the candidates, finding one more truthful than the other. One calls the other “crooked” – I suppose it takes one to know one. We are so caught up in our devices, and our multi-media, -tasking, -faceted, -talented culture; we think that what we say through social media protects us, that there is anonymity. There isn’t. Anything anyone posts can cause hurt and foment misinformation – why do people want to do such damage to others, to our nation? Why are so many sites spreading untruth? Why do we put so much faith in a group like WikiLeaks who, in my mind, illegally gains access to private conversations? Hacking is wrong. And, golly gee, the fact checking sources are working triple time.
I ask you, what is a democracy? Do you know? Well, I’m sure you do, I’m probably preaching to the choir. But, it is governing of a group by majority, usually selected through elections, with minority input. Have we seen this recently? No. We have witnessed stalemate after stalemate. And that is probably the basis of our distress. One party blames the other – the truth is, it is both that are at fault. The word is compromise. When one is elected to a position, he/she serves all of the constituents, not just those from the party that got him/her elected. I feel this has been forgotten. It is much worse now. Our Constitution protects our democracy, the three branches of government are supposed to serve as checks and balances. We let certain media opinions impact our thoughts and sometimes we don’t find out the facts, many don’t, won’t, validate before disseminating. I believe I have searched the facts and I don’t listen to only one media source; so in this election I will vote my conscience, choosing the better one for the job. I do believe that it will take all of us to make this country as strong as possible, one person cannot fix it. In the words of Michelle Obama, “enough is enough.” We are not broken, we are only bruised. And, we will heal.
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