To All Politicians,
I am exercising my First Amendment Right to Freedom of Speech. First off, these are my opinions and mine alone. I haven’t been pressured by anything but my disgust at the elections this year.
This is the strangest election I have ever seen. Here we have someone who has been in the political world for almost 30 years so she knows how to play the game and it is the same game when watching the debates and town halls. She knows the right words to use to persuade people that change can happen with her win. Then we have the wild card, a businessman who has made and lost fortunes but never gives up. His perspective on the United States as a whole seems to be as a business that needs to be fixed. That fixing it means revamping the way everyone looks at us, including how we look at ourselves.
We don’t like or trust either of them so whoever wins it’s not because they will do a better job, it is actually because we hate the other one more at the time of the election. We all know nothing will get done, because the promises made to citizens of this great country will be forgotten once everything settles down. The party who doesn’t win will not cooperate with the winners and so forth. It is like high school all over again and it is repeated every four years.
Have any of you heard of John 8:7? (I am going to paraphrase so no one can take issue with what version of the Bible I am using. Yes, I am a Christian and I firmly believe that everyone should get to practice their religion safely without judgment even if I don’t understand or at times, condone it. I don’t assume to understand the jihadist version of Islam because everything I have ever read tells me: Muhammed believed in peaceful resolutions to problems if possible and if the enemy made an overture of peace, it must be taken. Allah is the Arabic name for God and jihad is only an action taken when peaceful means cannot be reached. Jews and Christians are called something like “people of the book” and are to be protected. Also that Islam doesn’t always condone those who are committing acts of violence in the name of “holy war”. Check out your history books folks, men have been riding off to war in the name of religion for centuries. But I digress…)
The back story is a woman was found guilty of adultery and brought before a group of men. (Amazing isn’t it? A woman alone was found guilty, where was her partner? At the local bar laughing with his friends that he wasn’t caught?) Jesus was asked if the law of Moses was correct and she should be stoned for her crime. (Again where was her partner? Oh right, she did this alone.) Jesus picked up a stone and said something like, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” Everyone started leaving until Jesus and the woman were the only two left. He asked her does she see anyone left to condemn her? She answers, “No.” Jesus says, “Neither do I and neither do I condemn you. Go and leave your life of sin behind you.” Maybe this is a lesson we all need to learn.
Everyone is acting like Donald Trump is the first man in history to make derogatory remarks about women and that Billy Bush is a misogynist in training. Men have been talking about women in this manner since coherent speech was formed. What do you expect when women were considered chattel (personal property), not allowed to keep their money and property except in extraordinary cases for centuries? Here in this great country President Thomas Jefferson didn’t believe in women being educated beyond the basics and the 19th Amendment wasn’t ratified until August 18, 1920 allowing women the right to vote; taking around 72 years to win!
The 15th Amendment was ratified February 3, 1870, allowing African American men the right to vote and never mentioned women of any nationality. Another fact about that is that it took almost 100 years for it to be fully used.
Women being treated badly? This isn’t the first time it has happened and it will not be last time. Women have been objectified for so long that we think bimbos in movies, women in bikinis draped across cars and motorcycles, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue is an anticipated event and pornography is the norm. Do we really need to talk about the fact we aren’t paid the same as men and once women have reached powerful positions we are called a word known for female dogs? (Yes, I am a woman, middle-aged and fairly well-educated.)
Everyone is up in arms over Donald Trump and his words. Now women are coming out of the woodwork over this. I also think it is interesting how many men are against him and protesting so much. Are they just relieved they haven’t been caught? I agree he can be a pig and someone, at times, needs to muzzle him but how is this such a big issue when our country is falling apart? Also, women get together and talk about men. Sometime it gets raunchy, sometimes it is just complaining about how we have been taken advantage all our lives in some form or another.
We as one race need to fix this and show compassion to all people. We need to help everyone feel safe in their homes, communities and especially in their own bodies. I can’t imagine feeling uncomfortable in my own body because I am one gender and not the other. We are just now hearing more about this.
In general, the United States is a conservative country. It has taken us many years to get to a point that people feel comfortable having interracial and/or same sex marriages, talking about their sexuality openly and not worrying about being accepted or their families and friends turning their backs on them. It also hasn’t been too long since they could be thrown in jail for these “transgressions”.
Now we are hearing more about the transgender and their struggle to be accepted. This is something that we have been hearing more about within the last 5 years even though it has been happening for a long time. Many people just don’t know what this is exactly, how it happens, what happens during the transition and yes, this country like the rest of the world has many who have closed their minds to anything different. I don’t want anyone living in fear so I believe, we need to put family bathrooms in every building so they have a safe place to go; at least until acceptance is more commonplace. There they don’t have choose which bathroom to use and it also keeps the crazy predators away from everyone who can’t protect themselves and hopefully keep the transgender from being assaulted because someone doesn’t like how they look. They are still people and we need to protect them. But they are not a pawn in the election and shouldn’t be treated as such.
I am so sick of the insults being slung back and forth; mainly to distract us from the facts as I see them.
The facts as I see them:
1: How The Law Isn’t the Same for Everyone: Why is it Ms. Clinton is not in jail for her many scandals? There are two soldiers sitting in prison right now for lesser crimes. One took a selfie on a sub and didn’t realize the radar screen was behind him and the other recognized three terrorists’ dressed as Afghan police, took a picture of them with his cell phone, sent it the only way he had available through his personal email account and while we got the bad guys, he was thrown in jail. If anyone knows their names, we should start a Go Fund Me page to get them legal counsel and get them out of jail. Especially the soldier who did the duty he was charged with and still ended up on the wrong side of the law. The other soldier just wasn’t thinking when he took the selfie. If the rest of us did what she did and has done over the years, they would be pumping sunlight to us under the jail.
2: Countries Who Hate Us and Other Freeloaders: Why is it we are giving billions of dollars a year to countries to hate us? These people are shooting at us. Why are we still paying Germany? We have helped them rebuild since we helped decimate their country in World War II. Now their economy is doing well enough for them to be on their own.
How come the countries we consider our allies in the UN aren’t always paying their fair share but still expect us to help them out when they are threatened? They are our allies and I believe we should help them but come on, don’t we all know people who take advantage of us? Why should we let that keep happening after giving them a ride, babysitting for free often enough that you could qualify as the childcare provider, pick up the tab at lunch because they forgot their wallet, lending them money knowing they won’t pay it back? We all know people like this and the UN seems to be the same thing only on a larger scale; especially since the money trees in the backyard of the White House have died leaving us with an incredibly large debt and no way to pay it off.
3: Government Contracts, Grants and Taxes: When companies run their businesses like the Federal Government does they have to close the doors, lay-off a lot of people after robbing the pension plans and declare bankruptcy.
If it is such an issue that everyone uses the legal tax laws to avoid paying taxes why hasn’t anyone reformed the tax codes? Also, what is it that is taken out of our paychecks? It is taxes last time I checked. Where is that money going? Just fix it people. Audit the government, figure out the holes, quit awarding grants for stupid studies or other asinine things like studying the sex lives of slugs (just an example, not sure if it is a real study).
Hold contractors accountable for their work. Keep an eye on their budgets so when they show up with their hand out telling you it is going to take more money and more time then tell them, give us an accounting of the work you have done, how much has been spent and we will find someone else to finish the job. That will send them back to the job and Shazam it will be done on time and within budget. If not, you call the next guy on the list and have him finish the job.
Please keep an eye on the money. A hammer shouldn’t cost more than $125 and that is only if you need a titanium one. And if they are a contractor, Lowes and Home Depot give a discount to contractors and veterans. So no one needs to spend $500 or more on a hammer. The money should go to giving the workers a living wage.
4: Brother Can You Spare a Dime?: Living wages. Who in their right mind thinks minimum wage will support anyone other than a teenager living at home? All politicians are so far removed from the average American that they should be ashamed of themselves. Every time we have an election all of you come out, talk to people, tell us what we want to hear but once the election is over; you head back to Washington and forget about us. You seem to forget people need to be able to support themselves and their families. If you want us to live on minimum wage, then get the utility companies and landlords to lower their rates. Lower gas and food prices. Minimum wage isn’t a living wage.
Give senior citizens a raise so they don’t have choose between cat food or their medicine. Social security wasn’t meant to support people, it was to supplement their income but when you have low wages, frequent long periods of unemployment and pension-robbing companies, it becomes the only lifeline someone may have.
5: First Responders, Inner Cities and Other Disadvantaged Areas. So many people live in fear every day that their loved ones won’t come home. I am not talking only about targeted races; I am talking about those who run into danger when everyone else is running away. I am talking about everyone in the United States who leaves home and wonders if today is the day another violent attack is going to happen.
We are fractured because we can’t trust one another. We need to figure out how to get better education to those areas, rebuild communities with jobs and hope. We need to help them trust the police again because until this happens, we can’t fix the problems. WE NEED JOBS THAT PAY A LIVING WAGE. CAN YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THIS? How can this be fixed when companies are leaving the United States and decimating cities and towns; leaving so many people out work who can’t afford to move anywhere else?
The jobless rate doesn’t take into account anyone who has given up. You post that jobs have been added but you neglect to mention anyone whose unemployment has ended and that many of the jobs are part-time minimum wage jobs; you are just happy that jobs have been added. There is a problem when every job posting has several HUNDRED applicants.
5: Immigration. We have to fix this. I am married to a Canadian. He came here legally for work. We were married and hired an immigration attorney to make sure we filled out the proper forms so I didn’t have to find the small room in Charlotte where ICE keeps the immigrants they round up. He is a naturalized citizen now, pays taxes and proud to call the United States home. How can we vet those wanting to enter better and then keep an eye on those who are already here? I know I am stepping on the right to privacy issue but I am not talking about following them everywhere with a camera. With practices in place to make sure student visas, tourist visas, temporary work visas, etc. are properly supervised and if someone fails to report or their visa expires in the system, you can find them. I understand that people can move without filing an address change but what happens when they are the ones taking flight lessons, getting engineering degrees and no one is paying attention?
People come to the United States to find a better life. They want to no longer live in fear and sometimes they come here illegally. I am all for helping those wanting a better life but I want it to happen legally and fairly. Figure out how to make sure those coming are peaceful, non-violent citizens of their own country first.
6: Veterans. Get them EVERYTHING they need. These men and women chose to defend and protect our rights, lives and freedom. I am proud to be the child of veteran. We need to fund the VA hospitals and get them what they need even if it is just someone to talk to when times are bad. They deserve it. Benghazi should never have happened. Those brave soldiers gave their lives to protect our people. By the end, they had to know they were going to die because help wasn’t coming. Instead of running, they fought to the end. Would you do that? I can only hope I would but we aren’t in that situation and I hope we never have Aleppo happen here. The woman who shall be nameless has said before she will answer the phone at 4 in the morning. What happened that day? Did she decide to sleep in? At least the other one who shall also remain nameless seems to suffer from insomnia so we can hope he would answer the phone.
7: War on Terrorism. Do we really need to announce what we are doing all the time? The terrorists watch our news channels to keep up-to-date. When we seem to always let them know our plans, often several months in advance. The bad guys leave the area and unfortunately the innocent are left behind. This is because the terrorists have all the money and resources to leave and the innocent have to pray the refugee camps are close enough to which they can walk or run. Is there any way you can give them misinformation and send them to an area where they can be captured or killed? Keep giving them a heads up and we will never end this.
8: Let’s Help Everyone: Haiti I understand because they are one of the poorest nations in the world and especially in our area. If we are going to send them aid, send the contractors to help rebuild their island instead of hoping it gets to those who need it. We need to help our people. After this latest hurricane, we need to make sure our people get the help needed first. We can’t afford to send as much help out of our country until our people have what they need. We can keep helping because we are a country that believes strongly in humanitarian aid. But unless the money trees in the White House backyard have starting producing again, we need to take care of our people first.
Our country is suffering from national discrimination. This needs to stop. We have homeless, jobless, racism, violence, those without healthcare and hunger. Too many people HERE need help. We need to feed our people, find jobs for our people, make sure our people live safe lives. We need to take care of our veterans, children, elderly and disabled. We have the greatest nation on the planet but aren’t acting like it.
The President, House and Senate are so far removed from the average American that they have forgotten one very important thing. When they don’t get along they don’t suffer, the American people do. We have to suffer the fallout every time they fight across party lines. Nothing can ever be passed because lobbyists get riders added to bills that have nothing to do with the bills. That causes an argument and something that we need passed like, better anti-stalking laws, childcare and elder care laws to prevent abuse, social security raises, money to bring education to areas that are disadvantage, helping cities rebuild their economies after the industry leaves, JOBS, etc.
I could write forever but what is the use? You tell us to get out there and vote but we all know the electoral college chooses our next president. Why should we vote when you don’t listen to us? The popular vote at times has differed from the electoral college but no one likes to talk about that or the fact throughout history someone suggests dissolving the electoral college but you politicians ignore that.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Again this is only my ideas, thoughts and opinions. That is one of the greatest thing about living in the United States...the right to have your own opinion.
I am an Average American and I approve this message.
