Floridians... Get Out and Vote!!

If you live in Florida, today is primary voting day... Voting is an important constitutional right and responsibility as a citizen of the United States!!  So get out and vote!!!

The Romney Rabbit Hole...

The HuffPost Religion article, "Obama Birth Control Mandate: Catholic Bishops Divided On Legal Battle" includes the following quote:

"Blaire, a leading spokesman on social justice issues as head of the domestic policy committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, worried that the confrontational approach taken by the bishops was being exploited by political groups 'very far to the right' who are trying to use the conflict with the White House as 'an anti-Obama campaign.'"

Of course the far right-wing Republicans are exploiting this move by the Roman Catholic Church!  Is this really a surprise to anyone??  Republican strategists are using every scare tactic possible to try to get people to vote for Mitt Romney... and to be able to suggest that The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act interferes with religious beliefs, as they would say is evidenced by the lawsuit brought by the Catholic Bishops, is just one more ploy in their attempts to trick and maneuver people into casting a vote for Mr. Romney without really looking carefully at his positions on the economy, education, healthcare, or foreign policy, just to name a few of the issues the President of the United States has to deal with as he governs our country.  

Oh, wait a minute… we don't need to look too closely at Mr. Romney’s ideas for governing the United States…  because he has already given us a pretty good idea where he stands… 

On the economy:  He’s going “fix it”!  He knows how to do this based on his years of making money for venture capitalists at Bain…  But I wonder for whom he will be trying to make money as the President of the United States…  Who or what will he try to divide up and sell off?  And to whom will he sell?

On education:  He has stated that he will get rid of the US Department of Education, or at least merge it with other departments in the government…  I mean who really needs a Department of (Public) Education when everyone knows that Charter Schools (privately funded, for profit schools) are the best way to go… right?  Hmmm… privately funded, for profit schools… Does that mean that in the future those people in our country who won’t be able to afford it, will then no longer get an education?  Not even a basic one?  I can just see the US literacy rates plummeting now…  That ought to be really good for the United States…

On healthcare:  He will get rid of “Obama-care” (also known as The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act)!!       The piece of legislation that allows young people to stay on their parents’ health insurance until the age of 26, saving them a great deal of money…       The piece of legislation that will not allow insurance companies to charge more for women's coverage than men's coverage...       The piece of legislation that (now) does not allow insurance companies to limit or refuse children insurance based on pre-existing illnesses, and that (by the year 2014) will benefit all people in the same way…       The piece of legislation that does not allow insurance companies to drop someone from coverage at will…or because they actually needed and used their health coverage…       The piece of legislation that will help more Americans be able to get affordable health coverage  (it is called "The...Affordable Care Act" for a reason)…     And Mr. Romney would get rid of it.  Thousands (millions?) of people in the United States cannot afford health care now.  Does this mean that Mr. Romney does not want Americans (all Americans, not just the more affluent ones) to have access to affordable health care?  Sounds like it to me…

On foreign policy:  Well perhaps we don’t really need to worry too much about Mr. Romney’s knowledge of foreign policy…after all, he is up on all the latest news…  Why, just a couple of weeks back, he reminded us just who the United States’ greatest enemy was…  Did you not catch the news that day?  I’ll fill you in…  according to Mr. Romney, America’s greatest enemy and threat is… Russia…  Well, at least he didn’t say it was the now non-existent USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republic), of which Russia was a part…  But then, for so many years Russia was synonymous with the USSR…  Maybe I do need to be a little concerned about Mr. Romney’s ability to lead the United States in the area of foreign policy after all…maybe we all do…

Ahhh…   I am sorry…  I did get a little off topic.  I started out this post to say that the Roman Catholic Church is being used by the far right wing of the Republican Party to attempt to gain political momentum and scare people into voting for Mr. Romney.

I guess I went down a Romney rabbit hole…  I’m glad I’m back out of it… it is a little scary to consider what the “Romney States of America” might be like in the future.

that "fire in my belly"...

"I think my problem is that I have that fire in my belly... I struggle with it every day."  ~Sarah Palin


Sarah, Sarah, there is no need for you to have to continue struggling with such pain ... there are medications available these days for that type of problem ... even over-the-counter ones.  But if the Rolaids, Tums, Pepto Bismol, or Milk of Magnesia don't help, and you continue to have that sensation of "fire in [your] belly" then I would suggest you seek the help of a Gastroenterologist [a tummy doctor].

He or she can suggest some medical tests ... for example a CT scan with contrast, or a barium swallow [I hear that the stuff doesn't really taste that bad], or a barium enema, or maybe even a colonoscopy, to name only a few possible tests, that might help to determine the cause of the "fire in [your] belly."  Your doctor might even decide that you need some type of surgery to relieve you of the "fire in [your] belly."

Of course, I do realize that these medicines and medical procedures, and the time you would spend in the hospital if you ended up needing surgery for the "fire in [your] belly" could run your medical bills pretty high ... and you might be one of the few thousand people who do not have good health insurance, and therefore struggle to have enough money to be able to pay your medical expenses ... in which case it might be difficult to get the problem of the "fire in [your] belly" quickly diagnosed and properly treated.

Oh, you're that Sarah Palin ... well, I guess you do have enough money and/or insurance to take care of the "fire in [your] belly".  Well, as I said at the outset, don't continue to struggle with such pain day in and day out ... see a doctor.  But please, don't pass the pain on to the American people by running for President of the United States in 2012.  No one in America has enough money or good enough insurance to help with the pain that would cause, in the very remote chance that you might win.  

damn the torpedoes...

It has been interesting listening to comments made by our politicians and our soon to be politicians since the "shellackin" that the Democratic Party received in the elections less than a week ago.  The "whys", the "wherefores", the "what-nots", and the "what's next" have all been spoken on...  by those of all political parties and persuasions...  and the Republicans and Tea Party-ers would have us believe that they are now going to come in and "save the day"!!

As I listened to election returns, one thing seemed to stand out...  Democrats and Republicans and Tea Party-ers who spoke that night focused on the fact that people in our country were angry that not enough had been done to create more jobs for those who have been and continue to struggle with unemployment.  And perhaps I heard it wrong, but it sounded to me as if those who had been re-elected and newly elected were making promises to take up the challenges of unemployment and job creation that are plaguing our economy as a top priority...

It sounded as though they were saying they would be coming to Washington to work to reduce unemployment and grow our economy...   granted, that was not the only thing they were saying, but at least on election night it seemed as though that was going to be their top priority, because they said, "that was what the American People wanted"...  "that was why the American People had so soundly defeated the Democrats"...   "that was why the American People had handed the Democrats the largest defeat in history since the 1930's"...    And from both Republicans and Democrats I heard that they [our elected and newly elected officials] were now going to work to fulfill the "people's mandate" [although the word "mandate" may not have actually been used, it was certainly implied]...

I wonder how they are going to do that?

I know, I know!!!!    I heard it from the mouth of Mitch McConnell himself!!!   He is going to focus on making sure that President Obama does not get elected in 2012, so that a Republican nominee can be elected as president, so that they can then repeal "Obama-care"...

Now that's a plan if I ever heard one...  that will certainly fulfill the American People's "mandate" to create more jobs and bring the unemployment numbers down...

Yessiree!!  Let's have two more years of Republicans and Tea Party-ers saying, "No, we won't!" to anything that is suggested or proposed, so that in the 2012 elections, the Democrats can be blamed, President Obama can be defeated, and Republicans can "take over"...  and "Obama-care" can be repealed!!!

But wait...  what about those unemployment numbers and those people in our country who are losing their homes and struggling to make ends meet?  What about the American People's "mandate" that you promised to make top priority?  Or at least that you appeared to promise to make top priority...

I guess in the short time span of just a few days, everything is suddenly ok with the job/unemployment situation, and attention can now be focused on the more important things...   that of making sure that Democrats and President Obama are defeated in the 2012 elections...   damn the needs of the American People...  damn the anger in this country over job loss, mortgage foreclosures, unemployment and Wall Street excesses that brought us to this point...

What's that saying?  "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead"?

Be warned....   we Americans now live in an "instant society" of "fast foods" and instant access to anything we want over the internet...  and we apparently also expect "instant answers" to problems for which there are none...   the "torpedoes" that sunk the Democrats in the 2010 elections may also sink Republicans and Tea Party-ers in the 2012 elections...

It is time that political posturing, political power-plays, and election rhetoric be put aside for the more important job of working together to find ways of reducing unemployment and encouraging the creation of more jobs...   Whether Democrat or Republican or Tea Party or Independent, this is the reason you were elected...  this is what the American People are screaming for...  this is your "mandate"!!

We, the American People, are looking to you, our elected officials, for leadership, not partisanship!!  And I think, that although we would like our problems to be solved instantaneously, that deep down, we know that will not happen...  but it would be nice to see some progress being made...  without having to wait another two years before any of you legislators even begins to get to work...

Today.... Get Out and Vote!!!!

We who are citizens of the United States of America have a privilege that many Americans take for granted, because they have never known anything different...  we have the right to go to the polls and vote for the candidates of our choice.  Unfortunately, there are many who do not take advantage of this privilege...  no, not privilege...  this responsibility!!  It is our responsibility as citizens of the United States to vote for those who will be our representatives at all levels of government.

Why?

Well, it has been awhile, but somewhere in my education, I learned about The Gettysburg Address, in which then President Abraham Lincoln referred to the government of the United States of America as a government "of the people, by the people, [and] for the people."  He could refer to our government in this way, because we, as ordinary citizens of the United States, could go to the polls and choose our leaders!!

Granted, in President Lincoln's day, not all people over the age of majority who had been born in and lived in the United States had the right to vote...  or were even considered to be citizens...  it was not until the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was ratified in July of 1868, that all persons, born or naturalized in the United States, were legally assured of citizenship status within the United States and within the individual state in which they resided...  and it was not until the 15th Amendment [ratified in February of 1870] and the 19th Amendment [ratified in August of 1920] that all people, regardless of sex, race, color, or previous condition of servitude, were given the right to vote.

But... we in the 21st century, all of us who are legal citizens of the United States of America, and who are above the age of majority [18 years old], no matter whether we are male or female, no matter what our race, ethnic background, socio-economic status or religious creed might happen to be...  we still have the government that President Abraham Lincoln described as "of the people, by the people, [and] for the people."  It is because of this very reason that we have a responsibility to exercise our privilege and our right to go to the polls and vote!!

Being able to vote for those who will be our representatives at all levels of government is what gives us Americans a government that is "of the people, by the people, [and] for the people."  Voting is the fundamental thing that gives us a "voice" in our government!!

So, take the time...  exercise your privilege... your right... your responsibility...  let your voice be heard...

Today...  get out and vote!!