Happy New
Year! Not happy new
fear as some of the pundits would have us believe. We can meet the future with courage and
resolution or we can cower. So let us
live watchfully and walk softly and carry a big stick, to quote that august
Republican Teddy Roosevelt.
The presidential election is almost indescribable but I will
give it a try. The preordained
Republican candidate is not winning and a newcomer to the political arena is
winning the race in many parts of the country.
The lesser candidates are ripping each other apart as they did in
primaries past, which produced losing candidates both times in the last two
elections. Maybe we need more respect
for the voters, instead of viewing them as plastic to be molded. I don’t think our election system was
designed to bar candidates who have never held public office and it is obvious
that the skills called for in governing do require the ability to use a
consensus approach.
Who am I to say when a candidate should drop out? According to the polls, some don’t have much
support but let’s wait for the actual vote before counting anybody out. I like a vote better than a poll.
I’m burned by the use of the executive
order to attempt a change in gun sale regulations. Sure, the President has not made as many
executive orders as others, but it is the way he uses it. If he can’t get something through the
legislature, that means the people represented by those legislators do not want
it and that people could vote them out for imposing it when they don’t want
it. That is the way the system is set
up, in order to avoid dictatorial decision making. The President is blurring the line between
the Executive and the Legislative.
Crocodile tears don’t erase the Constitution.
I’m tired of the media and their
restricted vocabulary. They use the
same words to describe political contests as they use to describe war. Everything is an ‘attack’ instead of a
‘criticism’. Terrorists attack,
politicians attack, people attack the media, God, would you give them a
thesaurus? Terrorists do attack but
politicians debate and people criticize the media. I’m sick of their negative exaggeration.
I look for a busy election cycle with many events and we
will try to keep you posted about what is going on. We hope for a mix of daytime and evening
events featuring local candidates and senate candidates because we are electing
a Senator this year. All candidates are
welcome to all of our meetings and there’s always time to say a few words. This
is truly one of the most important elections in modern times: the voters will decide for more of the same
downhill trends or a new direction for our endeavors.
