Whenever anything breaks in my art classroom, my students will all say, “It wasn’t me.” I always find it fairly funny that no one wants to take responsibility for their actions when something goes wrong in my classroom. However, my students have learned this behavior from what they see happening in the real world. I have avoided writing on my blog for some time because I have just been so damn mad at the Democratic Party and the rigged primary election…that I just had nothing to say. Words escaped me for many months. I have decided to just let everyone know that regardless of what happens on Tuesday, it wasn’t me.
I am not voting for the lesser of two evils: Clinton or Trump. That is like asking me if I want to be swindled or groped. I will pass. I am voting for Jill Stein, someone that I really have great respect for and admire.
I really don’t know what will happen although I suspect with all of the powerbrokers on Clinton’s side that they will manage to get her the election through hook or crook. It is shocking to me that no matter what she does, no one sees what she does as illegal, corrupt, and/or dishonoring of the office of the presidency. The fact that she can even run is shocking to me. She can let her maid look at her documents for printing or she can sell arms to countries that will probably put them into the hands of people that will kill American troops and get her payback through the Clinton Foundation. She can mishandle and ungodly number of documents that any teacher knows shouldn’t be done in a school setting let alone a government setting where people’s lives may be at risk. She can make every poor decision from Iraq, to Libya, to Syria, and still be called the “most qualified person” to ever run for office. She can get questions from Donna Brazile before a debate with Bernie, showing just what a cheater she is and nobody seems to care.
I feel like my party, my Democratic Party, has abandoned me. So, I left them this summer. It was a mutual breakup. They said they didn’t need me. They really despised those Bernie supporters and decided they would court the Republicans. Now, it is interesting to see them coming to Michigan trying to get all those voters to get in line to vote for the most corrupt politician of modern times. I refuse to line up for that one as I have some self respect left. I finally figured out that the Democrats have been making us all swallow a bitter pill for many, many years. I just have to give a shout-out for Jimmy Dore because he really does tell it like it is. He pulls that scab off really fast. It is only painful for a moment and then you are left with the thought of how damn stupid you have been all of these years voting for the lesser of two evils. It didn’t really get you anything.
I think our country is in a very bad place. Both parties have lost their way. Neither of them properly represents the American people. If they did, we would not have so many poor and one paycheck away from being poor people in this country. This article is a real eye opener and everyone knows how expensive it is to live today. http://www.alternet.org/economy/real-numbers-half-america-poverty-and-its-creeping-upward
Healthcare for the average person is unobtainable if it isn’t paid by his or her employer. After this election, is it going to change? We seem to want to put all of our money into war or war goods. We aren’t taking care of our people, infrastructure, or anything else that really matters to most people. Education has become a testing nightmare being taken over by private corporations. Higher education is becoming unobtainable for many, as it is so expensive. So, what are people to do?
I think we need a third party. I am voting for Jill Stein in the hope that she can get that magic 5% that will help get the Green Party federal funding and be allowed to be on all state ballots. I encourage others to do the same. My vote does mean something. I am trying to break the duopoly of the two parties that are a cancer on our country. If more people would realize that we can take our country back, if we revolt from this system that has been set up to provide a feeding ground for corrupt politicians; then maybe we will survive. However, if we keep going like we are our environment won’t last let alone ourselves. I am begging people to think about another alternative. Hillary has been beating a drum for war with Russia. Troops have been readied for this. She will not stand up for us. She will stand up for those corporations that keep giving her money. To think that she will magically be someone different than she has been her whole life is to be a fool. I am not a fool and my vote will count for what I want, not what the Democratic Party wants and not what Hillary wants. Just remember, she was a Goldwater Girl. I will vote for Jill Stein and I hope someone reading this will also think about doing it as well! Regardless, pray for peace people! It is mind boggling to think that we could have had a President Sanders! Just remember…it wasn’t me!
I have been a lifelong Democrat. I have spent many years actually arguing that Democrats are not as bad as Republicans. Yes, I know that is kind of a silly argument because bad is bad. Just how bad does one have to be to be a better bad than the other guy? I have finally realized that to continue this relationship is akin to continue being married to an abusive partner.
We all know the arguments about spousal abuse but let me share my thoughts about this. The abuser holds all of the cards because the one being abused actually feels powerless. The abuser cajoles us with that thought that they will change. It is kind of like Hillary saying she will actually push for many of Bernie’s ideas; after all, the Democrats have included some on the Democratic platform. Isn’t that proof enough that she will be a better spouse? I think we all know of that spouse that says they will go to counseling and then he/she never goes back after the first session, or the spouse that isn’t going to drink anymore, but goes out on another bender. Even though Hillary, Bill, and Democrats did everything they could to short our votes from Bill showing up at polling places, to magically having many voter registrations disappear or change voting preferences, to white out on Bernie’s name, to many other obstacles put in the way of Independent and Democratic voters, including strange exit polls not matching results, we are now all supposed to hold hands and sing “Kumbaya”.
We all see the abuse coming. We know when we are going to get punched in the gut. We brace for it and hope it isn’t going to be too hard this time. Then when Hillary starts working on Social Security with the Republicans, we better get used to the idea of working longer and having less to retire on. It is then that we will feel that punch in the gut. If you aren’t sure what Hillary will do, well, it’s because she is always saying different things. It depends which audience she is with at the time. http://www.salon.com/2016/04/15/hillarys_social_security_mess_a_frustrating_half_embrace_of_a_good_policy/
Hillary and the Democrats are going to guilt you, just like your abusive spouse. When your spouse tells you to stay to keep the kids together, you feel like your braking up your kids lives for something worse than a parent that abuses the other one. The Democrats will say we must stay with them because of the Supreme Court. That has been the kids in this relationship the whole time. What will the kids do, if we leave our spouse? Heaven forbid what will happen! If you are staying out of fear, the abuse is only going to get worse. How else could these Democrats continue to claim to be against so many things that happened on the Supreme Court like Citizen United and then turn around and embrace them by dismantling prohibitions on receiving money from lobbyist and political action committees? http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/269266-dnc-rolls-back-restrictions-on-lobbyist-donations
Some people put up with abuse because they don’t think they can survive on their own. Their spouse makes the money. How can they ever make it on their own? I can say it is difficult but really don’t you already feel alone? Your spouse may be sitting next to you but he/she is not really there for you. Just like the Democrats, they are only there when they need something. Right now, they need your vote. You have power; you just don’t know it yet. Trust me, as soon as they get it, they will be back to their old philandering abusive ways. If you think you are going to get that health care they promised you, think again. Anyone that has really researched and read about healthcare, whether they are Republicans or Democrats down deep knows the system we have is broken. It is time to embrace single payer. Single payer will cost less for everyone, including business which is what the Republicans should be embracing. At my own school, we have a tiered system. If you want better insurance, you have to pay more. The top insurance in order to insure a family is now pushing the unbelievable number of around $25k a year, a year! Did I say a year? The school has to cough up nearly $17K and the teacher around $8K. Who can afford this besides someone like Hillary and Bill that get $250K for a speech? As to single payer, I will always remember Hillary saying, “Never, ever!”
As you can see, Hillary tends to flip flop on her ideas, not unlike your abusive spouse who can appear so kind and loving one minute and fly off the handle the next.
You can survive without that abuse. In fact, you will grow stronger the longer you stay away from it and start realizing your own self worth. I know it is difficult to leave. You may be Catholic, much like me, and you may be thinking that marriage is supposed to last a lifetime. You have been indoctrinated after all. Maybe your parents were Democrats that talked about FDR and JFK, much like mine did. However, while you were sleeping, your abusive mate switched personalities just like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The Democratic Party is the same way. Many years ago, too many to count, they were a party of principles. They had ideas much like FDR and JFK. They believed in people, not corporations. They stood for minorities and women’s issues, now they stand for corporations! They were the party, you could believe in. Now, they are much like that abusive mate that tells you what he/she thinks you want to hear and then does whatever the hell they want to do.
All of my life, I have stood up for the Democratic Party. I have supplied excuses for them when they put up someone I am not too crazy about for the presidency. They have had some candidates that were really strong progressives, but sadly, they were always taken out and usually by some stupid thing, much like the “Dean scream”, where a mountain was made out of a mole hill. That scream had nothing to do with policy and everything to do with just getting rid of Dean. Then along came Bernie Sanders, a seventy four year old Jewish guy with a passion for the people. I am sure the Democratic Party thought it was a hoot that Bernie was going to run as a Democrat. I can recall many times when different Hillary supporters told us he wasn’t a “real” Democrat and he was a SOCIALIST! Heaven forbid. They failed to remind us that Hillary started out with Republican roots. It was like he was a demon from some dark and dreary place, but we all listened to Bernie. He was the messenger. He was the guy talking policy. He told us our country could be so much better. He told us that there is a future we could believe in and I believed him. I still believe in Bernie.
The Democratic Party has fooled me way too many times. This year, I did my research, just like past years. I learned all about dark money, the Clinton Foundation, Wall Street speeches that I cannot find the transcripts for, and a Secretary of State’s Office that made up their own rules. Hillary Clinton was investigated by the FBI and still may be being investigated. We have been told it is a vast right wing conspiracy but sorry Democrats, I have found out there is some there actually there. Why the Democrats have chosen to put up their weakest candidate shocks me but also make me think they must all be as deeply flawed and corrupt as she is. They know she is lying and yet they keep telling us not to believe what we are seeing and hearing. It is about semantics and that word “is”. How Barack Obama can say she is the most qualified candidate to ever run for office is just mind blowing to me and an insult to every other person that has run for the presidency. Yet, those are the words that her stand-ins keep using, “The Most Qualified” person.
FBI director Comey told us all the terrible things she did to expose our country’s deepest secrets but declined to indict her because of the word “intent”. Intent is hard to prove in any case, but I don’t think the law was written with the word “intent” in it. Now, sometimes laws do say intent. Like the time, many years ago, when I was a juror on a marijuana case where the state was trying to prove that a guy was intending to sell marijuana. When we met as jurors, we all thought it was a stupid case because we didn’t feel they proved intent. How do we know what he intended to do? We knew they had an undercover officer. Why didn’t they wait to see if actually sold the drug? Now, Hillary will have another excuse for perjury charges. She didn’t intend to lie. She thought she was telling the truth. There is such blow back of years of Clinton scandal that I can see that I don’t want a future where we are constantly lied to, by a Democrat no less. It was bad enough when Republicans did it, like “lying” us into war! Just connect the dots with all of these articles and think about what is going on! https://medium.com/@blairerickson/the-iceberg-7eb3ea7a68e2#.tru1ojmq3
We have also been told by both corrupt two parties that we have to choose between bad and worse, that whole lesser of two evil things. We can vote for lying Hillary or lying Donald. Which one is worse? I am a moral person. I am not a liar. I am a person that has convictions and believes in building a better world. I think our youth are the future and I am so worried about that future. What are our kids going to have besides a mountain of debt, poor health insurance, and insecurity? We tell them to go on to school which gives them an ungodly amount of debt. When they get out, they have to deal with predatory lenders which make many of their lives a living hell. Many settle for jobs that are beneath their education. Others delay getting married, buying a house, or other things because they are so stressed about their student debt. When they get their job, they discover that many of the perks have vanished, such as in the world of education. A teacher could usually count on good health insurance and some day, a decent pension. Well, those new young teachers don’t get what the old ones had. I know this is true for many other careers as well. Our youth are getting the shaft. Now, they have this one opportunity to change the world. They could elect a real progressive and somehow through all the Democratic manipulations they are stuck with the Democratic standard bearer of Hillary Clinton. I think having our youth put up with more of same old political shenanigans is the biggest form of abuse imaginable.
So, I, being the good parent I am, will no longer put up with that abuse. I know my child will be better off with a different future. Bernie’s message resonated with me unlike any message in my past. If Bernie Sanders is not the nominee, I will vote for Jill Stein. I suggest that every young person and parent of a young person should do the same. Her stands on the issue are very much like Bernie Sanders. Here is a really good reason to vote for Jill. Just listen to what she is saying and think about how the banks were bailed out. We need a revolution in this country and the only reason a third party can’t make it is because we have never had the guts to go all in and make it happen. I suggest that the time is now. Bernie was a once in a lifetime candidate. We will never have another chance with a candidate like him, at least not in my lifetime. If the Democratic Party is allowed to get away, once again, with their fraud of a primary election, they will become even worse, not better. Don’t let them steal your vote any longer. Vote for who you believe in, not some promise you know will never come.
