Tag: voting

Buzzkill

Yesterday I was feeling pretty high after I voted. Happy, happy, happy, and optimistic.

I’d worn blue from top to bottom (even my undies were blue) and once I had that “I Voted” sticker I decided to run some errands.

I was in the checkout line at Walmart, keeping a nice social distance from the folks in front of me when I sensed someone standing right behind me. I moved up a couple of steps. They followed. Finally I turned around and said, “You go in front of me. I feel uncomfortable with you standing so close.”

Then I realized this woman, about my age, didn’t have on a mask. I should’ve kept my mouth shut, but sometimes it operates independently of my brain.

“Good grief. You don’t even have on a mask. What is wrong with you?”

“Oh, maybe I have one in my pocket,” she smirked. She actually smirked.

Before I could do anything more stupid, I walked away and miraculously found a register that had just opened. Karma?

The whole thing brought my mood down for a second or two, but dang. What’s up with some people?!

Trying to remember: Peace, people.

Tomorrow, I Vote

For nearly four years I’ve watched Donald J. Trump tromp on our freedoms, embarrass us in front of world leaders, and make a mockery of the democratic process. I’ve listened to him tell one outrageous lie after another—over 20,000 of them, the last I heard.

He’s made me cringe. Caused countless sleepless nights. He’s left me feeling helpless and hopeless, wondering if our country can survive his ignorance, his hateful rhetoric, his self-serving agenda.

With the exception of, perhaps, Andrew Jackson, this country has never had such an ill-prepared, uncouth, morally bankrupt person in the Oval Office. May we never have another.

So, tomorrow, October 19, 2020, I vote. For decency. For experience. For a return to civility. Tomorrow I vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Peace, people.

Vote!

(My non-American friends can ignore this post. It’ll hurt my feelings, but if you just hit “like” I’ll never know.)

November 6th is the date for mid-term elections here in the United States. While we still have another two years before we can vote for a new, more informed, and less caustic president, this election could result in a change of control in the U.S. House of Representatives, and perhaps in the Senate. Both are long shots for the Democrats, but there are some awfully good candidates out there for progressive voters to cheer on.

I voted early and will be on a plane heading to Illinois as most voters cast their ballots. Hopefully traveling will keep my mind off of election results. So much depends on this election.

If you haven’t yet voted, I urge you to do so on Tuesday, Nov. 6. Go to the polls as an informed voter. Don’t rely on campaign commercials for your information. According to them, every candidate is an ass. Check out the League of Women Voters website for your state for solid, non-partisan information on candidates and any proposed amendments on the ballot. I made a list of how I planned to vote on each amendment and took it into the voting booth with me because some of the wording is confusing.

Okay, let’s get this done.

What a Great Day!

Monday was about as perfect as a day could be. I’m too pooped to write much, so instead, using a series of bullet points and emojis, I’ll share my experiences:

  • Dressed in my 👙 and a long 👚
  • Drove to the post office to mail two 📦 📦
  • Cast a 🗳 for Gwen Graham for Florida’s governor in the Democratic primary
  • Drove to St. George Island 🌴
  • Ate yummy scallops at the Blue Parrot 🌊
  • Set up a chair on the 🏖
  • Watched 🐬 🐬 frolic in the 🌊 🌊
  • Ran into 👩‍👩‍👧‍👦 from Tallahassee on the 🏖
  • They gave me a bottle of 💦
  • Visited with a nice lady from Georgia who shared her ☂ with me
  • Got a bit of 🌞 on my lily white skin.
    Ate 🍦on the way home
    Showered and petted two anxious 🐱 🐈 upon returning 🏠
    Getting ready to eat dinner with a🍴
    Really must go now, so I can chow down, but there’s no emoji for leaving. There is for 👋🏻 👋🏻, though.
    ✌️ , people!

Snapshot #218

This morning seemed like a beach day to me, so I dressed in a swimsuit, forgot the makeup, and pointed the car to St. George Island. First, though, I had to stop by the post office to mail a couple of packages and then I voted in the Democratic primary.

I call this one, “I Voted for Gwen Graham in My Swimsuit, Baby!”

Hillary for President

  
A couple of days ago I posted the following essay on my Facebook page. As essays go, I’ve written better, but several friends asked me to share my thoughts with a wider audience. So, here you go. 

I’m a Liberal. I haven’t always been. In fact, I once was a staunch Republican. I voted for both Bushes, Poppa and W. 

I did not support Bill Clinton, but, I was always impressed by Hillary. Her fight for health care reform sparked something in me. You see, I’d always been fortunate to have access to good insurance through my husband’s job–until his job was “excessed” during the deregulation of the natural gas industry and we found ourselves at the mercy of a health care system that doesn’t value those on the fringes. 

Now, I wasn’t ready to leave the GOP then, but I was beginning to notice the blatant inequities between the “haves” and the “have nots.” While my family had never been wealthy, until those bleak days when we didn’t have access to good insurance, I’d never had to worry about falling ill and losing everything we’d worked for. Still, I believed I could work within the party to fight for women’s rights, for equal pay, for health care reform.

Sadly, it took Sarah Palin for me to see what a backwards institution the GOP had become. Not all Republicans believed the stupid things she spouted, but enough that I became certain that I could find a better party in which to place my trust. 

I voted for President Obama in 2008 and I’ll never regret that decision, even though I suffered heart palpitations while doing so. I voted for him proudly in 2012, convinced that he was the best man for the job, and he has never let me down.

Now, on the verge of the Democratic Party nominating the first female candidate for the highest office in the land, I’m so very proud to say I’m a Hillary supporter. I cannot believe that the party I once supported has devolved into one that embraces racism and hate, but the GOP’s nomination of Donald Trump has proven that to be true. Trump will not make America great. He only knows how to make Americans hate.

This is me, and I approve this message.
 

Peace, people.

Paying a Debt

It took me a second to understand this picture–why would anyone desecrate the headstone on Susan B. Anthony’s grave?   But then I realized the stickers said, “I voted today” and I smiled. Please use your right to vote. Become informed, and speak your mind come Election Day. Don’t ignore this gift that women like Susan B. Anthony fought to give us.

  
And if you haven’t seen the film, Suffragette, detailing the hardships British women endured in order to be allowed to vote, I highly recommend it.