Tag Archives: vote

Let’s get political, political…

Yes, I’m going to take a gingerly stroll down this topic on the eve of those infamous mid-term elections.

No preaching, no secret agenda. You see, I’m old enough to remember when people could actually DISCUSS politics, without one thinking the other was a monster for having an opposite view. Flashing back 60 years ago when I was a kid, I recall my parents having friends over and them discussing the upcoming presidential election. (Gee, that would have made me 5-years-old) The phrase that stuck in my brain was, “Someone said that if Kennedy’s elected, he’ll have us all praying to Mary!” (Kennedy was a Roman Catholic. You know, the ones who wore togas)

Zip back a mere 40 years, and I can still see news coverage of President Ronald Reagan having beers with House Speaker “Tip” O’Neal. Yes, a Republican and Democrat, with serious political differences, but remembering the important thing: we’re all still Americans.

What the hell happened and why did we let it get this way?

I have my political beliefs, you have yours. I respect that. I’m not going to try to change your mind and I guarantee you won’t change mine, but that’s OK. Politics is only a part of who we are, it determines our future as a group and the kind of country we live in and will leave for the next generation. But it’s sad how it has become less about philosophy and debate, and more about marketing and manipulation.

As further proof I’m not trying to sway your vote, I’m posting this now. My ballot was filled out and mailed in two weeks ago. I have a feeling more and more people are getting it done early just to get it out of the way.

I’ve got a couple of videos I’d like to put on your radar. The first, this brilliant parody of a horror movie trailer about where the Democrats are when it comes to a future presidential candidate.

https://youtu.be/46WZfo1yFkI

So much truth.

And another dose of truth for you here. This one touches on the blinders that some voters strap on and this preacher (yes, you will hear some preaching here) absolutely nails it. Thanks to sister Debbie for passing along.

https://youtu.be/tnXNTm75nYk

But as I tell people I know who are freaking out about how these mid-term elections could go, we get the government we deserve. I hope for the best, but if we’re not bright enough to elect the right people, well, we’ll have to live with it.

So much more I could say, but for now, that’s enough.

Know WHY you’re voting the way you’re voting. Is it because of things you believe, or the marketing fears that they’re capitalizing on? Is it conviction on the candidate’s platform, or the talking points sent to them to repeat over and over because of what they found out in focus groups?

But here’s hoping you do vote so you can at least share the credit or the blame.

Tim Hunter

We Just Keep Going

I basically visualize myself as a football player, running down the field, helmet on, straight-arm ready to push people way, completely intent on plowing forward.

I’m one of those inward people that, when something upsets me, I dig a whole somewhere inside me and bury it. Something else comes along, I’ll bury that just to the other side. This routine continues until one day when I hit a max amount of things being buried and I erupt. Not violently, but swiftly. By the time I hit that point, I’ve wrestled in my mind what I’m going to do about each of the issues and act. That’s me.

As you’re quite aware, we’ve got a whole lot to fix in our world and it seems to be continually piling up. Of course, individually, we can’t fix everything, but we need to try to do that and then, what doesn’t get fixed can be put on a list for tomorrow.

This past week, I think the culmination of the endless bickering about the virus, the politics, the racial stripe, the senseless killings of people–all topics that I’m processing–just hit me. I was watching the evening news on ABC with David Muir, when he did a story about a kid who raised money to buy diapers and baby food for moms who were down on their luck. It was his own project and he had made magic happen for some moms, one of whom raved about what a great thing he was doing.

He was selfless. Probably 12 or so. And black.

That’s when my eyes started misting. It just made me incredibly sad that are perhaps millions of people out there, right now, unaware of what he was doing with his life, who would see him and immediately dislike him. Or distrust him. Or assume the worst. And judge him. And, if walking down the street and seeing him approaching, they would cross the street to avoid him, just to “play it safe.”

That is incredibly sad.

Hats off to those protestors who are out there, calling for racial injustice to end. The ones who are rioting and starting fires are not the same people. They are extremes on both sides of the political spectrum who have learned that chaos helps them and distracts from the important issues.

I don’t know what it will take to get to “the mountain top” that Dr. King talked about half a century ago. But I do know it will take change, both in our laws and in our values.

While protesting is a right protected by our constitution, I do think a nice addendum would be to require people to register to vote if they want to protest. Because that’s how real change occurs. When we put the right people in position to continue evolving our country. To strive to the words of freedom that were in the original design, but have somehow been assigned to only some of us.

We have a chance to do some voting in the near future. Make sure your precious right is used to help me this an even better country, now and in the future.

It would be a wonderful way to reward at least one young man for helping out so many new moms.

Tim Hunter