A Couple of Points Where Joe Biden Seems Really Naive

I've been meaning to type this for about a week or so but a mix of current events and my paying job schedule got in the way.  Thus, the post is being put on here now and while in another time this would come off as dated Biden's response to one of these points keeps it vital and should be remembered as we near the caucuses and primaries over the next months.

Is it just me or does anyone else think former Vice President Joe Biden is awfully naive on a couple of points as he runs for President?

Biden, currently the front runner in the Democratic primary race for the 2020 election, is being pitched by the mainstream media as the electable choice who can cross the aisle and get things done in this tense and divided climate.  Running on a mix of name recognition and his past Biden's place in these early polls are read as a rebuke to what's perceived as "the far left" of the Democratic Party whose alleged cries of "socialism" will turn away "white working class voters" long lamented by corporate media pundits as those who deserted the party to support the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago in 2016.  However, while it's true that Biden has a lot of knowledge of how Washington has traditionally worked from nearly 50 years in Federal government (his first election to the Senate was in 1972 and had never had to run a competitive election race outside of his failed Presidential runs in the 1988 and 2008 race {the latter of which led to his becoming the VP running mate for Barack Obama and then two terms as Vice President), his continuing to work in that mindset has lead to a couple of things he seems really naive about.

First, let's talk about his claim that nobody running has a more progressive record than him over the years.  On the surface it seems like typically campaign braggadocio (every person running might say something similar on the Democratic Party side and/or thinks they're the person who can beat electoral vote winner Donny [why would they run if they didn't]), it shows the former VP still in what campaigning used to be, making claims and expecting people to be too busy to research and challenge them.  The problem with this is that we live in the age of the Internet and, while the stupid things private individuals do might not be totally accessible, a public officials record can be tracked down and debunked not just via "oppo research" from either political opponents or in preparation by one's own team but by those in the general public willing to do the research.  As a result we have learned about Biden's past support of the Hyde Amendment (which bans Federal funds from being used for abortion care - and a stance he continued to support until public outcry forced him to change it) as well as his support on various laws related ot the War on Crime in the 1990s including some that even former President Bill Clinton has said were wrong in retrospect).  The fact that he continues to be proud of that part of his voting record in effects undermines his claims of being the most progressive candidate in the 2020 Presidential race.  In fact, Biden's continuing to try to use his record as a selling point while  claiming he's the most progressive candidate is a prime example of him continuing to run as if nothing has changed - when two plus years of the Mad Fuhrer has proven otherwise.

The other place where Biden seems really naive is related to the issue of civility in this political climate.  Biden has gone on record as reportedly believing that once electoral vote winner Donny was out of office the Repubs in Congress and the Senate would then suddenly have an epiphany and realize that they shouldn't be acting the way they're currently acting and thus a spirit of bipartisanship will re-emerge.   It's one thing for a private citizen unaware of how Washington works or the machinations of current politicians to state something like this.  However, Biden spent eight years one heartbeat away from the Oval Office as VP to Barack Obama, the first black president of the U.S. and a man who administration was constantly hindered by Repubs in the legislative branch who, from day one were trying to make him a one term President and, when that didn't work, tried their hardest to make sure gridlock was the best case scenario.  For Joe Biden to actually say this with a straight face  it makes one wonder if he learned anything from the eight years he spent as VP under Obama.  Add to this current Senate Majority Leader Addison the Turtle (some of y'all call him Mitch McConnell) stating that if a Democrat wins the 2020 election he will make sure no Democratic legislation gets passed in his time in office, and it's clear that civility won't just reappear if the Oval Office changes parties next year. 

In fairness, the latter is not just Biden's naivete on this issue.  There tends to be a desire for merely pre Donny in much of the Democratic Party establishment, thinking that once he's gone that all will be well again.  The problem though is that the Repub party only agrees to anything bipartisan if they get what they want and the Democrats cave, thus moving things further to the right.  With the current Repub leadership emboldened by the Mad Fuhrer and his fan club of white conservative christians and white supremacists, there's no reason for anyone to think that if their side loses next year on the Presidency but keeps the Senate that the GOP will suddenly start playing fair and not constantly block everything until they get almost all of what they want.  Still, someone running for President should know better - especially if he knows how the other side actually works and should know by now that the civility they speak of exists just slightly this side of a unicorn in today's legislative body. 

Now does that mean Joe Biden would be just as horrible as the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago has been since taking office in January 2017?  I think it's fair to say that he would be less terrible but the way things are going, it would be only by a matter of degrees; and thinking small moves will solve things these days is a prime example of how the politicians in Washington are being totally naive.

Wasn't yesterday a Ride?

Does anybody else think that yesterday was really really bizarre?

 In the course of one day, the Mad Führer of Mar-A-Lago went from threatening Iran to claiming that said nation's attack on a U.S. military drone was an accident to calling for an airstrike to calling off that airstrike. It was definitely a bizarre thing to read about when I got home from the paying job last night.

 So why did it happen? Some have suggested that there is friction between National Security Advisor John Bolton's camp and electoral vote winner Donny.  Others have suggested that maybe the Mad Fuhrer really doesn't want this war but is being led around by the military.  There are even reports that Valdimir Putin suggested that this attack would be a bad idea.  So what do we know?

First, national security and diplomacy experts are saying this didn't help electoral vote winner Donny or the country's standing in the world.  Also, this might not be over yet as there are still a few ships heading towards the region to be stationaed near Iran (so he might still get this war yet).

Personally, I'm amongst those who think the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-:ago wants a war for several reasons:  One, the mainstream media usually follows along for a while and is less critical when a war goes down (see both wars with Iraq, Afghanistan, etc).  It also is a great motive by which he can quash dissent.  For those reasons alone I think he may still want this.

So why didn't it happen yesterday?  I honestly don't know.  Donny claims a sudden concern over loss of life if a strike happened.  However, given his disregard for human life in his own country whether it be the growing income inequality or locking migrants and asylum seekers in what is safe to call concentration camps at this point this excuse seems hollow.  Maybe it was Putin, maybe it was blowback by his donors.  As I said time will tell on what happens next.

While we don't know what elctoral vote winner Donny is going to do about Iran (hell, in the next 12 hours he could suddenly do the mother of all strikes) on thing is clear: yesterday was a bizarre ride that, if nothing else, shows that maybe there is something to the theory that the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago is a malleable useful idiot for whatever forces in power want, whether it be influence, a theocracy, or war. 

Regardless, it's something that's scary to contemplate.

So The Mad Fuhrer Admits He Might Accept Foreign Help and Thus Break the Law

Boy have the last few days been a ride.  I'd been working on finishing the new print issue (and a double issue at that) so between that and the paying job I'd been slightly out of the loop when it comes to news.  However, since there's been a lot of stuff coming down recently it feels important to at least address what happened Wednesday.

On Wednesday afternoon news broke regarding a one on one interview that George Stephanopolous of ABC News did an Oval Office one on one interview with electoral vote winner Donny when George asked him a somewhat hypothetical question regarding the 2020 election.  The Mad Fuhrer was given a scenario where a foreign power contacted his campaign (offering Russia or China as a couple of examples) and said they had dirt on his opponent, then asked in that case should his campaign listen or should they contact the FBI.  Without missing a bea and just after slightly turning his head,  the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago said he'd "probably do both."

Yes, you read that right.  Even after just being investigated in the Mueller probe for similar things electoral vote winner Donny is again on national TV openly admitting he'd probably accept dirt from foreign governments on election opponents in the upcoming election. While that alone seems to show he doesn't the laws he's supposed to defend and enact, there's something else here that needs to be said.

First up is the question itself.  Stephanopolous is an establishment journalist so it makes sense this shouldn't be a gotcha question - and it wasn't/  Hell, it wasn't even a softball question.  This question was basically tee ball, as in ABC News set up a question on the tee and all electoral vote winner Donny had to do was hit the metaphorical ball by stating either that of course they'd go to the FBI or something about following Federal law on the issue (accepting help from a foreign power on an election campaign is against Federal law) or something like that.  After two and a half years in office this wasn't a question that should've made the news.

However, the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago, being who he is, somehow either wasn't told that or chooses not to say he'd follow the law.  And that is the second concern.  When Robert Mueller finally commented on his investigation a month or so ago he basically said what many already had an idea about: it wasn't an exoneration and while they couldn't bring charges under Justice Department rules Congress can look into it further.  One has to wonder if it will take electoral vote winner Donny actually being impeached to get him to finally get the hint.

Even then, would it work?  Electoral vote winner Donny has a history of disregarding the law when it's in his interest to do so.  This makes the 2020 election take an ominous turn as some wonder if he will leave office willingly if voted out. 

While that is conjecture at this point, what is known is the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago seems hell-bent on gaslighting America by telling what he's likely to do and hten telling them he didn't say what we actually saw and heard him say.  This makes Donny's statement telling as, even though there's more than enough evidence that such an action would violate the law, the fact he can't even just say he'd follow Federal law when it comes to foregin powers offering dirt on electoral opponents shows that next year's elections is going to get dirty and ugly indeed, and that the Repubs will do anything to try and keep power - ethics and the law be damned.

This should scare anyone who wants elections to be free and fair in the USA.

SO WHY NO MUELLER REPORT POST YET?

As you all know Special Counsel Robert Mueller wrapped up his investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 election about a week and a half ago and handed it over to his bosses in teh Dept of Justice.  While the initial letter from the Mad Fuhrer's new Attorney General Billy Bar claimed he was exonerated, none of us have seen the nearly 400 page report.  In the aftermath (and Donny's calls for probes into those investigating him - encouraged by his fellow Repubs on Capital hill) it still hasn't been made aavailabel to Congress, much less those of us in the public.  Because of this we have decided to wait until the report actually is released to the public (preferably unredacted) before commenting on it.

As for electoral vote winner Donny being completely and totally cleared and exonerated by it I think we all know, given the vindictive and petty nature of the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago, that itf the report really did clear him prime time television would be pree-empted for the next month and a half so Donny's minion's could read pages from the report while Donny gloated (and yes, this would include Saturday and Sunday nights as well) until every word was read, then it would be available at DOnny's properties where he'd autogrph it along with Bibles and women's breasts.  He definitely wouldn't hide it like he is now. 

Thus let's wait and see what the report said before jumping to conclusions.  And, if he really didn't collude with Russia, that unfortunately means electoral vote winner Donny is really stupid (and Russia and other dictators see a perfect useful idiot for their purposes).  That should not comfort any of us regardless of politics.

Catching Up - Briefly Touching on News Items That We Missed

Hey!  I know it's been a while since I've been on the this blog.  I'd been busy between the paying job and some family situations that had to be dealt with.  While I'll try to be on here more often I've learned that sometimes life gets in the way.

Those who read the last print issue may note that I referred to more up to date information on certain topics either at the time it hit the stands or shortly thereafter.  I had every intention of doing that but a combination of exhaustion from the job as well as several family emergencies happening at once made that somewhat impossible at the time.  Because of that and the passage of time things slipped through the cracks.  However, since I try to keep my word to the extent possible given a situation I've decided to give some brief summaries on the items I previously planned full posts on but now would be too late.  I apologize for the brevity of these but it should bring up somewhat up to date.

THE VIRGINIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY SCANDALS

Right around the time the last issue got published a combination of scandals rocking the Demcratic Party controlled governorship in Virginai.  Between revelations of Gov, Northam's blackface photos while in college, the sexual assault allegations towards Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, and Secretary of State Mark Herring's claim that he may have taken a photo in blackface a strange door has opened that shows how entrenched racism may be even in the less conservative parts of the South ( in regards ot Northam and Herring) and how the second in line to rule if Northam resigned may be tarnished in teh era of Me Too.  Now, discussions over whether they should stay in office oir resign have come and gone tenfold since then and those in office are still there.  With that in mind I have decided to bring up what I originally wanted to bring up.

First, how the hell did this shit not come up when they were being vetted?  Political parties have been known, even on the state level, to do opposition research in prep for scandals like this - and somehow this slipped through the cracks.  Were these guys that entrenched in the VA state Democratic Party establishment?  Did anyone even bother to track these down as the 2018 election neared?  These questions somehow escaped the mainstream media but I think most people who have a passing knowledge of American politics have had these questions in their heads.  In Herring;'s case his revelation may have been trying to get in front of it as the shit went down but the Repubs will use this as ammunition.  And they'll definitely use the allegations against Fairfax as ammo being able to concern troll their racism and hide it in a way to mask the Demcrats as "anti woman" or some shit like that.

However, while many people have said the more ethical thing that Northam could've done was resign we must also point out that the website that leaked Northam's pics weren't doing it out of public outrage but out of cynical politicking.  It turned out to be released by a neo Confederate leaning website with ties to the man Northam beat in the Governor's race, Corey Stewart.  The common assumption was with Northam out, they could use the sexual assault allegations Fairfax faced to get him out and then possibly go after Herring if he made the confession he did, which would leave the 4th in charge, a Repub delegate  as the Governor.  They didn't count on Northam et al refusing to leave.  Which leads to the other factor - with the Democrats staying in this case the GOP can claim that the liberals only want to win and don't really care about racism or sexual assault as a cynical way to try and pick off votes, especially cynically trying to get the African American vote.

Ironically though polls taken after the scandal show that the majority of African Americans in Virginia want Northam to stay in office.  Some even suggest that the blockface scandal isn't that big of a deal.  That I personally tend to doubt.  However, I do think a lot of people may still want Northam in office there because the devil they know is still preferable to the devil they don't know, so to speak.

It's hard to say what lies ahead but as things slowly fade here this may either be a footnote to the weirdness of this year or it could be weaponized in Virginia for elections in 2020 and beyond.  I wish I knew what lies ahead but election years and the road leading to them are often confusing and unpredictable.

CPAC 2019

The Conservative Political Action Conference was held by the American Conservative Union at the very end of February and first couple days of March 2019.  The annual conference of the hard right base that the Repubs cater to every year had the usual weird mix of speakers, booths et al.  However, there were some distinctly disturbing things that went down.  While I"ll cover one of them in the upcoming issue, something else comes to mind as well that deserves mention in this blog.

The lockstep in rhetoric and attitudes at CPAC is getting scarier then usual.  Even when the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago's weird over two hour speech is taken out of the equation,  the tendency for the base to embrace one point of view on an issue with next to no disagreement was ratcheted up more this time in prep for 2020.  Whether it's their pro forced childbirth stance using what should be a non issue of late term abortion (a procedure only performed when either the mother's life is in danger or when a medical issue with the fetus is so bad it either won't survive birth or will die very shortly thereafter) and ratchieting it into believing the other side supports infanticide or giving the illusion that socialism will ruin the US if the GOP doesn't win, what seems to be prominent in what little I was able to catch (again I was taking care of family issues) was more aimed at painting people on the left as not merely people they disagree with but creature who hate the country and want to persecute the right wing.  While some of this has always gone down at CPAC, their rallying aorund electoral vote winner Donny seems to give it a darker vibe this time around. 

While its good they reportedly banned white nationalists from appearing there a(t least on the booths to sell stuff side of things) it seems to contradict themselves when some of the speakers (especially Donny) seems to spout a variation of their same rhetoric.   Add that to the spin that those on the other side are evil and beyond reasoning with and there's  the potential of a small number of this lot that could be emboldened to head towards violent confrontation.  I really hope it doesn't happen but, until I see people on the right call in their own and consistently point out that the hateful rhetoric is counterproductive, I'm not holding my breath.

JUSSIE SMOLLETT 

I wasn't going to comment on this case at all given that it could be confusing whether of not the actor from the TV show Empire was attacked by two people late one night in Chicago or whether it was staged or not.  However, the recent dropping of all charges against Smollett means a lot of people are upset, climing that justice was not served.  The Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago even tweeted that he's having the FBI and DOJ lookk into the case (which, given it's a state case and not Federal would be difficult at best).

So where do I stand?  I have no idea.  I really don't/  At this point it's possible that Smollett was telling the truth. It was also possible that he might not have but that the prosecutions case was so weak (and 16 felony charges was a bit of overkill) that pursuing it further could've blown up in the Cook County prosecutors faces.  Nobody saw this coming so I have to say that I really don't know what to expect here - and you probably don't either. 


Granted this is merely the tip of the iceberg in terms of news issues that may fall through the cracks.  With the debate over the Green New Deal being of utmost importance, healthcare, women's reproductive rights being under attack now more than ever and various other things in the news it can be hard to get to the point.  We'll try to focus on these issues later when time permits.  Now it's time to step back and have some dinner. 

P.S.:  For the time being I am allowing comments.  However, if anyone decides to be a complete asshole or threatens myself or anyone else I have no problems with shutting that down.  Keep that in mind before you decide to comment.

Post Election Pre Holiday to Kick Off Holiday Season Thoughts

Hey!  As you know the midterm elections were held 16 days ago here in the U.S.  While I had some thoughts regarding what happened at the time I was busy with the paying job and trying to get some projects completed to respond quickly.  This, in retrospect, may have been a good thing.

With that in mind I'm going to offer up some very short quick takes on some of the issues that have popped up since the election.  I admit they might not be as in depth as I'd like but today's holiday and I have to go to the paying job tomorrow, which means I won't be able to burn the midnight oil on this. With that in mind it's time to skip the formalities and get to the basics.

Let's start with the election.  It turns out that not immediately reacting may have worked in my favor as some of the races on the West Coast were counted along with the recounts et al.  Yes, there have been some nauseating things such as the role voter suppression played in Florida and Georgia.  However, it looks like the U.S. House of Representatives may have actually achieved something similar to the blue wave predicted in the media with the Democrats winning 39 seats as of this typing, more than gathering a majority in that part of the legislative branch.  While the Repubs did pick up some seats it looks like they won't have near the super majority the GOP were hoping for didn't materialize.  Still, it will be an uphill struggle especially as meh Senators were replaced by zealots and the electoral vote winner will take this as a mandate.  However, it should put a big dent on some of his evil schemes - provided he doesn't try to go for creating a Constitutional crisis in the lame duck session next month (entirely possible given Donny) by either firing Mueller or with something else.

Then there's the whole troops at the border thing.  It was hard to say whether that was an election stunt or a power play intended to cause said crisis mentioned last paragraph by either violating rule sof engagement by ordering the military to shoot asylum seekers or using the troops to keep Americans from escaping if shit gets too bad.  The fact that the asylum migrants were heading towards Tijuana made the troops stationing suspicious, adding to it the complete lack of mentions by the right wing media once the midterms were over make it all the more clear that this was a stunt (one reportedly referred to by troops stationed there as "Operation BS").  Now things  could return to that state once the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago things the heat is off but this time around we can see through it and be nauseated by it.

However, the most troubling news regarding those in power is the news revealed two days ago (November 20, 2018) that sometime this Spring electoral vote winner Donny actually asked the Justice Department to look into prosecuting his former election opponent (Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton) and former FBI Director James Comey.  Put aside the irony of the Mad Fuhrer actually following through on one of his promises (notice he only does it with the most cruel and hateful ones)  this is obviously a dangerous hint of the authoritarianism that he really wants to do as well as taking obstruction of justice to a new and dangerous level.  While then White House counsel Don MaGahan managed to put the kabosh on this one by pointing out it could lead to impeachment I'll discuss in the print issue why this doesn't mean this is over - not by a long shot.

As for the firing of Jeffy Sessions as Attorney General and the installation of Jeffy's chief of staff Matt Whittaker (whom we'll refer to from now on as Matty Matt), the only real surprise to all this isn't that Donny shitcanned Jeffy but that it happened so damn soon after the election (roughly 24 hours).  Add to this Donny's press stunt setting up CNN's Jim Acosta and revoking his press credentials to the Whiote House until forced to reinstate it.  While this rightfully angered much of the nation, the fact that news trickled out from those amongst electoral vote winner Donny's minions were reportedly saying the press briefing would be fun and Donny appeared to give a signal for the intern to try and take the mic seems to show that this was a stunt to distract from the election result and Donny firing Jeffy. 

So what lies ahead?  Well the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago is raging against judges for ruling against him and the Congressional lame duck session ahead could either be nothing or could have a lot of bullshit go down before the gridlock that will likely happen in the next session.  Time will tell as people get prepared for the holidays and wear down the final moments of 2018..   

FIVE DAYS UNTIL THE MIDTERMS

I originally posted this as a not of the TTWN Facebook page.  However, after finishing it I felt it was appropriate to share it on the blog as well.

As most Americans are aware of by now, the 2018 midterm elections are only five days away.  By now many of you have heard from friends, family members, pundits, and even celebrities that we all need to do our duty and vote.  Some have even suggested that everyone should mobilize to make sure one of the two parties takes back some of the power they’ve lost over the decades (you know the party by now so I don’t have to name them) by making sure they get back at least one of the two houses of the legislative branch.  Some say this is needed to ensure a “blue wave” come early November.  While this is a noble goal and since these are not normal times it does appear we’ve reached a “by all legal means necessary” approach ranging from canvassing and phone banking for candidates to trying to convince friends they need to vote, not everybody is able to go beyond voting or doing some work when they can due to the mixture of work schedules and various obligations ranging from family circumstances to dealing with illnesses (either one’s own or that of a loved one) and the like.   Sadly, this makes things complicated for many people but sometimes the little things can help a lot.  This is my attempt to do just that.

Now I have an official policy of not endorsing candidates but I do vote (actually voted early this year).  Because of this I do have a few suggestions that I hope helps people who haven’t voted yet but plan to - and hopefully help motivate those on the fence regarding voting to take to the polls (remember - as I said in the previous paragraph - THESE ARE NOT NORMAL TIMES.  While this is a small and  imperfect list of suggestions, it is one I feel can cut across and help plants seeds in people’s minds.

If you care about freedom of speech and the right to protest then YOU SHOULD VOTE AGAINST THE PARTY WHOSE LEADER HAS GONE ON RECORD FOR SUGGESTING THAT POLITICAL PROTESTING SHOULD BE ILLEGAL.  This should be common sense but sometimes people vote party line rather than exploring the candidates, especially during the midterm elections. The fact the one person in power even thinks this at all should be proof that they have no damn business holding an elected office. While that person isn’t up for election next Tuesday people in his party are so why not let them know this attitude is not appreciate and will not fly.

If you trust women and believe them when they say they’ve experienced sexual assault then YOU SHOULD NOT VOTE FOR ANY CANDIDATE OR PARTY WHO EVEN HAS THE APPEARANCE OF NOT TAKING SEXUAL ASSAULT SERIOUSLY.  From the Kavanaugh hearings to various comments for the leadership of one party makes it clear that they apparently don’t trust or respect women.  They also have the arrogance to think that this stance will solidify their base and actually gain them support from women. If there’s ever a time to shut down this shit and prove them wrong it’s on this.

If you feel that women deserve the right to reproductive freedom and reproductive justice, including the belief that women have the right to make decisions over their own bodies the YOU SHOULD NOT VOTE FOR ANY CANDIDATE OR POLITICAL PARTY THAT WANTS TO TAKE AWAY THOSE RIGHTS FROM WOMEN.   Ironically polls have reportedly shown the majority of people across party lines to be pro choice.  However, one  party has been doing their damndest in the name of "protecting the unborn" (while seemingly not to care about those already here) to erode this right into near nothingness for many parts of the country.  While one election won't drastically change this, it will be a start that can allow people who support reproductive freedom and reproductive justice to build and helps to put pro forced childbirth asshats in their place.

If you feel diversity makes this country better and that current events trying to use violence to shape it to the contrary are nauseating then YOU SHOULD VOTE AGAINST ANY PARTY WHO DOUBLES DOWN ON CODED RACIST RHETORIC (AND BEOYND DOG WHISTLES TO OUTRIGHT BULLHORNS) AND USES WHITE NATIONALIST TALKING POINTS TO IMPLY THEY WANT TO CHANGE WHO CAN BE A CITIZEN AND WHO CAN’T.  This is another one that should be common sense but the mainstream media’s tendency to imply whatabout-ism and both sides-ism are legitimate on these issues make things murky and can lead to some people thinking otherwise.  Current events over the past week have shown that both sides aren’t doing the same thing on these issues and that the party doubling down on said rhetoric and seemingly oblivious to what may occur in the aftermath deserve some sort of political comeuppance in the meantime.

If you think freedom of religion is important and includes not just all religions but the freedom not to believe as well then YOU SHOULD VOTE AGAINST THE PARTY THAT USES THE TERM “RELIGIOUS LIBERTY” AS A WEAPON TO CREATE A BACKDOOR WAY TO BRING BACK DISCRIMINATION.  There is one party doing this, claiming that proponents of a narrow interpretation of christianity are being discriminated against by having to provide goods and services to anyone or that they should be allowed to not allow people of different faiths to adopt children from their agency.  They like to claim they are a persecuted minority even though they seem to be getting everything they want from a certain administration.  Whether you’re not religious or if you are religious but don’t think the government should enforce one interpretation of one religion down the throats of the rest of us, you should do your part to vote this down ASAFP!!!!

If you feel voting is important and should be made easier for those who are able to do so then YOU SHOULD VOTE AGAINST ANY PARTY TRYING TO STEAL THE VOTE THROUGH INTIMIDATION OR SUPPRESSION TACTICS.  People like to say that if one doesn't vote they can't complain.  However, when one side of the political debate wants to make it next to impossible for many to vote or even claims without proof that "illegal voters" stole the vote for a candidate from certain states (states whose electoral vote just happened to go to said candidate's opponent).  From making it harder for students to vote where they go to school (I remember in college they actually tried to encourage students to vote there since their college town was where they were living when an election was held) to SCOTUS upholding voter ID requirements that require street addresses even though a indigenous reservations often rely on P.O. Boxes fro addresses this is less an attempt to make elections fair and more an attempt to rig it in favor of one party.  While this should be opposed across the political divide, one party's embrace of it means people who care about this should make sure they get their power taken away from them.

This is about it for the time being.  As I said before this is far from a complete list and barely scratches the surface.  However, it should give people a glimpse of maybe what they should be against as they head to the polls - or maybe why they should should vote if they otherwise weren't planning to. As I said at the top of this these are not normal times and while elections alone are not enough (even politicians you like have to be watched like a hawk sometimes) at a moment like this it can send a message.