In 8 more days (#2831)

     In 8 more days we will find out just how intelligent our society really is. I know that we are a majority intelligent society but the minority figure, whether 40% or 49% is still in question. That is a lot of ignorance or willful anti-intellectualism out there. Let me say this about our presidential election, we have a career public servant running against a nefarious capitalist of dubious character which includes court charges of unlawful sexual behavior with a young minor (13 year old). He is also being sued in federal court for his immoral and alleged illegal business practices which are numerous in volume. This is the candidate that would be president and he will get more than 40% of the vote.
     You got that right? More than 40% of voting Americans would have this man as our president. So again I say in 8 days we will know the percentage of people in our country, who vote, who are anti intellectual, or ignorant. I am not proud of that. This is still America and I call this country, my place of birth, my home. So it is quite an embarrassment to me and to others who feel like I do that we should be much better at understanding what honor and principled living stand for. That a large minority of us would vote for such a despicable human being as the immoral Trump is defies our idea of our own worth. this is a simple matter of choosing to represent the harsh brutish nature of humanity as a source of pride.
     I for one will apologize now for the lack of progress we Americans have made in the area of virtue. It seems that we don't hold to virtue like other society's do and that is to our eternal shame. Maybe I will be surprised and the voter selection for the dirty human being Trump will be less than 40% but that would be a shock since no poll to date has him showing that level of disgust. Today is trick or treat here in America and republicans have already started their participation by manipulating the press to cover their false narratives that cover their dastardly intent.

9 days left (#2830)

     If you are like me you check FiveThirtyEight several times a day to see the latest averages of polls in the Presidential and Senate national races, http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/. It is by far the best website for attaining up to the moment comprehensive numbers for all the important races involving the Senate and President. I do this because it helps me to understand how the races are shaping up and what the mood of our nation is. I don't get my complete analysis from this site as I use other sources but this one is my main source for projections. I suppose I will miss all this extra curricular activity when these 9 days are up but what I will be more satisfied with our Democratic wave that will sweep more power to the people.
     That is what will happen when more Democrats are elected to Congress. I have no doubt now that our next president will be Hillary Clinton but what is still debatable to me anyways is how many Senate seats we will end up with for the new Democratic majority there. It may be as many as 54 or more likely around 52 however that is still well and good. The House is another matter. The Republicans have built in advantages since they gerrymandered the districts during their control in 2010. Every 10 years the census comes out which allows for redrawing of districts based upon population.
     Republicans took advantage of the census of 2010 to draw their districts in ways that make it very difficult for voters to vote them out. This is how that works: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-power-that-gerrymandering-has-brought-to-republicans/2016/06/17/045264ae-2903-11e6-ae4a-3cdd5fe74204_story.html?utm_term=.74006197cf67. So any inroads into cutting into the Republican advantage for control of the House would be welcome. We Democrats probably will not take the House but if the Democratic landslide occurs, which I am counting on, the House may not be impossible to take. 9 days and we will know.

10 days to go (#2829)

     My blog for the last several years has been focused on exposing the anti democratic bent of the Republican party. Not only anti democratic as to our citizens and institutions, but to the point of physically harming both. I cannot stress how utterly disgraceful the Republican party has become. I had in the past at least tolerated their conservative austere bent because they would eventually give in to the majority and let the majority rule. Those days are gone and for a couple of decades the republican party has been the chief proponent of obstructing any and all legislation aimed at improving the inequality currently suppressing the working middle poor class.
     Well we are down to it now and in 10 days we are going to return a Democrat to the presidency to compliment the great work our current Democratic president has accomplished for us. Not only that but it looks favorable that we will have regained control of the Senate which will allow us to seat Supreme Court Justices and overturn previous egregiously adjudicated Supreme Court rulings. Now the House of Representatives may be out of reach but not totally and there is still some hope that a Democratic majority may squeak into being. As we move forward in the politics of our country we are seeing what liberal progressives can accomplish through the Democratic party.
     In states like California and Minnesota where the economies are skyrocketing toward surpluses, are in stark contrast to Republican led states where the economies are being thinned out because of austere policies which in turn deny funding for necessary state obligations. There is no doubt that we Democrats have the correct formula for not only economics but for human equality, creative innovations and the care and welfare of all our citizenry, among many other policies. In 10 days we are also going to break the glass ceiling by electing a woman president who is not only tough with adversaries but is compassionate for the downtrodden and abused. Our future looks bright and Democrats are the reason why.

We are all worthy despite our fears (#2828)

     What holds us back is our fear that we don't measure up to what expectations are by others for us. Well let me put that way of thinking in it's grave. We are all worthy regardless of what anyone else says or thinks. If others are not focusing on themselves and sharing that instead of sharing what they think of us they are the ones who are wrong despite any glory or certificates they may hold. We each are the majestic being that does not exist anywhere in the Universe based on everything we have ever learned or committed to history. We each are a miracle of biology and physics. We each are gifted with curiosity and compassion in such a way as to elevate our species beyond the point of our entering existence in a conscious way.
     Never should we be beholden to any other human being without giving that human being our consent to be beholden. We are each through the laws of nature born with the right to exist. Now if the laws of man try to take away our right to live then it is our duty to crush that law out of existence. Each of us is responsible for holding freedom of life as more precious than forced servitude. We consent to live in our societies based upon what we accept as fair and equitable but that definition of ours of fair and equitable must be honest and valid. We cannot allow ourselves to be hood winked into accepting definitions as to how we live unless those definitions are equally applied and honorable in intent.
     So our fears that scare us into any form of submission without consent are what ails us the most. But once we recognize our behavior in such circumstances we realize that life must be lived as a free will choice and worthy of our struggle to attain it. No form of government that denies some of us what it allows for others is worthy of our inclusion. We are a species that is magnificent in all the Universe and for us to think and behave like anything less than that is unthinkable and beneath the dignity of who we are and what we are still yet to be.

12 days to a continued hope (#2827)

     the last 8 years have been good as far as what we had for the 8 years previous to that. In fact the last 8 years have been kind of cool too. We had a few progressive policies forwarded and although the republican obstruction in Congress was despicable, we did get a few things done. Well we have a chance in 12 days to improve the odds of us getting much much more done by electing a Congress that will represent the majority will of our electorate. Improving lives from the bottom up is a start and protecting ideals of democracy wherever and however they are attacked.
     The days of the wealthy being the ones who benefit most from our government are about to end and their responsibilities to our democracy reinstated. No more will corporations be allowed to get a tax break for shipping jobs overseas, like republicans now protect. No more will states be allowed to discriminate on the essential right to vote by our citizens when we nominate and confirm the next liberal leaning supreme court justice. No more will corporations be considered people and money free speech. We will get back to formulating policies that benefit the hard working middle poor class in our society.
     In 12 days another miraculous thing will happen. We will elect our first woman president right after electing our first African American president. I am so humbled to be living through these times when my hope in my youth was dashed through assassins bullets. I am not only savoring this time leading up to electing Hillary Clinton as our next president but I am working every moment I can to get our vote out and take nothing for granted. Every one of us should be thankful and honored that we are a part of this historic time in not only continuing liberal progressive policies but in shattering barriers that have stood to separate us for centuries.

Settling on being not bad is not good enough (#2826)

     Those who say well at least I am not a serial killer are using the argument that since I am not awful I am okay. Bull! Settling on being nothing good is not good. This is a problem we have here in America and surely in the world in general. Settling for just enough to get by and thinking that is good. It isn't. Why would anyone want to be like you if all you are is not much of anything? When children grow up looking at their parents and seeing what could be as opposed to what is why do you think they tune us out? We are not good if we are being barely not bad. It is not an honor or a reward in life to say that I didn't do that awful thing. It is just you wasting space that could have been better space.
     Whatever the cause, laziness or indifference, it is not a value. Each of us is so capable of being more than not bad. We each have amazing possibilities if we would just give them a chance to grow. We need to learn more than we know and then apply some of that learning into a positive effect. We need to be less selfish about our own wants and desires and start looking around to see how others have far less than we do from little to no fault of their own. We have to see our society as not what it is making us be and instead what it could be helping us become. Many of us are stuck where we are because we have no way out that makes any sense. We need more than that.
     A transition form where we are stuck to an avenue where we can move forward without losing the best of what we have already accomplished. We can't burn bridges behind us as we move forward, we have to keep the bridges sturdy so that those behind us can follow. But it takes new ideas and new ways for our society to help us out of our current trapping environment. If we are to be more than just enough to survive all of us need to do more while being helped more. It works both ways and if it could start then the being not bad paradigm will fade away and we can then become one of those who is good and tells others about it.

14 days until the new beginning (#2825)

     A Woman President. Madam President. President Ms. Clinton. The 14 days left to the outcome is somewhat exhilarating. Surely there could be an upset but at this point that doesn't seem possible. Given the failures that republican Trump has displayed the idea that he could mastermind a momentous comeback is actually unfathomable. Not only will he not mount a comeback but he will further disintegrate the republican brand, which is what it deserves, and help to make all his down ticket fellow republicans lose their seats in Congress and in state houses. It is so very comforting for me at my age to be enjoying a political rout like this since I have been working my whole life for it to come about.
     We all need to leave our world better than when we arrived as a duty to the fact of just being here. So many before us have sacrificed so much to better our existence and as a tribute to them and to the true nature of our species, which is mainly compassion and curiosity, we need to follow their example. I for one am less disappointed than I have ever been since disappointment has been the hallmark of my initial hopes and dreams for our society and our species since I was a child. Yet here we are at the crossroads of a magnificent new beginning and despite the initial progress made by our intelligent and kind President Obama, much much more is about to happen.
     It looks like not only will our new president be Ms. Clinton, a democrat, but our Congress may also follow as well with the total selfishness and ineptitude of the republican party about to cause them to destroy the advantages they have rigged into keeping power. It is as if the people of the United States have awoken and have told republicans enough! It is remarkable to behold and while we still have 14 days until the inevitable there is no time for relaxing and we must continue to push our electorate to not only vote but to vote for every democrat on the ballot.

The importance of a Democratic Senate and House (#2824)

     First and foremost the Senate needs to come back to Democratic control. There are going to be Supreme Court nominations that need to be voted on and Democrats are ready to do that. The Senate also is the control over foreign treaties and if we keep republicans in control of the Senate it will be harder to get foreign nations who are instigators of turmoil to the bargaining table. The Senate is crucial this time around especially since the current Senate refuses to vote on the nomination of Judge Garland by President Barack Obama to fill the seat opened by the passing of justice Antonin Scalia. Republicans have also not voted on hundreds of judicial openings on the lower federal courts thus making our current federal court system overburdened.
     The House is another matter. Since the House solely allocates funds for most federal programs, we have for the last 6 years been at the mercy of the austerity driven republican party who would rather starve government then actually have it function efficiently. More could be said about how republicans voted against needed funding for embassy security before the Benghazi attack but I will leave that for another time. All of our social programs are in dire straights because republicans in the House prefer that social programs and regulatory organizations like the EPA and the Food and Drug Administration were eliminated. Suffice it to say, republicans want no security for our aged or for our any of our working middle class poor. While at the same time trying to eliminate necessary oversight over corporations and big businesses.
     The importance of voting for every Democrat on the ballot is crucial in that every republican who is replaced this cycle will be one less representative who can and will try to thwart the agenda of our next president, Democrat Hillary Clinton. We need to get our judges back on the bench and our treasure back to work for the American working middle poor class. The time is now and the responsibility for it is on all of us so vote straight Democratic ticket when you fill out your ballot.

16 days to go until the landslide buries republicans (#2823)

     Republicans have had their 15 minutes in the spotlight and they have come up wanting. Instead of working to help the poor and middle class in our nation they have chosen instead to serve only the wealthy. Every policy they have enlisted is a giveaway to the large corporations and the wealthiest Americans. It is appalling that they are so brazen now in their contempt for the rest of us and still expect our vote. Not only do republicans choose to do nothing to help the struggle we poor and middle class face every moment in our lives but they believe we are too ignorant to recognize it. They believe that our minds are not able to understand that doing nothing for us is bad. Their arrogance and condescension toward the majority of we Americans is blatant and demeaning.
    For this they will pay at the voting booth this coming national election on November 8th. Their inability to be inclusive thinkers who regard our species above the interplay of greed and selfishness is not going to be tolerated any further thus the voting outcome landslide that is going to land hard on their heads. They will be thrown from significant power and their lack of empathy toward the many of us will no longer be a hindrance toward the push for modernity that the many of us need so badly. Modernity will give us equality of opportunity along with justice and fairness in treating each human being with respect without prejudice.
     I for one have been waiting for this moment since I was a child and our hopes and dreams were dashed by assassin's bullets. The era for respecting human dignity above those of privilege and advantage is upon us and in 16 days will come to a fruition that has been elusive heretofore. I have no respect for those who would continue to vote for republicans because they are afraid or want to protect their unfair advantages. They need to know that the many of us are not ignorant nor are we willing to continue to be played as fools. The time is now and it is a welcoming worthy of the ages.

Language as a tool (#2822)

     I have a cousin who rightly, kindly scolded me for using obscene language to make a point. She said maybe I should blog about it, I presume she meant the subject that bubbled up my ire and the language it inspired, as a way to release my "adamant" message. Yet that is not what I took from her advice, thanks anyway Maha. Instead I want to discuss how language is used as a utility to make points and convey emotional expression. Now the curse words I used were not to be taken literally, but figuratively. So in that context, I want to say that occasionally I am prone to spouting off from the gutter to make sure that there is no ambiguity on my end.
     As is usually the case I can make a point and have a discussion while never using foul language for any emphasis, yet there are times, given the audience, that foul language is exactly the vessel needed to carry a message. I come from nothing of substance and as such am very familiar with the ways of the street. However, I moved from the streets to the libraries and study halls so that I could advance my need for knowledge and understanding. The language of civilized society is much more specific and detailed as to actual meaning and that is proper and good. Yet not all understand the nuance of language and the interplay of words that can be just as devastating as a drunken sailor's angry rant.
     Yet not all understand language at the level where it is biting without being obvious, so the biting must come from the gutter if that is the means to that end. I am not above or below using words to make a point. I am much more civilized than not but make no mistake here, I am not wedded to an ideal of proper and good if it fails to achieve a necessity. Therein lies the gray between black and white. Knowing when to use the words and how to make them of value. If offending someone's sensibilities due to polite structures of society then so be it if the alternative is less than the effort to make it.

The real world is not the one in our heads (#2821)

     This is the problem. Too many people believe that what they think about life is the real deal and not just a part of it which is what it is. They have already decided that what they think is actually reality. The problem is that they don't follow up on their suppositions with research and experimentation. Oh they take what they have been involved in in the past and apply it across the board as to how it is with everyone but we all know that none of us knows what others have to do to put up with in their own hardships. I find this is the paradigm republicans are most struck with, their own preconceived ideas about how our society works and how it should work.
     The simpler the mind in this case the easier it is to justify all things generally. They dismiss the more specific examples that contradict their "findings" as one offs and not the normal. They somehow segue into other reasons for these contradictions. When you are not disposed to keep learning, then what your original foundation was remains despite the ever changing world in which we live in. Keeping things simple makes it easy for those who will not face ambiguity with honesty. So to them education after a point is not needed and if one cannot care for themselves then they need to face the consequences of that without a by your leave from anyone.
     We are not all cookie cutouts of someone else's imagination. We are real and have hopes and dreams like the rest of humanity. So for us to be labeled as insignificant or worthless due to life slapping down hard on our heads is disingenuous and ignorant. Unfortunately our nation is full of these types who can only see winning at every turn as the answer to how life should be structured. They are the survival of the fittest crowd who will not allow themselves to learn a new way of seeing our existence. They cannot crawl up out of the cave that has them trapped to see that we can do anything, not just what we are told to do.

The herd is in, now round up the strays (#2820)

     My metaphorical take on the coming presidential election. Clinton will win and the only unknown right now is by how much. It seems that republican Trump only has to open his mouth and let words out to increase the odds of this election becoming the biggest landslide victory in generations for Democrats. Which is just what we need if we are going to win the Senate and the House. It is imperative that we win both when the opportunity is there. So much can get done in the next two years before the next election that it is amazing that we have this chance given republican gerrymandering in the states. Republicans have done this to themselves with their arrogance and disdain for the majority of working middle poor class Americans of all persuasions.
     Republicans have arrogantly decided that democracy should be devoid of tolerance and diversity. They have taken a stand against the traditional melting pot concept of which we all became a part of when our fore parents migrated to the new land here in America from every land on Earth. Republicans have instead chosen to demean those who are not wealthy in an economic and educational system that often favors wealth. Their condescension is palpable and as such makes for voting them out of office a determined priority.
     The voting has already begun and the debates are over so now it is the waiting for November 8th to put an end to the republican majorities in Congress and honor our new democratic president and first woman to do it. We live in momentous times and after having elected our first amazing black president we will follow it up with our first woman president. All the while exposing the republican party for it's failure to lift up and improve the lives of our working middle poor class. The trickle down survival of the fittest paradigm is dead and with it the republican party that floated it's creation.

We are all in this together (#2819)

     Once the white privilege is recognized by others it is easy to break down the barrier that republicans throw up to convince themselves that they are the masters of reality. They complain that their children are lazy and don't deserve "free handouts", which by the way, like social security, medicare and unemployment are all paid for out of our weekly paychecks and are insurance benefits, not free handouts. I think about that for about a nanosecond and then reply that their children are a product of their choice and how they raised them is on them. Somehow they expect their children to be all these good things without themselves having to be an example of all those good things for their children to emulate. Sorry sad sack republicans, your children are more likely a reflection of your failures and disappointments or they are in constant friction with you because of it.
     These white privileged ones believe that there should be no social programs and that we should all be the ones who pull our bootstraps up by ourselves. They still cling to that Romneyesque illusion that they made all their own success on their own. Their white privilege, at least in the more sensitive ones, won't allow themselves to be heard to say what is really on their minds in public about their disdain and hatred of those who are racially different so they attack things in our society that have been created in part from our despicable behavior of over 300 years of enslaving others.
     I tell them bullshit that we are all pull our own weight and get through life on our own. We are in this together, all of us. Nothing about this existence can be found to be livable without the contact and interaction of others. Nothing! So when I hear these souls who are miserly and petty complain about today's youth and their inability to be like they think they themselves are I jump in with both feet and fire back at them that they had their children who now don't like them and say why is that? Did you not have a plan for your children's growth? Or did you just thrust them out into the world with an incomplete understanding of what a real man or woman is like?
   

My curiosity about truth and my care for all things drives my soul (#2818)

     The two paradigms that are most insatiable in my life, other than food, water and air, are my curiosity and my care. I want to know as much as I can with the little time, relatively speaking, that I have left and I don't ever want anyone to have to feel less than human just because they are alive. I have had enough of people treating other people badly. I want to know all the truthful secrets and complexities that our existence can provide with a fervor. So sharing our goodwill and sharing our knowledge need to be our highest priority in life. Not some fancy house or some trophy relationship. The things that matter in this existence are felt by us in our souls. It is where our essence exists.
     Everything about my life centers on my curiosity and my care, everything! I have no time for wasting time or playing of irrelevant games to mark time. Time is my friend and I want to share my time as friends would share. Although my time is not all that long for me and for anyone really, I want it to be magical. Not unlike a dream, both fantastic and heartfelt. Just existing and going about the drudgery of keeping up with someone else's expectations is a waste of time. Surely we need some things in our life to secure an immediate future but they cannot be the end all that ends all. They cannot be the reason we have no quality time for anything other than some material prize.
     We all find out soon enough that our time is the valuable gift we are given and when we don't use our gift to make a difference where real positive differences need made, then we end up with regrets and remorse for our inability to understand that our souls are the purpose for our lives, not some illusion of grandeur. Life isn't about material acquisition, it is about experiencing a satisfying inner peace that can only come about by having a curious mind and caring heart.

Again, generally, we all live from our hearts (#2817)

     When I say generally I am excluding those who have psychological/sociological disorders that prevent them from any empathetic self experience. There are many of those among us based upon the behavior that has come about due to our national elections. They all seem to congregate in the republican party for what that is worth. If anything those who have too much empathy all seem to congregate in the democratic party. Each party therefore has it's extremes however I would posit that having too much empathy is hardly a deficient mental disorder. In fact it is a quality that needs to be admired and followed more by the many rest of us.
     So we have two very distinct political party affiliations to vie for our votes. One has a degree of resentment and division built within it that it could hardly be confused with the other. Republicanism is now directly linked to those who would cause harm if not for civilized structures we have passed into our laws. Even then those laws are being bandied about as just obstacles to be overcome by them. A misguided anger directed at those who are mightily trying to improve our society for all is the undercurrent within the republican party. they want no such attempts at equality and instead are being programmed by an inappropriate sense of greater worth for themselves and limited for others.
     On the other hand we have the democratic party that is working to not only save our planet from the devastating effects of man made climate change, but are working to bring equality of opportunity to all our citizens devoid of privilege and advantage. Now we know it is hard work and will take some time but we are not ignoring or trying to maintain these problems like republicans are. Our hearts are where we live and if we are not living from our hearts then we have sold or given of ourselves to something that does not represent the nature of our species. human being.

Continuing the momentum of the democratic landslide (#2816)

     The democratic landslide is going to happen. What is still questionable is the degree to which it happens. Will it be a metaphorical rock slide or will it be on the proportion of an avalanche. Somewhere in between is my guess but with a lot of work and a never ending will to make it so, it could be closer to the avalanche scenario. It is what is needed. A cleaning out of the obstructionists at every level of government. Like on the scale of what happened in California several years ago and what just happened last year in Canada. A progressive/liberal awakening. Modernity and democracy go hand in hand and as such can only occur with a progressive/liberal government.
     Republicans have shown they have no use for modernity nor democratic principles. They have chosen to follow the scriptures of antiquity as their model for society and they have also made known that not all are equal in voting nor civil rights. This infiltration by them into our governmental powers has had the effect of dividing us and keeping us from becoming more enlightened. So the importance of this coming election cannot be over estimated. Republicans have exposed themselves to the public and are counting on the worst of our natures to support them. This is why the current trend against them is building because most of we are not the worst of ourselves, we are better than that.
     It is satisfying to know that many of us are aligned against republicans and plan on voting for no one else on the ballot except democrats. The awakening is here and with 23 days left in this election, it is crucial to bring as many with us as is possible. So that the rock slide we have going as momentum to victory becomes an actual avalanche which will wipe out previously elected republican politicians and bring forth a new energy of democrats who are dedicated to uphold not only principles of democracy but to advance modernity in all it's practical and acceptable forms. Our time is now and in 23 days we will know on election night just how powerful our sweep through the nation will occur.

The end of republican politics (#2815)

     I had someone tell me that we needed to have republicans as a viable political party so that the two party system would stay intact. Well, after steaming for a minute I took the time to explain to them that just having a two party system without regard to what one of the parties is is indefensible. If the two party system is so valuable then both parties had better have something that everyone wants. That is not the case with republicans. They have devolved into an anti-democratic party that cherishes discord and dishonesty over science and the truth. Not only that but we here in California are building our state to be an awesome economic and socially equal society without the benefit of two parties. We are democratic dominated and nonetheless have been quite proficient at governing for all the people.
      If the two party system is so valuable to some who cannot accept what we have done here in California then I suggest a second national party can be something else besides republicans. The Green party would do as a second party to not only lead our nation toward a decrease back from global warming but further regulations that keep us clean and safe. The republicans offer nothing of value to our society as public policy. I cannot think of one conservative national policy that has been instituted to improve the lives of all Americans. The public policies that have been advanced into law have all come about through liberal/progressive philosophy.
     So the time has come to dismantle not democracy, but the group that has been working to do just that, republicans. Republicans need to be defeated in every corner of our nation where they are running for public office. Their idea of smaller government and tax breaks for the wealthy have not been shown to help anyone but the wealthy. The area where we need the most help are with the working middle poor class. This group makes up the majority of we Americans and it is time we have representatives in public office that reflect our majority. The end of the republican party is deserved and they will not be missed by me.

Freedom of expression is vital to a democracy (#2814)

     Whether right or wrong if we don't have the ability to express ourselves we are not living as free human beings. Now of course there are some restrictions on expression that deal with harm, but our individual right to express how we feel outside of explicitly harming someone is to be cherished. We do not advance as a society if we disallow different points of view. Take our current presidential election. In the one hand we have a political party, republicans, who are trying to deny rights that in anyway interfere with their agenda to control society. We need to see this so that we can decide if we want them controlling us. If we didn't know it was their purpose we would not know how to react to it.
     I trust the maturity of our society to distinguish between regression and progression. It may not be pretty but in the final analysis we do get to decide if that expression has value. Just like with we democrats who want to promote health and welfare for all of our citizens and the freedom to express that at the ballot box. We don't restrict our citizens from voting because they may vote against our political ideals, we leave it up to them to decide if our ideas are worthy of their consideration and ultimately, their approval. Now I didn't start this particular blog post to talk about the freedom to vote, I started it to talk about freedom of expression.
     What concerns me this morning is the hype surrounding a football player choosing to sit and then take a knee during our national anthem. Well to me that anthem exemplifies democracy and the courage it takes to protect that democracy. Choice is at the heart of our formation and continuation as a nation. His response to not stand is his expression of disagreement with how our society is operating in a particularly serious and devastating way. He choose to take a stand by not standing and to me that is honoring the intent of what freedom of expression is all about. There was no harm done to anyone other than their ego's being bruised. So be it and welcome to freedom.

The enterprise of democracy (#2813)

     What is democracy? What does it mean to you? Do you understand the significance of our nation being founded upon those principles? Democracy equates to you and I being treated the same. Democracy gives us all the opportunity to improve our society. https://www.reference.com/government-politics/examples-democracy-5083dfb07e927b6d. I suppose I should ask what everyone considers improvement. For me improvement is finding anything that is not an ideal democratic action or behavior and making it more so. Improvement is finding what is not right about how we live and celebrate life and making it more right. So when I see what the republican party is doing on whole, making the worst of who we are more abundant, then I do like I am doing now, calling it out for being anti-democratic.
     For so long the differences between the two main political parties has been obfuscated and muddled through intentional ulterior motives. But we have the Internet now provided by democrats who want an open and informed society. The history of social progress in America is now known to be a liberal/democratic one. Republicans can no longer falsely claim that they have helped create the foundation of our society. Instead they are now known as the ones who want to break that foundation and return us to the dark ages where we all have to fend off each other in a survival of the fittest reality.
     Democracy allows us to move forward with a floor beneath us so that hunger, poverty and the opportunity to learn and create work is where we start not what we scramble against each other as a necessity to achieve. Democracy gives all of us the chance to be who we are in a society that embraces our diversity and is graciously beyond tolerant of our differences. The enterprise of democracy is an evolving one toward a more perfect union to reiterate a famously coined phrase.

Progress or not (#2812)

     This coming election is about two perspectives of the same issue. One the one side of the metaphorical coin is progress and all it implies and on the other side of that coin is no progress and if carefully examined, a bit more regression. We either are going forward with bold adventurism or we are staying still, while leaning backward. This is the dynamic that we are faced with. The republican party represents this staying still/regressive approach with not only our politics as shown by laws that help the few wealthy over the many not wealthy, but in our social lives where freedom of/from religion is being dismantled, where freedom of choice and defining one's own destiny is being curtailed.
     The democratic party is representing our hope for a greater diversity and tolerant society while reining in our current economic income inequality so that all may participate in the marketplace through merit and creative innovation. As to politics, we democrats are ready to knock down obstacles that republicans have built to dissuade electoral participation. If there is one ideal that we liberals fight daily for it is progress. We know that our species is still evolving in ways that are scary and frightening, yet we trust the human instinct within us to carry us along in a manner representative of our great democratic ideals.
     So when the voting time comes this November 8th, remember who you are and what you want to be. Afraid of the future (Republican) or one who shapes our future (Democrat) because there is no stopping time and space from where we are now. Change will occur whether we are the ones adjusting to it through our command or whether we are victims of it because we choose to deny our ability to overcome it. Two visions facing in different directions, one framed by fear of the future and the other framed by mastering the future. You decide.
     

As the voting time approaches America is coming to its senses (#2811)

     For a while there it seemed very confusing and discomforting to me that the American people could actually elect a craven greedy man as our next president. The republican party has nominated a man who has no public service to his biography and instead has been shown to flaunt the laws of America to enhance his personal economic portfolio. He is the antithesis of the hard working moral middle class in this country, yet for a time there it seemed that he was an acceptable choice. Well those days are behind us now and as is usually the case, given enough time, the truth does come out.
     We now know that this republican nominee is not only a selfish intolerant soul but he is not intellectual. He has had every opportunity to increase his knowledge since he was born to the "silver spoon" crowd. Yet he chose to bypass increasing his knowledge base and instead desired to control his fantasies. The thing about fantasies though is that they are illusions and nothing sums up the character of Donald Trump like the word illusion. Trump is a hollow man who speaks of things he knows very little about yet commands us with words to accept that he is wiser than we are. If this was not so serious a proposition, him running for president, I would find it laughable. Yet it is serious and not only that has the real effect of causing harm on a global scale.
     But since the first debate a few weeks ago and a leak of an audio showing his juvenile approach to life, the American electorate has come out of the illusion that was crafted for them by the republican party with the help of a less than genuine media. After the second debate the republican candidate has shown that the first debate was an accurate read of his ineffectual intellect. America deserves a leader who can command the issues with knowledge and wisdom, not carnival barking obfuscation. I now know that he will not win the presidency and if we are all lucky enough his party will lose by a landslide in other areas of elected government as well.

This current form of republicanism must be crushed (#2810)

     There is no other choice that is rational. When we go to vote this November no vote should go to any republican. The only way to end this onslaught of hate and intolerance is to vote it out of our politics so that we can pass laws that protect everyone, not just some of us. The republican party has become the vehicle for many of our most notorious hate groups. They hope to drive all the way to the White House and actually make it a "White" House only. If you happen to be born a white woman well at least you will be allowed some privileges but not on par with the white man. This is the republican credo, White power is the only power.
     Well I have had enough of them and I am a white man. I respect all people without any reservation as to their ethnicity or gender. We are all human beings and as such none of us is greater than another. This is what we are voting for this coming November. If you vote for a republican you are voting for segregation and an end to democracy. If you are voting for a democrat, you are voting to maintain democracy and improve our society to being more inclusive. The stark difference is not at all indistinguishable. For those who take issue with my assessment here I ask that you explain to me how I am wrong.
     For those of you who know that republicans are destroying our democracy then you are indeed living in reality. We must as a society of all people's step forward this November and vote against republicans, the worst political party in the history of our nation. None of the republican candidates is worthy of our vote, none of them. The only way to purge this group of haters from office is to not let any one of them win a new seat or return to one in our Congress and presidency. The choice this November is a critical one if we want to proceed toward improving our society and not destroying it.

Christianity is devolving in the republican world (#2809)

     Instead of evolving into a force for goodness and mercy, Christianity is devolving into a paradigm where the greedy and selfish are heralded as the correct example. Gone is the story of the Christ who gave of himself so that others could get better and in his place is an idol who promotes himself and discounts others. It is strategic that republicans would devolve Christianity since it is a way to present the illusion that their survival of the fittest vision is a Godly one. Where if one doesn't measure up one is not worthy of life itself. There is no mention though of what effect privilege and advantage do to many who don't have it but that isn't part of the republican calculus.
     The way republicans see it if you are not willing to lie, cheat and steal to get your fortune, no matter who you harm along the way, then you are not what they consider a "good" Christian. The republican Jesus is one who finds a way to support himself at any cost. He only admits those into his Kingdom of Heaven who can show a bottom line profit to prove their worthiness. The ideal Jesus, the one we grew up with in the churches who would help the Samaritan while healing the sick and feeding the hungry is not valued by republicans. That Jesus is weak and enabling. Not like republicans who are willing to, metaphorically, stab most anyone in the back if it made their life easier.
     I know that last little bit was harsh but it is true in many ways. Remember, privilege and advantage are to be protected at all costs and the thought of all of us being equal at a starting point is abhorrent to the republican mindset. So now the republican ideal of Christianity is obedience and self serving behaviors, with varying degrees of permissibility allowed to those who are more worthy. A devolution of a belief system into a selfish take system, how utterly republican!

The landslide is going to happen (#2808)

     Little did I know yesterday that republican Trump would implode his own campaign with the repugnant comments from 11 years ago but it really doesn't matter what brings him down, he just can't help that he is a disgraceful privileged excuse for a human being. Now I know how juvenile men react to peer pressure and taunts of manhood but this is not that. This is a senior man who is running for president still acting like a child without a mature mind. There is no excuse nor explanation that he can be given to erase or satiate the comments he made. He is now forever a pervert in the minds of common decent folk who live their lives with a modicum of respectability.
     So what can be done now as the election approaches and early voting has already taken place. Republicans cannot look to the supreme court for any help as the court is currently ideologically split, 4-4. What other remedy can the republican party hope to materialize? If they do somehow get Trump to disqualify himself they would be stuck with the early voting votes already in the counting queue. What other candidate could they reasonably assume would take the lead and run as their champion?
     I just don't see how they can go forward with another candidate this late in the process. So Trump will continue to be their nominee and instead of the election being a referendum on their survival of the fittest agenda, it will be on the morality and ethics of the candidates. Trump has destroyed any moral or ethical mist of illusion he may have had before the release of this damning tape, so I expect the democratic landslide to begin in full force today. Whereas yesterday I saw us stepping toward a landslide, today I see us running toward one. It remains to be seen if the republican candidates running for other offices will be caught up in the Trump disaster but my guess is there will be many who will be and they will find themselves being swept out of office as well.

Intelligence is winning out over ignorance (#2807)

     This presidential election is giving me the evidence I see. It took a little bit for people to see what is really going on here but they are now making it known that they are choosing compassionate intelligence over the ignorant hatred of others. It was touch and go there for a bit and I wasn't sure which way we would end up exposing about ourselves but now that the media cannot control all the exposure to the particular candidates we have found our way back to sanity. I for one am highly relieved. The thought of our great society reverting to it's most horrible ancient past behaviors was unthinkable.
     The republican party represents that and if I have my suspicions confirmed, the republican party will get devastated as a political party for their heinous policies and efforts. Their candidates will lose everywhere common sense has shown itself to flourish. That intelligence is still considered to be a cherished attribute soothes my somewhat less troubled soul. I am a man who believes that our compassion and curiosity are our two most positive traits and that they in the larger picture should rule how we choose to be governed. I have said here numerous times that we all are biological data processors and if you think a moment about it we are subject to intelligence, not regressive survival of the fittest modes.
     As we get closer to the election time this year of 2016, we will see a growing lead for life as an intelligent, caring and compassionate being as our role model and not some cavalier selfish soul bent on dividing what is a greatness about our country, our diversity. The ignorance of hate and greed are symptoms if immorality of thought and ethics which hopefully we can repair with greater access to education and a more enlightened and honest media service.

Confidence comes from knowing you are right (#2806)

     How many times do I say this? Doing the right thing the right way is what is the best of who we are. When we are the best of who we are then a confidence in our thoughts and actions follow. I was thinking the other day about me and how I could have chosen to live a cavalier life vicariously without regard to circumstance or outcome. A me first philosophy and all the rest whatever. As I was thinking about that it dawned upon me that this must be what it is like for a selfish greedy person. They want it all and they want it now. Of course I realize that I am human and there are things I want and want right now. Yet somehow I am still able to pause and take note that what I want and how fast I want it isn't the highest priority.
     My highest priority is for all of us to want what we want and as fast as possible. So me being selfish only for myself isn't how I choose to live. I realize that there are many things I will never do because I have chosen to forego them in order to realize a higher ideal. Because in the final analysis, it isn't about my own superficial satisfaction that is driving my life. What is driving my life is much deeper and far more satisfying. It is an honorable nobleness of spirit and soul. I will always want to be someone whom I admire, and believe this, I am a tough critic. There are no shortcuts to that admiration. It is either real or it is phony. No middle ground.
     Now I can say that my attempts at being honorable often fall short but not because I shortchanged myself in the attempt but because forces greater than me are also in play. I strive to attain what is best about who and what I want to be. Because I know my inner strength comes from what is great about our species. I know this as a fact so the idea that I could choose to be a selfish greedy person to me is ludicrous and beneath dignity. I want my life to matter to me while I am alive and nothing less than attempting to be an honorable noble person whose confidence is rightly placed will suffice.

The landslide is coming (#2805)

     The further we get into this presidential election the more I see the liberal landslide coming. For the life of me I cannot fathom the fear the republicans are using will sustain any momentum for their anti-democratic middle class destroying policies. As each day counts off toward November 8th, I feel much more excited about how big a margin we liberals and independents will give to the democratic party. I think about the sweep up north in Canada last year for the liberal policies that are inclusive and progressive and I imagine it here. A democratic president, a majority in the senate with a liberal majority on the supreme court and even maybe a liberal majority in the house. I can feel the momentum pulsing toward these probabilities and possibilities.
     It is still early on yet and some catastrophic event or disclosure could rattle how I am feeling about what is coming but short of some "October surprise" the landslide is coming. When even the casual citizen who doesn't get involved in politics is shown the vast differences between the candidates the odds of them moving toward the liberal cause is obvious. Republicans have shown that they are mean and nasty as a party and no one I know likes mean and nasty as a first choice. Surely there are enough out there to make noise but that is all it is, noise. Reality and truth are the bearers of witness and most all of us can see the reality and truth. Now the media is crippling logic and common sense at most every turn but even they cannot suppress simple logic when it is exposed.
     So the liberal landslide is coming and instead of being afraid that republicans will somehow pull off a miracle victory, I choose to bask in the satisfying hard work of continuing to promote liberal policies and ideals. I am enjoying the ride and sensing the extreme gratification that is permeating it's way in, through and all around our coming victory. A victory for not only liberals and independents but for the hard to convince republicans as well. They will see the mistake they are and have made and come to appreciate what this coming landslide will do for them. There will be those who will never see, but that is their choice and despite their moaning there lives will improve nonetheless.

We are all just trying to make our way through the Universe (#2804)

     Everything we do is just marking time as far as staying busy. Our society exists so that we can better get along with each other and that is good. Keeping our society good as to getting along requires us to be civil and respectful of each other. We also must allow for equality to exist under our democracy otherwise those who are denied equality will try to rip apart our unfair society in order to make a more just one. Then there are those who live within our society that want to keep past privileges and advantages unfairly earned to themselves. They don't mind sowing seeds of disruption and inequality. They are the ones who currently are destroying the melting pot of which our American society has been built within.
     Why so many have flocked to the republican party can be summed up easily. The republican party has a recent history of segregating not only through color of skin but by gender and economic status. So what has occurred is a split in the fabric of our society along the lines of hatred and ignorance. Listen up folks, our society is in jeopardy of being blown apart from within by forces that are not honorable nor noble. It is a cancerous type disease that has spread because the republican party will not deny it's affiliation with it. I can understand conservatism as a cautious approach at modernity and progress. That is well and good. Yet that is not what is being practiced by conservatives these days. Instead we are getting a regressive philosophy that is denying modernity and progress as to institute a class based society.
     That means our democracy is being destroyed so that a more plutocratic/theocratic society will emerge. One where the wealthy and the powerful make the decisions for the rest of us and base their decisions on a hybrid theological understanding. Gone will be the one citizen one vote. Gone will be freedom of choice and the freedom of speech. What we are heading for with the republican party is a control that many are clueless to it's burgeoning and culpable fruition.

Hatred can easily segue from one attribute to another (#2803)

     It is common now to see how republicans operate. They are able to go from hating our black president by showing us racism in all it's forms to now hating our woman candidate for president through sexism and all it's forms. Not missing a beat, the same republican political party has no interruption in it's ability to manifest hate whenever it is needed. Let me explain why. Republicans offer nothing to the working/middle/poor class of voters that is tangible to their lives improving economically or politically. Republicans are driving down wages wherever possible and working hard to make college inaccessible while diminishing social programs for our seniors.
     While also using underhanded maneuvers to cut eligible voters off the voting rolls and denying new voters easy opportunities to engage in our political process. I could go on and on with all the attempts and successes that republicans have tried or instituted to disrupt the working/middle/poor class in numerous ways but I need to get to my conclusion here. Republicans offer nothing of value to our American citizenry except of course for the wealthy. So appealing to our worst natures and fears about each other is the only unifying cry they have. Since this election appears to be less a landslide for Democrats according to the media, the strategy of hate by republicans seems to be somewhat working.
     That a large minority of our nation is unable to see that their own biases are being played against them is unfortunate. This is why too many vote against their own good because they are frothing at the mouth to punish some group that is not them. We saw this during the Obama presidency and now we are seeing the transition to prevent the woman democratic presidential candidate from being elected. Using hatred to get elected, who knew we could be so gullible as a nation to accept the premise.

Reality television is not reality (#2802)

     I get a big kick out of the misnomer. When you know you are under video surveillance you are not being real. For most all of us we change our behavior to reflect what we think is best about ourselves. So when they say that reality television is what we are like, it actually isn't. Most of us are far more flawed than when we show when watched. If they wanted to do a real reality television show it would be totally anonymous and without any premeditated thought or action. It would be real, not staged. So the faux fame that comes from these ring masters of the television world onto others is not reality.
     I say all this because we have a person like Donald Trump running for president of the United States whose only real claim to fame is his reality television show that is not reality. It is curious that he often reflects what he thinks is his best nature and it comes across as mean and bullying. Yet there are many out there who like someone in charge that is mean and bullying. It is a illness of illusion. So our smart intelligent society is also dumb and ignorant one. A real chasm in the "reality" of who we are as Americans. Instead of being honorable and noble in our thoughts and deeds we are also ruthless and demeaning in our thoughts and actions.
     I suppose the answer to why this is in the programming we get through the media and the lack of education we get at school. Nothing could be clearer to the outside viewer of our society that the split between those who can objectively think and those who are constantly subjective is blatant. The evolution of the human being is at a crossroads now within the borders of our nation. To the north in Canada they came to realize their crossroads and overwhelmingly chose to advance their society instead of regressing it. It is my hopeful wish that in the next 5 weeks or so we do the same here in America.

Improving our schools (#2801)

     Generation after generation is being lost to the ignorance of unknowing. We need to bring our standards up to a level of basics that seem to have slipped. When a quarter of our population believes that the Sun revolves around the Earth, http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/02/14/277058739/1-in-4-americans-think-the-sun-goes-around-the-earth-survey-says, we are given all the proof we need to understand our educational system as it is now is failing not only our students but society on whole. This not only affects the basics of our existence but it affects how our society deals with pressing issues going forward.
     How can we expect our generations going forward to be the critical thinkers we need in a time of innovation and creativity that we are experiencing? So much is being advanced though technology that if we don't have the citizenry to not only maintain that advancement but to enhance it with logical progression then we are doomed to a reality that will not advance modernity and may very well deteriorate it. Our schools are the last bastions of learning and progress. We cannot move the young from the status quo if they are not given new ways to learn through a compare and contrast paradigm and shown how to form the ability to distinguish how comprehensive the simple becomes the complex.
     The idea that we have a political party now, republicans, who are more interested in cutting education is abominable, http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/06/24/report-federal-education-funding-cut-by-5-times-more-than-all-spending. That republicans do not see that our society is not being given what it needs to compete in the 21st century is also abominable. Maybe they don't want to see and instead refuse to acknowledge the importance of education for our nation. Maybe their only concern is their own pocketbook and anything beyond that is not their problem. Well maybe that is true and maybe that is okay with them. Well it isn't with me because I have pride in our democracy and it's principles and those principles demand of me to be more than a selfish uncaring person.