I come before you today, with just seven full days of voting left, to say that the state of OUR union is dire. Never in my lifetime, or my mother and father’s lifetime, has the United States of America faced so many crises at the same time. And never before have we had a more anarchic president in the White House, sowing discord and hatred for our institutions, our people, and the people of the World. The intersection of those two facts are what makes our current and future state so dire.
Never have we been at such a crossroads as we approach the election of our next president and seats up and down the ballot.
Never have we had a leader seed outright distrust in our election process even remotely to the degree of President Trump. With no proof whatsoever, he is claiming voter fraud over and over and over, on Twitter, interviews and at rally after rally after rally. He did it in 2016, saying he would only accept the results of the election if he won. After winning, he established a commission to investigate…which turned up nothing. And, yet again, now as the president of the United States, he’s using his voice to spread lies under the guise of voter fraud.
Never have we had a sitting president, running for re-election, publicly call out to his attorney general to investigate his rival in the race, and then berate him for not doing so. And, this after he called on a foreign official to start an investigation on Biden.
I could go on and on listing a litany of “never before.” But I’m sure that you already know more of them than you want to know.
And yet, I believe. I do. In our country, to fix the broken.
And you believe. I know that you do.
And what I believe and what you believe isn’t always the same. But, man oh man, do I hope that you have been seeing and believing the overwhelming evidence of how destructive this president has been to our country’s people, our institutions and our global influence during his reign of terror these last three and a half years. If you’re a Republican and you’re on my blog mailing list, I know you and your character, and I do not see what Trump represents living in you. I don’t believe that Trump reflects your character nor represents the keys to your conservatism. I am hoping that, if you voted for him in 2016, you’ve seen enough. Enough even to vote for a Democrat this time. It’s your only way out. Later, I’ll give you some reasons why it’s not that bad of an option.
I am a Democrat. I chose my party. I’m proud of the inclusiveness of its platforms for equality across race, gender, nationality and sexual orientation. I’m proud of the ideas that this political season brought to the forefront during the primaries and Democratic debates and the wide ranging discussions of smart people talking about important issues. Sure, it got messy sometimes, like with 20 or more candidates were running in the beginning. But that very gaggle of engaged individuals depicted the very essence of the party as they rose up from all over America to put their name and their ideas in full public view and showcased for me so many possibilities of leadership. They demonstrated courage and conviction to be bold. They ran towards the fire. They disagreed on some of the finer points but agreed holistically in the larger picture of what our country needs.
I’m proud of the vision of leadership forward, not backwards.
I’m proud to stand behind our country’s needs from our federal government to do things that we can’t do alone and, by doing it through the federal government, we do it with strength and expertise of many. I’m proud to commit my tax dollars to make the USA better.
And I’m proud to say that I’ve already voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to lead our country. I also voted for Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock to represent Georgia in the US Senate and to put Mitch McConnell out to pasture, if not sitting on his porch in Kentucky, at least removing his stranglehold over the US Senate into the position of minority leader.
I encourage you to do the same if you have not yet voted.
Our country has never needed a strong, unified federal government more than now, one with legislators and leaders who have the will to BE BOLD enough to tackle the huge issues before us.
BE BOLD in the fight against COVID19, flattening the curve, developing and delivering on a unified national strategy with a real plan in place that gives our scientists and field experts the support, direction, tools and manpower to succeed. It is truly about saving lives right now!
BE BOLD in providing Americans with financial support to make it through the economic hard times created by the pandemic and building the road to reopening and conquering the virus.
BE BOLD about setting our country on the path to resolve the racism in our country, in full view and inherent in law enforcement, the criminal justice system, in lending practices, in healthcare and in education.
BE BOLD about addressing climate change, transitioning to alternative fuel through innovation, American ingenuity and returning the United States to the world of nations, sharing and working together to cut carbon emissions and clean our air, cut down waste polluting our rivers and oceans, and make and keep our promises to each other to go Green.
BE BOLD about joining with other democratic nations to build a better, safer more peaceful world.
BE BOLD enough to hold Russia accountable for its past and current interference in our elections and for seeding divisiveness and chaos.
BE BOLD enough to cross the aisle and send this man back to his private world where he belongs. He’s shown that he is the worst of what we can be, not the best. He’s shown that he knows not how to govern. He’s certainly found out that being president is not the same as being CEO of your own company. You don’t always get your way. And, you can’t sue your way out of everything or wave your hand and shoo problems as big as America away. Show him that he’s not more powerful than your combined vote.
Normally, I don’t work too hard to try and influence long-time Republicans to “not” vote for their party. It’s a really tough putt to sway a lifelong Republican or Democrat off of their party. But if there’s ever a time for that to happen it is now. The man on the GOP ticket doesn’t represent nor believe in the values the Republicans that I know hold dear.
If you want to test that theory, read this op-ed by George Conway entitled, “I (still) believe the president, and in the president.” Just say your name in front of each statement of belief, read it out loud and try it on for size. See if his actions and words fit your beliefs.
I believe that, yes, this 78 year old white man, Former Vice President Joe Biden, is the person for the moment. Wisdom comes with age, from experience, and from battles won and lost. I believe that wisdom, patience, empathy, and vision are what we need now to erase the wholesale damage wrought by three and a half years of Trumponian rule.
I believe that Joe will enable the boldness and courage in his staff, Congress and in our America. And I certainly believe that he will not operate in the scorched earth policies in which Trump and Mitch McConnell have operated, where everything is a zero sum game.
I believe, that although a Democrat, he will serve and work with Republicans to bring us together because his values are much more closely aligned with your values than Trump. By miles.
Joe knows how to govern. Joe knows how government works. And, importantly, Joe knows for whom it works. The citizenry. Us. You and me. My 97 year old mother. My two year old grand nephew. My adult children.
So, that’s my state of our union in broad strokes. Next post, what I’ve found out researching key issues starting with the Economy, because the economy is the one issue voter polls show Trump leading, but only by a razor thin margin.
As always, thank you if you made it this far.
Life of Riley 