I strive not to bring political stuff into my blog, mainly because by the time I sit down to write, that's the last thing I want to think about. So this will probably be my one and only post regarding such things.
I'm such a cynic when it comes to the whole political landscape. I've said more than once that I'd run for public office if there weren't so many idiots already there to get in the way of getting anything accomplished.
Not that I'm calling anyone who holds or runs for public office an idiot, but you know what I mean.
I've grown weary of listening to campaign ads, folks fussing about clothes and hairstyles, voter fraud, fund-raising issues, whether Joe really is a plumber or not, the mystery video tape, missing birth certificate, and whatever else seems to be the whine of the moment.
And the polls. Oh, the polls. They're up, they're down, they're right, they're wrong. Who really knows (or cares)?
But seriously, please go vote. I contend that you have no right to fuss, gripe, whine, or even raise an eyebrow about anything unless you take the responsibility you've been given by our Founding Fathers and exercise your right to help choose the people who represent us, the laws of our land, and our nation's Commander in Chief.
Even if you don't get your way. Because then you can moan all you want to.
Yeah, that's right. Even if your cause or candidate doesn't win, you still will have done the right thing by going to vote. If not for yourself, to honor those who fought and continue to fight for your right to do so. And for those who never got the chance to.
It's like eating your vegetables for the starving kids in China.
And we will strive to instill that basic value in C as he grows; the voting and the vegetables.
C went with Husband and me to vote the other day. I think he would've helped if he could, especially since it was the whole touch-screen voting.
And if we lived in another state, maybe he could have. Oops, did I say that?
But seriously, I'm glad C's not old enough to know what's going on with all this stuff right now. As weary as I am of it and as confusing as it is to me, I can't stand the thought of him having to deal with the fear mongering and finger-pointing from a child's point of view.
I remember voting in a mock election in Kindergarten. I was five years old. We were given a paper ballot and asked to put a check mark in a box for the candidate we wanted to be the President.
We voted with a crayon.
And in some way, I am glad I was exposed to the process of a Presidential election. But in another way, I am sad that my innocence was being stolen away at that early age by what was then and is now more so the political monster.
I heard a blurb the other day on the news about how statistics show that children are usually right in predicting who will win the election in their crayon polls.
Ours did. The candidate that I voted for with my Crayola won the class election and the real office.
The old phrase, "Out of the mouths of babes" holds a brand new meaning.
But it makes me think. For whatever reason, kids have a discernment we lose as adults. We get caught up in the junk and forget to follow our heart. Kids don't have that problem.
I will contend that if we all voted with the heart of a child, things would be much different in our country today. In other words, if we all remembered how to see through all the crap that's thrown at us, we'd probably have elected some different folks along the way.
So as you go to the polls, don't forget your crayon. Let it remind you of the way your kid might vote if given the chance.
Don't use it when you vote, though. I'm pretty sure the scanners won't like it and we'll end up with another scandal. Like we need one.
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