Fiddle Dee and Fiddle Dum. The old children's stories and
fantasies. Opposites. The Jack Sprat could eat no fat and his Wife could
eat no Lean. The thick and thin of things. You know what I mean. Opposites throughout our daily lives. They are not models of what the other could
be, or warning, either. Opposites don’t warn us; they instruct us.
If you want a business person to administer your affairs and
make decisions to add to your wealth, you look for a person with a set of skills
and experience who can do that. You also observe his record of achievement. You
are attempting to make a judgment on who can help you. Of course you will steer
clear of people you think might harm your portfolio and assets. You weigh the
options and get as much information as you can and then you make your decision.
I repeat, but then you make the decision. Doing nothing is a decision.
Hiring one person over another is a decision. Firing someone who has not served
you well is a decision. Decisions. Options to choose. Action to take in
implementing the choice.
Very much like voting for one candidate over another. You
gather the information you think applies, you compare the candidates, then you
make a choice. You vote for one or the other. Or maybe you vote for a third
person knowing that he or she cannot possibly win, but you felt you couldn’t in
good conscience vote for either of the other two.
Of course there is the option of not voting at all. That
would be a decision. It means, however, you are not involved in the decision
over which candidate will win.
But I think there is another issue here, a fourth option, so
to speak.
If your think both candidates are not worthy of your vote, I
think you need to assess why you came to that conclusion. After all, there are
two primary political parties in America . If you don’t like the
candidate of your usual party, you need to ask how this came to be. Were you
involved in the party beforehand? Did you know the ‘poor’ candidate was likely
to be the party’s successful candidate at the end of the primary season? If you
didn’t, why didn’t you understand this?
Now if you greatly distrust the opposing party, you will
have some difficulty voting for their candidate. I get this. But this means you
should have understood your own party even better. After all, if the opposing
party’s candidate is abhorrent to you, you need to truly understand why such an
awful candidate has appeared in your own party.
Politics is not private. It is public. It is the result of
masses of people opting their philosophies and values. These things form
amalgamations that have meaning and portent for the future. They are not
mysteries. They are transparent and open to view through the entire process.
Along the way some people may think things are not fair, but that’s a poor
sport’s take on it. The truth is the system belongs to the people and the
voters. If the results don’t fit your expectations or beliefs I suspect you
failed your own party at some point.
Case in point: Trump is the republican nominee. Like it or
not, he’s the choice of the party. If this is considered a mistake by you, then
you have some homework to do and hopefully learn how to not let this happen
ever again. Perhaps this will help the party pay closer attention to its
members, and help them understand the educational process needed to keep people
involved in the system and helping it work smoothly.
Obviously the republican party ran into some heavy problems
this time around. But a study of the party’s history would inform students that
this result was decades in the making. Allowing religions to get involved in
party politics was a major goof back in the 1980’s. Allowing those same
religious leaders to manipulate policy, candidate selections and agenda items
is a continuation of the same goof.
Politics and religion don’t mix. Neither do government and
religion. Witness the Middle East . Is that
what you want for America ?
Whether you are Muslim, Christian or Jew, if your nation’s government heeds
only your religious majority, then it becomes a Christian nation, a Muslim
nation or a Jewish nation. None of those nations are successful or without
serious violence.
This is not the stuff of peace and calm in government
circles. Best to leave all of that behind. Keep it separate. The court system
has attempted to do just that. The constitution favors no religion. The
Founding Fathers themselves were more Deists than Christians. In fact their
discussions were heavily weighted in avoiding the chasms and schisms of faith
communities entirely. Just read Thomas Jefferson’s writings for that. Benjamin
Franklin as well. And George Washington, the Adams
families, and so on.
The Democrats give respect to religions and faith issues.
They do not take sides, however.
Abortion and Gay issues have been made into wedge political
issues by religionists. That’s why these issues are so hotly debated. One
opponent feels their religious freedom is abridged if rights for abortion or
gay people are granted. Nonsense. This is not a decision on religion. It is a
decision on civil rights guaranteed by the constitution. The government makes
these decisions, not churches or faith leaders. Simple. Keep it so.
The matter of conservative, liberal or middle of the road
political philosophy is fair game for all of us to discuss. Please do not make
monsters out of your opponents, however. It makes a fool of you and doesn’t
help the discourse one little bit.
The current presidential election pits one know-nothing and
inexperienced person in government affairs against someone who has studied law,
history, governance and political philosophy. She has worked her entire career
in several levels of government. She has made her life’s career service to
others. She has not benefited from any of this work. Her enemies made her
famous and a successful author of books and speaking engagements. That has made
her wealthy compared with the rest of us. Same for her husband. An unintended
effect I know but that’s what created the Clinton
wealth.
They continue to raise funds for their foundation so
charitable work benefiting all of society both domestic and foreign are
beneficiaries of their work. Thank God for that work!
The other candidate has lined his own pockets at the expense
of others his entire life. His kids are doing the same. And he got a starter
gift from his wealthy father to begin his own career. Along his career path he
has amassed some wealth that does not benefit others very much. Plus he has
soaked investors and vendors alike for years with failures and bankruptcies
several times. What he pays in taxes is still an open question. My bet is he
pays very little, soaking the rest of us with games played with the tax code.
The same cannot be said of the Clintons .
So, if you don’t like the Clintons , say so. But if you feel they have
broken the laws, then you owe it to all of us to point out the facts and case
law where this is apt. Truth be told there is a long record of people
attempting to find fault with the Clintons .
They have not found anything yet. But that hasn’t stopped their tongues
wagging.
Wanting it so doesn’t make it so.
Just ask Trump!
And voting for no one is you walking away from your
democratic responsibilities. Shame!
August 4, 2016
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