Contributions – Political

I have to admit I am a supporter of anything relating to the Democratic Party these days. First, because it is directly opposed to Donald Trump, second, because I want to retain as much as what President Obama has done for our country, and third, to send a clear message to Republicans everywhere that our nation is not for sale to the highest bidder.

There. I have said it.

I live in DuPage County Illinois. It is the county west of Chicago and Cook County which are both bastions of the Democrats. But DuPage is the antithesis of that. It is pure Republican and hideously conservative. I say that because they are nastily voiced against personalities. They speak down to immigrants, down to African Americans as though the Civil Rights era in America never happened, and they take a dim view of the rest of the world community.

Republicans think highly of themselves here in DuPage County. Conversely, they think and talk poorly of anyone not like them. And that’s where the problem lies.

If you are different from them you are spoiled goods. There must be something wrong with you. Wrong thinking is a sign of defective intelligence and physical ability. I know this sounds severe, but try for a moment being on the other side of this discussion. I’ve lived here since 1971 and was a Republican when I arrived. I have definitively and to the very core not a republican today. I made the switch I think in 1985. Since then the pendulum has continued to swing in DuPage County to ever more conservative realms of thinking and action. I abhor this development.

Mainly I find republicans detestable because they do not respect other people, their culture, their beliefs, their life experiences which shape and form people who are different from Republicans. You have to experience this cultural divide to understand it.

I had an intelligent colleague the other day write to me on Facebook advising me that Obama is shaping a campaign to take a third Presidential term via militia power. The insanity of this position is illustrative of what I’m talking about. These people are off the track. And that is scary. They think nothing of saying and writing and publishing what they feel as fact in spite of the reality that such is not fact. It is not history. It is not culture. It is not science. It is twisted feeling only. And yet to them it is real. You think I’m kidding? Just read my Facebook account interactions with them.

Sad. Really sad. We are all intelligent people living separate and unequal lives in the same towns and villages. But there is little to connect us in actuality. We don’t allow it.

Fearfully, they have legal rights to voting. And they will vote. And yes, in this part of the world, Trump has a good chance of winning his campaign. Hopefully he will lose everywhere else and we will be safe to pursue life, liberty and happiness undeterred from nonsense.

In the midst of all this I write and publish a blog, letters to friends and colleagues, and of course Facebook. Accordingly I get emails seeking financial donations to countless candidates and party issue organizations.

As a retired person I am living on a fixed income. It is a modest income made even more modest by the loss of my university pension proceeds by way of a divorce agreement. Furthermore, I retired after I became too ill to work a reliable schedule or do business travel. Thinking I was doomed by serious health problems, I retired and paid off as much of my debt load as possible and distributed my IRA and other investments accordingly. The only thing I couldn’t pay off was the mortgage. And eventually I had to declare bankruptcy to retain occupancy in the home long enough to find alternative rental housing. So I am low income and without any assets other than Social Security benefits. That’s it.

When Obama was first running I donated $100 per month to be certain he had enough to win. Now, I cannot afford a dollar. I’d like to but cannot. I’d like some bumper stickers for Hillary for the car, and I’d like to pass out some literature, but I cannot get any without donating dollars. I’m a supporter of Hillary and all Democrat candidates. But I have no stickers to show for it.

Meanwhile I get emails wondering if I’m a Trump supporter because I have not donated to the Hillary camp! Nothing could be further from the truth, but the tawdry fund raising campaigns continue nonetheless.

Well I know my heart and mind is pure on this issue. I will vote for Hillary and no one on the republican ticket, period. This time around I don’t need to donate money to prove my loyalty.

And love of country. Don’t ever doubt that!

September 12, 2016