As it should be

Healthcare

Sad but true.

Patriotism

'Green' update

A few weeks ago I wrote this post about many restaurants no longer providing plastic straws with beverages.  Since then I've been to a couple places that have switched over to more earth-friendly paper straws, and a couple places who only give plastic straws upon request.

Then this week I saw this Facebook meme which combined this topic with another close to my heart: gun control.

While this is initially funny, it does draw the striking contrast between how easy it was to change behaviors related to plastic straws versus the nearly impossible feat it will be to change behaviors related to gun control, thanks to the wealthy NRA and greedy politicians who accept its bribes.

Better

Puerto Rico

Donald Trump and Chris Christie visit Puerto Rico

Repeal & replace

I haven't been posting much political stuff at all for several reasons:

1. Lots of others are doing it, and doing it much better than I would
2. I honestly can't keep up with all the unimaginably crazy/inappropriate/scary stuff going on
3. Thinking about the aforementioned unimaginably crazy/inappropriate/scary stuff is driving me crazy

However, I came across this meme on Facebook and just found it too good not to share:

Thought for the day

Bleach

Email

Get over it

Guuurrrlll...

I usually don't post a lot of political stuff here, partly because I feel inundated with it by TV and nearly every site on the internet, and because lots of others are doing a much better job than I would of covering the continued clown show/imploding of the Trump presidency.

However, this meme was just too funny not to share!

What happened after the TrumpCare bill failed.

International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day.  

According to their website, it is a day to "Call on the masses or call on yourself to help forge a better working world - a more inclusive, gender equal world".

What an indictment to our society that in this day and age women still make less than men for doing the same jobs and are constantly needing to fight to protect their reproductive rights.

But on a lighter note, I found this to be hilarious!

How will you spend National Women's Day?

Hard to say goodbye

I am in complete denial that Donald Trump is being inaugurated today.  I will truly miss the Obama family.  

God save our country!

Acceptance

I saw this on a friend's facebook page and thought it was worth sharing. 

This is why we grieve

I'm not sure where this came from.  A friend emailed it to me and said he'd received it via email from a neighbor.  I'd be more than happy to give the author credit if I knew who it was who managed to put words to my feelings.

This is why we grieve

I don’t think you understand us right now.

I think you think this is about politics. 

I think you believe this is all just sour grapes; the crocodile tears of the losing locker room with the scoreboard going against us at the buzzer.


I can only tell you that you’re wrong. This is not about losing an election. This isn’t about not winning a contest. This is about two very different ways of seeing the world.

Hillary supporters believe in a diverse America; one where religion or skin color or sexual orientation or place of birth aren’t liabilities or deficiencies or moral defects. Her campaign was one of inclusion and connection and interdependency. It was about building bridges and breaking ceilings. It was about going high. 

Trump supporters believe in a very selective America; one that is largely white and straight and Christian, and the voting verified this. Donald Trump has never made any assertions otherwise. He ran a campaign of fear and exclusion and isolation—and that’s the vision of the world those who voted for him have endorsed.

They have aligned with the wall-builder and the professed p*ssy-grabber, and they have co-signed his body of work, regardless of the reasons they give for their vote:

Every horrible thing Donald Trump ever said about women or Muslims or people of color has now been validated.
Every profanity-laced press conference and every call to bully protestors and every ignorant diatribe has been endorsed.
Every piece of anti-LGBTQ legislation Mike Pence has championed has been signed-off on.

Half of our country has declared these things acceptable, noble, American. 

This is the disconnect and the source of our grief today. It isn’t a political defeat that we’re lamenting, it’s a defeat for Humanity.

We’re not angry that our candidate lost. We’re angry because our candidate’s losing means this country will be less safe, less kind, and less available to a huge segment of its population, and that’s just the truth.

Those who have always felt vulnerable are now left more so. Those whose voices have been silenced will be further quieted. Those who always felt marginalized will be pushed further to the periphery. Those who feared they were seen as inferior now have confirmation in actual percentages.

Those things have essentially been campaign promises of Donald Trump, and so many of our fellow citizens have said this is what they want too.  

This has never been about politics.
This is not about one candidate over the other.
It’s not about one’s ideas over another’s.
It is not blue vs. red.
It’s not her emails vs. his bad language.
It’s not her dishonesty vs. his indecency.

It’s about overt racism and hostility toward minorities.
It’s about religion being weaponized.
It’s about crassness and vulgarity and disregard for women.
It’s about a barricaded, militarized, bully nation.
It’s about an unapologetic, open-faced ugliness.

And it is not only that these things have been ratified by our nation that grieve us; all this hatred, fear, racism, bigotry, and intolerance—it’s knowing that these things have been amen-ed by our neighbors, our families, our friends, those we work with and worship alongside. That is the most horrific thing of all. We now know how close this is.

It feels like living in enemy territory being here now, and there’s no way around that. We wake up today in a home we no longer recognize. We are grieving the loss of a place we used to love but no longer do. This may be America today but it is not the America we believe in or recognize or want.

This is not about a difference of political opinion, as that’s far too small to mourn over. It’s about a fundamental difference in how we view the worth of all people—not just those who look or talk or think or vote the way we do.

Grief always laments what might have been, the future we were robbed of, the tomorrow that we won’t get to see, and that is what we walk through today. As a nation we had an opportunity to affirm the beauty of our diversity this day, to choose ideas over sound bytes, to let everyone know they had a place at the table, to be the beacon of goodness and decency we imagine that we are—and we said no.

The Scriptures say that weeping endures for a night but joy comes in the morning. We can’t see that dawn coming any time soon.

And this is why we grieve.
----------------

Update:  A reader provided me with the author, John Pavlovitz.  His original post is HERE.

Aftermath

I'm in shock.  I just can't today.

Election Day

Spouse & I happily did our civic duty this morning and voted before going to work.

While I know that people in more heavily populated areas often have to wait in line (sometimes for hours) to vote, we live in a less populated area where there is typically no lines.  Most of the time we walk in the door, show our ID, vote, and are outside in under 5 minutes.  This morning there was just a bit of a wait, so it took about 8 minutes.

After work we'll be taking some food and going to Steven & Thad's house to watch the election returns.  Steven is making some food too, and a few other friends like Joe P will likely stop in for a bite and to chat.  

I'm looking forward to an exciting evening and (hopefully) a win for Hillary!

Politics

Just in case you've noticed the lack of political posts on my blog during this historic campaign season...

Thanks!