Just over 5 years ago I decided to step away from FB & Twitter. Then, like now, I stepped away because of the vitriol on social media. At that time, it was purely the political vitriol that I couldn't stand anymore. Now there is even more of that than there ever has been before. At least in my lifetime. And yet it is politics that is one of the many ingredients that are pushing me back to my journaling roots today. The problem is that I've also spent so many years trying to avoid vitriol being aimed at myself or rather my posts that my voice has become quiet...figuratively. I haven't felt strong or brave enough to post my own opinion for too long. I have so many friends & family members that are ultra-conservative, making being the minority in a group of incredibly strong opinions & personalities, difficult for me to speak up. In other words, I have become a master at avoiding conflict/confrontations. My life is already so full of real-life drama that I figured if I avoided voicing my opposing viewpoint of things I would be able to avoid the extra stress in my life. Technically it worked, however, I started to feel more and more disingenuine to my own sense of self. As though that teenage girl who had strong & passionate convictions & opinions, & had no problems speaking up for herself & her beliefs, is kicking & screaming from somewhere deep inside yelling, "I'm still here!"
These are the best ways I can explain why I support ending systemic racism. And if you don't know/acknowledge/admit that this country is systemically racist then, sadly, I believe you are part of the problem. You turn blind eyes to the injustices of an entire group of lives that you purport matters as much as your own. I am admitting my own imperfections when I say I saw it & did nothing to stop it, which is just as evil as participating. "All it takes for evil to win is for good to stand down". (Obviously, I paraphrased that quote) So I stand & acknowledge & try to raise awareness & set an example for others, especially my children. No mother should fear the police when it comes to her child's safety and yet that is a fact! Black mothers & fathers having to have discussions with their children on how to respond to the police, who are supposed to "protect & serve". And no I don't think all police officers are bad. I don't believe that backing the badge & supporting BLM are not mutually exclusive. Contrary to the conservative belief otherwise, the world & life are not just white & black, there are so many shades of gray. Statistics show over & over again that systemic racism is real & alive & it needs to be vanquished. Refusal to change, admit our own culpability, grow, & learn from our mistakes are the reasons that this problem still exists today.
Does this mean I don't still get erroneous news from time to time? I probably do, the only way to completely filter out false information is to turn a blind eye to all news & I refuse to do that anymore. Which is why I do my own serious research on multiple sites & sources. I also listen to scientists, Drs, & professors who have dedicated their lives to the study of whatever subject I am researching. This leads me to my next topic & probably the one that means the very most to me, it's also the one that affects me personally the most...
"China, faced with the first outbreak, chose strict quarantine and isolation after an initial delay. These measures were severe but effective, essentially eliminating transmission at the point where the outbreak began and reducing the death rate to a reported 3 per million, as compared with more than 500 per million in the United States."
Remember the asterisks from a couple of paragraphs up? They apply to this particular paragraph from this article...
***"The United States instituted quarantine and isolation measures late and inconsistently, often without any effort to enforce them after the disease had spread substantially in many communities. Our rules on social distancing have in many places been lackadaisical at best, with the loosening of restrictions long before adequate disease control had been achieved. And in much of the country, people simply don’t wear masks, largely because our leaders have stated outright that masks are political tools rather than effective infection control measures. The government has appropriately invested heavily in vaccine development, but its rhetoric has politicized the development process and led to growing public distrust."
Too many of you are delving deeply into conspiracy theories. Believing in QAnon rhetoric, repeating outright lies &/or refusing to see the truth before you. Too many of you are too stubborn to even consider wearing masks, practice social distancing, &/or staying home. We've been home together for the last almost 8 months because we want to be a part of the solution, not the problem. Because we want to err on the side of caution & give the gift of health & safety to our families, friends, neighbors, & fellow-citizens at large. It is our patriotic duty to help protect this nation in its darkest hour since 911 & it's our privilege to serve as the Lord served, selflessly & happily. For 8 months we've been together, day in & day out. It's exhausting! All because we have leadership & citizens who are so busy screaming about their own rights & freedoms they don't realize, or worse care, about the impact their choices are having on our freedoms & rights. We do not live in a vacuum. When in the pursuit of your rights & freedoms they infringe on mine you do not have that right. Well, you turn this to me now & claim my need to have you stay at home, wear a mask, & social distance from your loved ones infringes on your rights. This is because if you practice your rights over mine I can die. Human life & the need to protect it & each other supersede your rights. The Pursuit of Happiness only works if, when in the process of your pursuit, it doesn't cause harm to others. We are doing our duty as human beings, fellow citizens, servants of God to each other & to Him. There is a difference between being patriotic & being a nationalist. I am patriotic.
Signing off in the words of the iconic & heroic late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg (the Notorious RBG)
"I DISSENT"
But this year the rhetoric & vitriol has brought me closer & closer to losing my cool & conversely, increased my stress level because of the frustration I have felt holding myself back & being forced to listen to a President, in whom, I neither respect nor believe. I did not vote for 'him'. I didn't vote for 'her' either. I voted for a 3rd party candidate. And people told me I was throwing away my vote. I didn't believe them. I really prayed hard to determine which candidate should get my vote. And I truly believed, naively, that you were supposed to vote for the candidate who matched your ideals the best. For me, that was Jill Stein from the Green Party. My naivete was not realizing how many people don't actually vote like this. They vote against a candidate rather than for a candidate. My own husband hated 'her' so much he voted for 'him'. It was also in not realizing that a predominantly large portion of US citizens are so blindly loyal to the 2 party system that almost no one ever votes for the other guys. Maybe this is why I refuse to join any party, why I remain independent.
And this is where I start telling you what I do & don't believe. Neither of those parties represents me & I truly believe both parties & their members are corrupt. I believe they have far too much power & are far too self-serving to really focus on the majority of the people of this country & their wants & needs. Polls show the majority of American citizens support the ACA , especially it's protections against pre-existing conditions. Polls also show that the majority supports keeping Roe v Wade, yet both of these topics are up against the Supreme Court this next month, to overthrow the precedents. Both of those precedents I support fully. By the way, the majority of Americans also wanted to wait on filling the late Justice Ginsberg's seat on the Supreme Court by the winner of this year's election. Yet this did not happen. Instead, the Senate who are supposed to represent the people's wants, ignored the predominant number of citizens to fulfill their own agendas.
These are just three of the examples I can name from just this year! Personally, (and this is just my opinion) I don't think any of the judges on the Supreme Court should be affiliated with any party. Every judge sitting on the bench of the Supreme Court should have their case histories gone through line by line to determine how independent they are & how free from the influence of any party or president & by doing so there will be hard evidence of how fair & unbiased their judgment histories have or have not been. That way neither Democrat nor Republican can influence the Supreme Court. But this is not even an option. Too many times both parties have aligned themselves solely to their own side. They do not even try to reach across the aisle & listen to their opponents. Let alone listen to their constituents. The ones who helped put them in office trusting that they would uphold the majority's concerns. In 2015 the popular vote proved, that the majority of citizens did NOT want 'him' as their president. Yet he won the electoral college, thereby winning the presidency. A blatant example of not following the majority's choice. Again, remember, I didn't vote for 'her' but we'll never know if she would have been better than 'him'. As this election draws near I live in fear of our country going even more berserk if (when) he loses. His call to "stand back & stand by", to his many far-right fans in the Boogaloo Boys & the Proud Boys groups, during the first disaster of a presidential debate, was not only seriously disturbing. It's terrifying in the extreme!
This brings me to my next topic...BLM.
I believe that every life has meaning & purpose. I believe every living creature deserves to be treated with grace, dignity, respect, & compassion. And yes I do believe that Black Lives Matter! And no supporting BLM doesn't mean I don't support all lives.
Why do I support BLM instead of the misnomer All Lives Matter? Because the black lives are in danger right now & need our support, & a big bright light shined on them, they need our help to fight against all forms of racism & prejudice. And no I don't think it's just blacks that battle this day in & day out. I know there are a myriad group of people being repressed, judged, treated unequally & unfairly. As a woman, I am faced with the reality of being in a minority group that is still not treated as equally as our male counterparts. I am focusing on black lives because right now they are the one in the most danger. For this, I love the parable of the lost sheep that the Savior teaches in Luke15: 4-6
Here is an excerpt from a really good article, on the Scary Mommy website, covering the topic of Cognitive Dissonance & the role it plays in racism. I cannot recommend the article enough, go check it out via the link & read the whole article.
"Here’s the thing, though: owning up to mistakes means opening yourself up to an even more solid foundation of rightness. Recognizing that your beliefs can be challenged at any time, and being prepared to adjust those beliefs, is simply a different kind of confidence. Humility is its own kind of strength, and growth toward deeper understanding can be a powerful comfort." -written by Kristen Mae
There are 14 books in the Bible that talk about Humility, in both the old & new testaments. My favorite can be found in Phillipians 2: 3-8.
I refuse to sit blindly by & not learn from my mistakes. If I have to humble myself again & again then I consider myself 'in excellent company'. Learning is why I was sent to earth. Knowledge is all I can take with me when I leave & return home to live with the Lord. I would like to know I was able to look Him in the eye & report that while I was far from perfect I tried to keep learning & I tried to keep following His example of Christ-like love & sacrifice to all of His children.
Which means when I read reliable, verified statistics that show the great injustices, inequalities, & dangers facing blacks today, when I hear huge numbers of them cry out in pain, in bereavement, for help, I take note & learn from them, I take them seriously & I help fight to change the norm.
According to Mapping Police Violence:
Police have killed 874 people in the US so far this year (2020) ...
"Black people have been 28% of those killed by police in 2020 despite being only 13% of the population."
In correlation Statista says:
"In 2019 data of all police killings in the country compiled by Mapping Police Violence, black Americans were nearly three times more likely to die from police than white Americans. Other statistics showed that black Americans were nearly one-and-a-half times more likely to be unarmed before their death."
And if you are considering using the familiar & tired question... "what about black on black crime?!?" I have a question for you... What about white on white crime?!?! Because statistics show that for the most part people typically commit crimes against people they know or live near. This means asking the first questions is pointless as white on white crime is pretty even with black on black crime. You are using this question to try & prove that crime rates are higher among the black community than that of the white community but the truth is that poverty links to crime more than race does. The Bureau for Justice statistics shows that people who live below the poverty threshold are twice as likely to commit a violent crime than high-income households no matter what race. I believe the phrase desperate times call for desperate measures applies here. We live in a country where the poverty rate is twice as high among black Americans than white.
The next popular argument I hear from people is; 'this isn't the 1800's' & 'blacks have had the same rights as whites for 150 years' & 'I only care if you're a nice person not the color of your skin'. Well, I say good for you, if you really do care about a person's inside more than their outside, then you shouldn't be afraid to admit not everyone is like you & try to help those who are currently being trivialized so that your actions match your speech. You are correct the end of slavery happened over a century & a half ago but because of the government's lack of involvement in the southern states after the Civil War & Reconstruction eras, there was rampant hate, persecution, torture, & murder against blacks that went on unstopped for another 80 years. Voter intimidation, Jim Crow laws, the KKK, who was supported by President Woodrow Wilson-the original instigator of segregation laws, continued to torment the black man, woman, & child. It's definitely better today but that amount of deeply bred hate doesn't just go away no matter how much we may want it to. It abides in the darkness & strengthens, waiting for the right moment in time to rear its ugly head & lay claim once again to a siege of terror & violence & hate. And it found it in the president who will not only not outright condemn it unless forced to - I suspect by his team of advisors, not his own conscience, but tells it to 'stand back & stand by'. As though they are his own personal militia in case he loses the election. And we all know this presidency doesn't like statistics unless they favor 'him'. He ignores statistics regularly or claims them as "fake news". But the truth is there for the rest of us to discern. Learning to discern fact from fiction requires dedicated research & not just to the websites you agree with or agree with you. For my facts, I go to the centered, reliable, & as unbiased as possible news websites. If you want a great source to find such dependable sites then check out the website All Sides. I also like this graphic from All Sides to help me stick to the middle of the subject...
The current COVID-19 Pandemic
In full disclosure, this one is the one that frustrates & scares me the most of all the topics on here. I have spent the last 19 years raising a boy into a man, a boy who at times was just as determined at every opportunity that was presented to him to do the opposite. If you've read this blog before or know us personally you know the boy/man of which I speak. For those who do not, let me recount.
Our second born son Liam, born in 2001, was diagnosed in 2005 with a rare genetic neurodegenerative disease called Ataxia-Telangiectasia, A-T for short. A-T, we would find out, is one of those wonderful multi-system diseases. If you combine the worst symptoms of MS, CP, Cystic Fibrosis, immune deficiencies & cancer all into one repugnant disease you get A-T. The subsequent diagnoses also came at the age of 12 when he just started to lose the energy & strength to keep going. He was 12 & weighed 45 lbs which led to the diagnosis 'failure to thrive'. He underwent a PEG tube surgery so that he could be given sustenance via a tube placed directly through his stomach wall. Multiple bouts of severe pneumonia & several hospitalizations later came his 3rd & 4th diagnoses; namely 'Primary Immuno-deficiency Disease', & 'Reactive Airway disease'. He is currently on 10 different prescription medications & has 6 different machines that are used daily to help him stay healthy. He sees 9 different specialists. And knows his way around both the Children's hospital in Milwaukee & the regular hospitals & clinics nearby. He's been wearing a face mask, every time he leaves this house since he was 12 years old. I have, at times, almost literally knocked myself out in my endeavor to keep this kid alive & thriving for the last 7 years. And this was just through flu seasons, & regular head colds that turned into pneumonia. Our last hospital stay was 5 years ago this Thanksgiving. That time he was admitted into the ICU & stayed there for 5 days. That time we were far too close to losing him. He had just started his freshman year of high school. 14 years old & he nearly died because of a head cold turned septic.
COVID-19 is an entirely different animal. Every scientist, dr, expert out there has stated time & time again that this is not like the flu. This is so much more deadly than the flu. They have advised us to wear masks, to stay at home as much as is possible, to social distance. I will admit that virtual learning is hard, frustrating & not as good as in-person learning & I hate that my kids are missing out on regular experiences that attending high school affords them, especially my youngest as this was supposed to be his freshman year at school. He's still a freshman but it's not the same as being a freshman at school. I remind myself kids are resilient & this is a good life lesson for them on how to handle stress, trials, & challenges. The real test of who you are as a person is how you respond to those challenges. With that said, each of my kids has said they don't mind the virtual learning for Liam & are happy they can help keep him safe. I don't know if my kids just have a close relationship because that's who they are, because of our parenting, or because as a special needs family w/ a terminal diagnosis our family has bonded extremely close despite all those other things. But I do know, without a doubt, that I have incredibly compassionate, giving, children who don't view this as a sacrifice but a gift they can give to their brother. And it makes me wish that there were a whole lot more of them in the world than currently exist.
So many people I know personally, have flat out told me they think COVID-19 is a hoax. That it's been politicized & we are being fed lies. SCIENCE DOES NOT LIE! It occasionally must correct itself as new evidence presents itself and as the biology of it changes. ***The only ones politicizing COVID are the conservatives ***who refuse to humble themselves & be servants to each other as the Lord has implored us to so many times in the Bible. How can I believe in God & science? Easy I don't believe the 2 are mutually exclusive any more than I believe 'backing the badge' & supporting BLM are mutually exclusive.
On October 8th, 2020 the New England Journal of Medicine, published a scathing review of this country's leadership & its failure. This medical journal/website is recognized as one of the world's leading journals of medicine & one of the oldest as it has been publishing for 200 years. It delivers high-quality, peer-reviewed research content to physicians, educators, researchers, and the global medical community. For the first time ever all of the doctors signed off on this letter to our government leaders & its citizens & commented on the politics currently ruling this nation. The article entitled, Dying in a Leadership Vacuum, castigated our leaders for their complete failure to protect US citizens from the pandemic that should have been contained. I HIGHLY recommend you read the article in its entirety but I am going to post a few excerpts here from said article.
"The magnitude of this failure is astonishing. According to the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering, the United States leads the world in Covid-19 cases and in deaths due to the disease, far exceeding the numbers in much larger countries, such as China. ...But the one we can control is how we behave. And in the United States, we have consistently behaved poorly."
"China, faced with the first outbreak, chose strict quarantine and isolation after an initial delay. These measures were severe but effective, essentially eliminating transmission at the point where the outbreak began and reducing the death rate to a reported 3 per million, as compared with more than 500 per million in the United States."
Remember the asterisks from a couple of paragraphs up? They apply to this particular paragraph from this article...
***"The United States instituted quarantine and isolation measures late and inconsistently, often without any effort to enforce them after the disease had spread substantially in many communities. Our rules on social distancing have in many places been lackadaisical at best, with the loosening of restrictions long before adequate disease control had been achieved. And in much of the country, people simply don’t wear masks, largely because our leaders have stated outright that masks are political tools rather than effective infection control measures. The government has appropriately invested heavily in vaccine development, but its rhetoric has politicized the development process and led to growing public distrust."
And finally...
"But truth is neither liberal nor conservative. When it comes to the response to the largest public health crisis of our time, our current political leaders have demonstrated that they are dangerously incompetent. We should not abet them and enable the deaths of thousands more Americans by allowing them to keep their jobs."
Too many of you are delving deeply into conspiracy theories. Believing in QAnon rhetoric, repeating outright lies &/or refusing to see the truth before you. Too many of you are too stubborn to even consider wearing masks, practice social distancing, &/or staying home. We've been home together for the last almost 8 months because we want to be a part of the solution, not the problem. Because we want to err on the side of caution & give the gift of health & safety to our families, friends, neighbors, & fellow-citizens at large. It is our patriotic duty to help protect this nation in its darkest hour since 911 & it's our privilege to serve as the Lord served, selflessly & happily. For 8 months we've been together, day in & day out. It's exhausting! All because we have leadership & citizens who are so busy screaming about their own rights & freedoms they don't realize, or worse care, about the impact their choices are having on our freedoms & rights. We do not live in a vacuum. When in the pursuit of your rights & freedoms they infringe on mine you do not have that right. Well, you turn this to me now & claim my need to have you stay at home, wear a mask, & social distance from your loved ones infringes on your rights. This is because if you practice your rights over mine I can die. Human life & the need to protect it & each other supersede your rights. The Pursuit of Happiness only works if, when in the process of your pursuit, it doesn't cause harm to others. We are doing our duty as human beings, fellow citizens, servants of God to each other & to Him. There is a difference between being patriotic & being a nationalist. I am patriotic.
George Orwell said it best in his Notes on Nationalism...
"By 'patriotism' I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force upon other people. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally. Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power. The abiding purpose of every nationalist is to secure more power and more prestige, not for himself but for the nation or other unit in which he has chosen to sink his own individuality."
"By 'patriotism' I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force upon other people. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally. Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power. The abiding purpose of every nationalist is to secure more power and more prestige, not for himself but for the nation or other unit in which he has chosen to sink his own individuality."
Too many of you are focusing on the fact that it's only a small percentage of the population that is dying. What about the ones they've left behind who are grieving? When did it become acceptable to let human beings die when you could take simple steps to help protect them? And why is it okay as long as it's a small percentage & not a large percentage? Even one death, that is preventable, is one death too many. But to date, we have lost 230,000+ lives. 230,000+ lives gone, when it was preventable!!! These are our fellow human beings. They deserve to live as long as they possibly can. They each deserve our help to help them achieve that goal. If there is a way to stop people from dying needlessly then we fight to make that happen! You claim other diseases (ie cancer) kill even more people than COVID-19. Car accidents, heart attacks are more deadly. You ask why aren't we looking into those statistics? Or doing something about those deaths. You forget the government has tried to implement safety precautions for those things too. Seatbelt safety, safer vehicles, airbags, early cancer screenings, funding for research, the FDA, still has a long way to go, but they are working to get us to eat healthier see our dr regularly & exercise. Things are being done to combat those issues too. Scientific American has officially just posted that COVID-19 is now the 3rd leading cause of death in the United States. It's just like the 99 and the one all over again. We're focusing on the one that poses the most danger to humanity.
We haven't even touched on the fact that a great many are either ignoring or pretending it doesn't matter as much as the death count...but what about the aftereffects of COVID-19? It damages the lungs, the heart, the brain, & the muscles. It turns otherwise healthy people into shadows of their former selves. This is a long-term debilitating disease that is constantly mutating & finding new horrible ways to inflict pain & death upon this world. This disease doesn't discriminate against color, age, political, or religious beliefs. You claim masks don't work it's all a hoax or a conspiracy. You ask "if masks work why aren't we allowed to visit our dying loved ones in the hospital, because it's a lie, masks don't work!" So I will be the voice of reason & explain this to you logically. When in a hospital setting it isn't just your family member there that is positive for COVID-19 but a great many & one mask in the midst of all those droplets & aerosolized germs is insufficient. That is why you see the first line workers wearing Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) from head to toe! Different types of masks serve different purposes. The average person, who is not working in a medical environment with COVID-19 patients, should wear a cloth mask to conserve PPE for medical workers. Cloth masks are there to keep you from unknowingly spreading the disease to others, but some studies indicate that they may help protect you from large droplets and serve as an indirect reminder to avoid touching your face. Oh don't forget you aren't just saving lives you are supporting those many Drs, nurses, and various other hospital staff who are on the front lines caring for those dying family & friends we love so much. If we don't do our part then they will all be so overwhelmed there won't be enough of them to care for all of us anymore. You are part of a society, much like an ecosystem, we all support each other to ensure our survival.
How does all this tie into my reasons? I'll take you back to that boy/man I have worked long & hard to keep alive. Liam has all the worst complications to even minutely risk his exposure. And he is not alone there are many, many, many people young & old out there who deserve to live as long & full of lives as they can. Liam's lifespan is already ridiculously short thanks to A-T. He'll be incredibly lucky if he lives to see 25. The older he gets the closer to his end he gets. This means each birthday for him I celebrate during the day & then sob it out in my nightly shower. No parent should outlive their children. On the other hand, my husband & I are both in our mid to late 40s. We are both at a heightened risk for this disease & it's debilitating aftereffects as well, not to mention death. We still have 2 in high school & Liam to care for, do they not have the right to be raised by 2 healthy parents? You say, rather cavalierly, "We are all going to die sometime. It's up to God. Love your loved ones & don't be afraid." So what? I'm supposed to just give up & lay down & allow my life or that of my family & friends' lives to be taken when I could have done something about it?!?! I'm supposed to leave my children without their parents?!? It reminds me of that horrible flood joke. You know the one, where the guy on the roof in the middle of the flood prays & prays for God to rescue him. And even though he was offered saving 3 different times he waved them on & told them God would take care of him. When he inevitably died he goes to heaven & he asks God why He didn't answer his prayers & God said, I sent 2 boats & a helicopter what more did you want?!? It is up to God, ultimately, who dies & when. And I have accepted the inevitability of A-T taking my son early but I'll be damned if I'm going to sit back & allow COVID-19 to swoop in & shorten my already short time with him.
The wrap-up & dissemination of actual facts vs. fiction:
I believe in civil discourse & I believe in respecting other people's beliefs even if they differ from mine, but I am not going to sit back & swallow your narrative. You've gone down the QAnon hole too deeply for me to follow you based on the other things you all say & post on social media. I am sorry/not sorry but you are dead wrong if you think it's okay to ignore the many to please the few. I think you are wrong in not listening to the scientists who are trying to help you & all of us. I think you are wrong in the way you interpret the process of fighting diseases. If you can fight, fight. If you can help, help. If you are unwilling to do either of those things then get out of the way of those who want to fight & help. But if all you want to do is complain & deny & ignore the problem & denigrate the ones standing up & trying to make a difference in the world, even worse if you continue to spread false information about the disease you are a part of the problem, not the solution & that makes you the bad guy. But you believe what you want, I truly hope you fare better than the 230,000+ lives that have already succumbed or their loved ones left behind. I wish neither harm nor grief to anyone, truly. I pray for the return of common sense, kindness, patience, serving our fellow man, loving others more than we love ourselves. I pray humbly & sincerely that rationality, logic, & sanity return to this country. It is time for us to say no to hate, division, judgment, and narcissism. For my fellow Mormons...I urge you to look up the definition of "secret combinations" in the BYU Library Digital Collections before you fall victim to online conspiracy theorist groups like QAnon. I also urge you to remember the Church supports science and education.
I have already cast my vote, by mail; weeks ago. And once again I didn't vote for 'him'. This time I didn't 'throw my vote away' either. I voted for Joe Biden & Kamala Harris. If you are asking why I dislike 'him' so much? The answer for me is simple...I think 'he' is a moronic, lying, hypocritical, narcissistic, bigot. I didn't like 'him' before he ran for president, I never watched his show on TV. And when he announced his plan to run I was outraged & disgusted & I told everyone who would listen that I was terrified of his running. They all laughed & said he'd never win & then he was picked to be the Republican candidate & still they didn't take him or me seriously. I honestly don't understand how anyone would elect someone who was recorded bragging that he grabbed women by their genitals. Or vote for a man who would mock a disabled reporter on video. As the mother of a special needs child, I found this behavior as revolting as his behavior in the former example. Or a man who repeatedly cheated on every single one of his wives. Or one who has said some really racist things since he started his first run all the way through his presidency. I know he has twice said he doesn't support white supremacy but only after he was put on the spot by reporters, a plethora of front pages of newspapers, & I suspect, only after his advisors begged him to say otherwise in a press conference. His words & actions constantly negate those rare moments when he claims otherwise. See Matthew 7: 15-20 Why would you elect a president who admires dictators & trusts them over his own law enforcement agencies & surveillance agencies? The position of President of the United States of America as the #1 diplomat for this country is an important & crucial role. What has he done in that role? He has alienated allies we have had since the end of WWII & withdrawn us from several joint treaties, alliances, & programs, almost all of which we were the founders of along with our allies. This is not someone who unites. This is someone who bullies, manipulates & obfuscates the truth as often as we yell, "NO!" to the new puppy we're potty training! His claim to have improved the economy is very misleading, according to my balanced non-partisan resources. So don't tell me all about how he's going to rebuild this country back up post-pandemic, or that he was solely responsible for the increase we experienced pre-pandemic. Besides this country is about more than it's economy. What good is an economy if getting it kills people? I don't understand the hold he has on the huge amount of people in this country. It literally boggles my mind. But the more you point out facts to these followers of his the more they dig in. And this is where the 'Backfire Effect' & 'Identity Protection Cognition' comes into play & you might as well be talking to a wall. Just ask the writers/researchers of Adam Ruins Everything & Professor Stephen Lewandowsky co-author of "The Debunking Handbook".
Do I absolutely believe in Joe Biden & Kamala Harris? I believe they are the lesser of the 2 evils. I think Biden has a better chance of uniting our country. I think Biden is more honest than 'he' is and yes, I admit, that isn't all that hard an accomplishment as 'he' has proven himself to be a consummate liar in everything he says every day of the 4 years he has been president already. I believe Biden will be a better representative, to our allies, of this country than 'he' could ever hope to be. As for baseless claims against the Biden family & other high profile democrats like the Clinton family & the Obama family regarding sex trafficking, I am seriously rolling my eyes here, please check your facts before spewing conspiracy theories. I like factcheck.org, a center-based, non-profit website that checks the facts plain & simple. In fact, I went there to fact check the presidential debates. Feel free to check them out for yourself... (Debate 1 & Debate 2 & the V.P. Debate) See, I just can't stop trying to get people to see the truth & discern fact from fiction. It's as plain as the nose on your face if you just look for the obvious signs. Biden & Harris are not socialists! Neither is AOC but this isn't about her. It's about the republican narrative that the democrats want to turn this country into a socialist country & then compare it to Venezuela, Cuba, o&/or what the Soviet Union (currently Russia) once was. The truth is they want to follow the model of the Scandinavian countries like the UK, Sweden, Norway, & Finland. None of those are socialist countries! Biden & Harris will not steal jobs from oil workers either, you can find that debunk on my favorite fact-checking website as well. You know what, this post has gone on long enough... fact-check for yourself rather than believing everything you read on FB, IG, or Twitter. Or political ads (from both parties) on TV or the internet or internet trolls, or conspiracy theory groups. Do your own research from reputable sites before you spread lies & malignant articles. That's all I ask. The church teaches that education & the acquisition of knowledge are incredibly important....so educate yourself with real knowledge.
Look, these are my personal opinions, based on research, facts, & prayer. I would love to have opened the eyes of anyone who reads this post but it is not the main reason I have written it all out. I am simply expressing my own personal opinions. Please feel free to NOT reach out to me if you disagree. I've done my research, something I hope you can tell from all the reputable links included in this post to just a few of my research sources. I'm also not looking for praise from those who happen to agree with me. This is a journal post & any feedback positive or negative is not necessary. This is my blog. If you don't like it, don't read it. It's that simple. To that end, there are no options for comments on this post. I think that's true of most of my posts. As this is for me & me alone. If you made it this far you might be a glutton for punishment as I can go on & on now the floodgates have been lifted. 😁
Signing off in the words of the iconic & heroic late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg (the Notorious RBG)
"I DISSENT"