Time to Make History

You are living through the History of tomorrow!

 A thought like that will get a “duh” from some and a “wow” from others and a blank stare from the rest of the audience. You can decide on the proportions.

 Students at all levels and grades of education will learn that 2020 was the year of COVID-19. Or, perhaps that it was the first year of COVID, since it probably won’t be over for most of us until sometime in 2021. At least we hope it will.

 They will also learn of the pivotal elections of 2016 and 2020. I am hoping that these elections will mark the years when Donald Trump was voted into office and when he was booted out, respectively.

 As of today, that 2020 outcome has not been decided yet. It will be decided by the people of our country.

 This includes you.

 With your vote, you will be part of history which will not only be studied for decades to come, but will have an impact on determining the quality of life for the vast majority of Americans for those same decades to come. This is it. This is not a drill. This is for real.

 If you have already voted, thank you. If you voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, thank you very much. If you voted for all the Democrats downballot, then a third, hearty thank you. If you are going to do that, then thank you in advance.

 Downballot races are also very important. Biden cannot do the positive things we need him to do if we don’t give him a House and Senate that will pass needed legislation. 

 But, the ballot goes much deeper into the grass than just House and Senate. Your state’s governor and legislature helps to draw the map that apportions the Congressional districts. At this time, much of the country is so Gerrymandered, that we endure a situation where candidates pick their voters. It is supposed to be the other way around!

 I find it interesting that, in this election, the standard procedure for Democrats is to get everyone out to vote, let all voices be heard, let all ballots be counted. This is what I am trying to do now, with this post. 

 The scheme of the Republican party seems to be reduce and restrict the vote. Here are some examples of how they have tried to do so:

 ✔ Reduce the number of polling places and dates of early voting.

 ✔ Reduce the number of ballot drop-off sites to one per county – as they did in Texas.

 ✔ Hobble the Post Office so that it cannot perform its mission of delivering ballots to be counted. If this happens to slow down other mail – greeting cards, medical prescriptions, business correspondence that can’t take place on the Internet, not to mention that blanket you ordered from the Etsy shop someone started after they lost their job to the pandemic – then, well, that is just too bad.

 ✔ Organizing armed groups of “poll-watchers” to intimidate voters as they come to the polls to exercise their constitutional right and duty to vote.

 ✔ A bunch of pickup trucks and other vehicles, flying Trump flags, clustered around  a Biden-Harris campaign bus on a Texas highway. At least one truck moved in front of the bus, forcing the bus to slow down. Harris and Biden were not on board the bus, but I wonder how many of the drivers thought they were, and thought they were intimidating the candidates.

 ✔ Two years ago, Floridians overwhelmingly passed Amendment 4, which grants voting rights to those who have been convicted of nonviolent felonies and who have served their sentences. Or, it would have done so, except that Republican-appointed judges have not allowed for the act to take affect for most of these disenfranchised citizens. They have decided that these sentences include the payment of fines and costs before the felons are allowed to vote. This is tantamount to enacting a poll tax – which should be considered illegal – and, to make matters worse, they make finding out how much is owed and to whom very difficult or impossible for most of these unfortunate would-be voters.

 There are so many other examples I could give you, but I don’t think that is necessary, but you get the picture.

 Donald Trump has done everything he can to turn the United States into his dictatorship, and I don’t expect that to stop if he happens to finable another four years.

 So, the moral of the story is: vote! If you have voted, then encourage others to do so.

 This country needs Joe Biden as president and the White House needs a good cleaning before Joe Biden moves in.