Today is the Day, or One Last Shot

Can you believe it? Election Day is here!

 We have waited so long for this day. We know what it is like to anticipate a holiday or a birthday, but this is different. We have been looking forward to this chance to take our country back from the big orange sociopath-in-chief for four long years. And, yes, I know that we probably won’t have definitive results by the end of the day, and I know that some dark elements of the Republican Party have plans in place to keep Trump in office, no matter what the vote, but the more people who vote for Joe and Kamala and the senate Democrats (not to mention all of those very important downballot races) the harder it will be for any dirty tricks to keep democracy from happening.

 So, this is for the people who

    (a)   Have not yet voted and aren’t sure they should vote today, 

(b)   Are leaning towards voting for Donald Trump, or 

(c)    Are undecided – if there are any of you left out there.

Voting is expressing an opinion and some people seem to think that this is a tomato / tom-ah-to thing. You see it your way and I see it mine.

With some issues – even political issues – that approach might make sense. But in the case of this election – today’s election – the stakes are just too high.

Trump is an incompetent conman who was elevated way above his meager level of talent and ability.

Trump seems to score some points on the right for his confidence and patriotism, and his willingness to fight.

But Trumps arrogance goes beyond confidence to the level where it endangers the safety and health of the country. Trump's nationalism is not patriotic, it is xenophobic. He has hurt our relationship with other countries we used to have as allies. I hope they will be our allies again, after he is gone. A dictator, who breaks rules and goes back on his word to increase his power is now a leader, he is a cheat and a coward.

He is not a fighter, he is a bully. He mocks the disabled and promotes violence on those who disagree with him. He is a coward who mocks the military. Trump is childish, because he throws tantrums when he does not get his own way. He has the vocabulary of a fourth-grader, and a dull fourth-grader at that.

He has told more lies and spread more disinformation than any other US president, ever. Those people with much more patience than I, whose who count those things, say the count is up to 25,000 more than lies and misstatements. Even if it were half that number, it would be a very impressive, but not in a good way.

So, maybe you dislike Trump. He know he is bad for the country, but you aren’t sure about Joe Biden. Maybe you (like a lot of us) started out supporting another Democrat for nomination, but saw Biden take the lead with emotions somewhere on a spectrum from dread to acceptance, or maybe even indifference.

But, please consider these positive attributes of the Biden/Harris team:

(1) Biden actually has plans to provide healthcare to everyone who does not have            traditional insurance. Obamacare is imperfect,  we all know that. Please keep in mind that most of those imperfections were the result of having to compromise with Republican lawmakers when the plan were being written.

(2) Biden will do away with the Trump tax cuts for those making more than $400,000 per year. It is not true that it will raise taxes on everyone.

(3) Biden actually believes in science and logic. He understands that much of climate change is due to human activity. He has not endorsed the more radical tenets of the Green New Deal (I actually think he should go farther, but you gotta take what you can get), but he does understand that we need to produce more energy from renewable sources. Rather than going on some stupid rampage to save dangerous and obsolete coal jobs, Trump is working on plans to lessen atmospheric carbon-dioxide and methane, and to create good jobs in the process. 

(4) Biden wants to be the president of all Americans, not just those who go to his superspreader rallies and chant stupid things like "Lock her up!" and “Fire Fauci!”  

(5)   Biden realizes that the US is part of the world economy. He understands that he will be president of the US, but he also knows that the US needs to be a world leader and not shut itself up in some isolationist's silo. 

(6)   Biden has served in public office before. Every single president this country has ever had, from Washing thru Obama, has either served in the Military or has served in elected public office, or both. Trump is the first never to have done either, which is just one of the reasons he is so absolutely unqualified to be President. So, there are lots of reasons to vote for Biden besides the fact that he is not Donald Trump, but I tend to think that most people are good, and I think you could just draw a random adult out of the US population and you could make would have a very good chance of choosing a better president than the one we have now.

That's right, Trump is a worse president than an average American just picked off the sidewalk on a Tuesday afternoon. Most Americans do not have the legacy of greed and selfishness that the Trump family has exhibited for the past several decades. 

Some praise Trump for being unpolished. I would not mind seeing an unpolished politician. Both Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson were less than stately and  dignified in certain situations, and I am sure you can name many more presidents of which this is true. But Trump’s lack of decorum goes to an extreme we have not seen in modern times. His manner, which his supporters have labeled a “breath of fresh air” is in actuality am ill-wind of worse things to come if he is should be re-elected.

We have seen crooks and con men before, but we haven't elected one quite as openly crooked as Trump

The Office of the President deserves respect, but Trump does not. The best way to restore respect to the presidency is to get Donald Trump out of it and make sure that we never, ever, ever, even elect someone who even comes close to being as selfish or unqualified or incompetent or criminal as Donald Trump again.

So, if you are registered to vote and you have not, please do so today. Do it early, do it safely, and vote for Joe Biden to other Dems to start the healing process that we so badly need.