The Silent and Brave revision: Page #90

If you are paying attention, you will notice that I added 15 pages to my count since last time I posted. This is not the result of me working steadily, unfortunately; other things have interfered as they do and I really did a ton of work over the last two days, finishing two chapters. Also, they were easier chapters because they were complicated and I spent a lot of time on them during my first draft stage. So while I am pleased with my work rate, I am unhappy with my submissions of query letters and my blogging. I’m still excited to continue, and so I press on!

Today I am thinking about elections. Our election, for our next president. I am in a quandary. My quandary is made up of two parts. The first part is caused by my own ignorance, and the ignorance of those around me. This will be a large topic of conversation over the next 9 months, and I am a bartender, and I live in an extremely red demographic, where people like to talk about politics, especially in ways that are detrimental to the opposition. If I am not careful, I will get caught up in these conversations, and that can cause problems.

The second part of my quandary is that I don’t have any answers for myself. I don’t like a single candidate that’s out there.

I do need to man up and choose one. I have voted since Bill Clinton was elected the first time, and I have never voted for a candidate that did not win. (Yes, that does mean that I voted for some turds. But they won.) So the easiest thing for me to do is figure out which way the wind is blowing, and go along with it. However, as I get older, like most people, I find that I really care more than that about the fool who is going to try to lead this country.

Right now I see four candidates with a chance to win. It is getting late for another to come out, so let’s work with those four for now. They are:

Hillary Clinton.

Donald Trump.

Bernie Sanders.

Ted Cruz.

Yikes. Here is why I hate them all, with the exception of Bernie Sanders, who I dislike because he is smarter than me and bound and determined to tell me all about it. I feel like the hippie in me should root for Bernie, but when I look at him, all I see is an old man bitching about the way the world is and telling us how it would be so much better if we just listened up and did it his way. Nothing is more ineffective than that. However, I promise to learn more about Bernie before I castigate him any further.

So let’s start with Ted Cruz, who I really hate, especially because he shares my name. Ted is a religious righter. He cares about the plight of the good Christian in this country. What he doesn’t care about is laïcité. In this country, we do not have a strict policy of laïcité, or separation of church and state. What we have is a policy of freedom of religion, which is guaranteed by the first amendment of the constitution. But what Ted Cruz and the other religious righters would like to do is make you free to follow THEIR religion, which depends on a strict interpretation of scripture. You know, the bible. Including the parts where it says to kill the witches and the homosexuals.

Why is laïcité important? Because the church is a powerful force, and needs to be subject to checks and balances, just like any other powerful force. The system of checks and balances is the best part of our country, and the one that all politicians would like to get rid of, so they can control the people. And if you don’t believe that absolute power breeds absolute corruption, just go look at that little problem with clergy and boys in the Catholic church.

Next let’s move on to Donald Trump. I have talked about my dislike of The Donald before. He doesn’t care what I say; he is too busy preparing plans for his wall between us and our friendly neighbors to the south. The last time this happened, I believe the city was Berlin, and the country was East and West Germany. Can we really believe that this is a good idea? Demonstrating our hatred and fear to the world in a way not seen since the end of the cold war?

I do not believe in a policy of exclusion. It will not work, because life is determined, and finds a way. If you build a wall, you are just forcing people to find ways to go around it. How about we find a way to not build a wall? I don’t believe in policies of hatred, not for any human being.

Finally, let’s talk about Hillary. Is she interested in power? Yes. She already has it, and she wants more. I think she strikes me as the most likely to try to strike down term limits and turn this country into a monarchy. If she could get away with it. But she can’t, and here’s the rub–I sympathize with her side more than the other.

I think that she will do better things for the common people (and I am one of the common people) than any of the other candidates. I think that she believes in doing those things. I love that. We have to learn to move forward together. (I do not like her current ads, where she is attracting young people by promising to pay back their student loans. But anything that gets them out to vote, I guess.) When I think about Hillary, I have to remind myself that the president doesn’t really have that much power, because of those checks and balances, and I shouldn’t be scared of her.

So my whole problem with Hillary basically comes down to the gun thing, which you may say is silly. I’m going to tell you why it’s not silly, why it’s the most important thing (to me.)

Hillary is for an assault weapons ban. Actually, her husband Bill was the first one to drive it through, and we had it, and then it expired. That’s all fine and dandy. You can argue about whether we need extended magazines and armor piercing 5.56 military rounds all you want. Both sides have good points.

Here is my point: I already own them. I have all that stuff. I bought it with my own money that I earned by working really hard. Furthermore, I am a law abiding citizen who pays my bills and my taxes and I can legally possess those items. I am proud of that.

Why would I vote for someone who wants to make something I enjoy and worked for and keep in my own house illegal? Such a person would be forcing me to break the law, or get rid of my own legally purchased possessions to fit their agenda.

I can’t vote for such a person.

So here I am. Stuck in a quandary, looking for a leader.