This has been an incredible year for the Primary Election. The outcome is something that no one would have ever thought was possible, and we wonder how and why we got here.
It's not rocket science the signs were on the walls for years now. It started during the Bush years....actually his last term as POTUS (President of the United States), just in case some were wondering what they meant when referring to the current President as POTUS.
So if we look carefully at the Bush years we have 2 wars that were not financed, a shrinking job market, a Bank bailout and an economy that was rapidly spiraling downward. Couple that with decades of lowered education expectation, an infrastructure crumbling literally beneath our feet, outsourcing of American Jobs and a growing contempt for our country it becomes a little clearer.
While we can unite after 9/11 the separation this country felt after electing it's first black president was shocking. I remember the thing that were said at my work place at the time when he was elected, some of my dearest friends mentioned murder, kill and other words of contempt it chilled me to my core and this was before he spent his first day in Office. People I thought I knew and that I trusted turned. Well they didn't actually turn it was just a new presidency set for who could occupy the White House. The country was split, fractured beyond belief with no hope and beyond repair.
As we slowly began to repair things, putting people back to work, making sure we had viable industry on American soil, increasing regulations and ensuring that Taxpayer dollars given to companies in a Free Market System were paid back we became even more divided.
How could so much good for the country be so bad?
Simple we have gotten to a point to where Corporate Interest ran the country and anything that was not good for them was bad for the country. Why do we need more regulations? Certainly not to make Oil companies responsible, to make working conditions safe, to make sure that Communism only applies when companies become "Too Big to Fail" or to provide the very necessary things that we pay taxes for like drinkable water. No we do not need regulations for that, because it is not in the best interest of Corporate America.
But this is not about the Obama Presidency, it's about the lesson that we should have learned for his time in office. First and most important is that the POTUS, Leader of the Free World or whatever title you want to endow on the position is basically pawn in a bigger game. Of course this is by design, the POTUS can never become a dictator and is held accountable for his actions. Our Government is designed so that no matter what the President wants to do he is accountable to Congress. The idea is to make sure that the people have a voice in how this country is run. Democracy at it's best.
When elected officials no longer listen to the people they represent, you no longer have democracy, what you have is a bunch of elected Czar's acting on their own behalf and passing it off as the will of the people. With unemployment at historical highs, American jobs being shifted to other countries, the decline of the middle class and a non-living minimum wage who can say the most important thing is something other than jobs.
While we are made to believe that Government is too big, we need less regulations, we need to be more involved in foreign activities, women are less then second class citizens, people do not have basic human rights and that somehow one's religious views should dictate how we live our lives as a collective we have forgotten a few things.
First and foremost, the Constitution, the document that all elected officials swore to uphold, but often cite guarantees separation of church and state. That's the most important point anyone can make now days. Basically no matter what you believe due to your religious morals and values have no place in Government.
Secondly, the Constitution states that all people in America, not just citizens are protected under the rights it provides.
Thirdly, the Constitution is designed to work for betterment of the people as a collective.
And finally, any elected official can be removed buy Articles of Impeachment. That is also an important one that is never put in practice unless on a Federal Level and then only with one position in mind.
Our Constitution is a great document and it ensure prosecution from Religious, Racial, Gender and Social differences.
So how did we get here?
Currently, we are at a place where everything seems to be upside down. at the beginning of the Primary the most likely person to win in my mind would have been Jeb Bush and the least likely person would be Donald Trump, but that's not the case.
Trump is all but assured to win the Republican nomination for President and many are asking how did this happen. Even I thought he would never really run and was just doing it as some kind of stunt, but boy was I wrong. When I look back at things I can clearly see how he got here and it makes perfect sense.
After the Bush years, the republicans ran a sensible candidate John McCain. A war hero, a man with a solid background that was respected and someone that had a real a chance...until he pick a running mate. How could he think that someone as idiotic as Palin could help his ticket.
The next election introduced the Clown Car to Politics. They went from an electable candidate with running mate issues to a field of non-electable candidates. We are not talking a bout bad candidates we are talking boarding insanity on all sides. Boom, Obama's second term.
This year we have the Clown Car 2.0, with the most unlikely winner. You want to know why Trump won? The republicans are tired of their Personal Czar's and want real representation. They describe insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result and Trump was something different.
So we have a divided country and someone to speak about the division. Someone to appeal to everything that is perceived to be lost. A political party telling you 30 years ago was great and that rhetoric only speaks to one group of people, as for the rest like I said he is something different. So Republicans are here today.
The Democrats have a legacy to follow behind and not an easy challenge to compete with. So the choice there is to follow what the vision of his Presidency should have been or being a compromise candidate.
So let's take a look at what a Social Democrat means. It basically means that while the democratic process should be upheld under our Free Market system there are certain things that should not be run for profit such as education and healthcare. These items appeal to the younger generation since they are not coming from established wealth and realize that the current model works against them.
While Bernie is saying all the right things and has the right vision for the country it comes down to one simple fact. Who can do what.
What the Obama Legacy should have taught us is that the President can't much without the consent of Congress and if Congress refuses to work with the POTUS it's a never ending battle.
When considering a candidate forget what is promised, but think about what can be delivered. For example Bernie is for a single payer health system, while he may accomplish dismantling the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), he will never see his vision because Congress will never allow it.
On the bright side he will be able to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Which some may think is a great thing until the Healthcare Industry start handing out crappy policies that cover little to nothing and raising your rates because they can now make you accountable for the uninsured at their price. Or when your prescription drugs cost more than you make a month.
So on the Democratic side you have a choice of someone that can get some things done and someone who's ideology will be complete ignored by Congress.
So what should have been a simple election between Hillary and Jeb - Since he prefers not to be know as Bush, turned out to be a travesty. And Why you say.
Simple the only one to blame are the voters. We no longer vote in our interest or in the reality of what can be accomplished, we vote for issue which should never be on the political agenda. the SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) have already said a woman has the right to do with her body as she pleases and it's the law of the land. So why are we yielding to Christian Dogma about every sperm being secrete? The Constitution guarantees civil rights for all so why are we have a biblical discussion of what constitutes a couple or marriage? We give billions away in corporate welfare each year, but debate giving someone a living wage.
As an agnostic I do not believe these are issues of importance. I think the only important issue to me is how I can better the quality of my life.
As a Republican I think government remain separate. The Federal Government should handle nationwide issues and so on.
I often hear it's not the governments responsibility to create jobs, yes and no. It is not the Governments responsibility to create sustainable jobs, but they do have the duty to create Works Programs to stimulate the economy. Rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, bridges, roads and other public works programs that employ people for a few years. Invest in our infrastructure with programs like high speed rail and more energy efficient systems that not only create jobs during the construction phase, but creates long term jobs. Every state has infrastructures issues which they have on the hill waiting to be passed....or at least we hope so. Pass them and put America back to work.
This election is not about the issues, it's about who will do the least damage. We have come to expect that, because we have been horrible at voting in the past and what we really need is a complete overhaul of our current Government Federal and State, some may say County and City as well. The amazing thing is we have a process in place and no matter how unfair one thinks the process is, the process is the same for all candidates of a party. Just because Trump didn't pay attention to the rules doesn't mean they were unfair, but that's a moot point now.
