Voting for Trump - You Don't Get It Do you?

A friend of mine posted this meme on facebook:

A back and forth response started with one friend telling the person who posted this: "Lmao.You just don't get it"

He wouldn't say what he meant, but he was obviously a Trump supporter.

I post things from time to time about this and other elections. This year I have tried to usually post articles with facts about one side or the other. That is something that has been sorely missing in this election - but also blatantly ignored. I could say it's a mystery, but it's not really such a mystery to me.

People are caught up by their emotions. Their emotions are being fanned by an entertainer who has been taught by professionals how to act on camera. That's not all Trump on his TV shows. He's an actor being directed how to look, act, respond and get reactions on camera as every TV actor told is by their Director.

He is also stirring up what many folks have kept silently hidden from the public and themselves. I bit of bigotry, small or big, but there non the less.

I know what it was like to live in the 50"s. I know how many of our elders spoke and thought about people not like themselves. It was as blatant in my family as my mother not trusting an Italian who was not from Naples!!! That's like not trusting a person because they are from Montana and not the state they are from! It didn't have to make sense, it was how they were brought up. And guess what, many of us were exposed to that!

Now some of that history and memories are coming out. It's fueled by the fire of speeches filled with promises but not filled with plans on how to accomplish those promises. It's like saying "I'm going to cure cancer if you elect me!" He has no frigging idea how to do that but if he says it, on TV, it must be right. Our elders thought if you read it in the newspapers, it must be right. Some people read it on the internet and think the same thing.

Take the emotion out of the elections to date and look at the facts in front of you. That's what I did when I read the response, "You don't get it." Guess I got emotional and here was my response:

"No YOU don't get it. We don't have to make America Great Again. It's already pretty darn awesome. 
He wants to take us back 70 years where white men ruled, women were subservient, blacks were called the "N" word and ethnic jokes were just SO funny. 
Those are FACTS posted here, not lies made up to make his supporters feel good. 
I'm retired and have spent a lot of time watching all channels, reading articles and fact checking. Hillary may not be my 1st choice, but she is the most qualified candidate to continue to put us on a track of recovery.
Obama isn't to blame for all of the whining out there. He took over a stupendous mess that Bush got us into after taking over a country in great shape" Obama did his best "to continue to move forward. 
Is everything perfect like Obamacare, no, but it can be fixed. Remember both Dems and Reps spent a lot of time mucking it up. 
So if you want manufacturing jobs to come back to the USA and not keep them overseas where Trump makes all of his clothes, if you want to continue with the atmosphere of bigotry and hate that Trump has continued to poke like poking a bear with a stick, then God help us for your ignorance, bigotry and hatred of what is good and right".

Was I over the top with my response?  I don't think so. Was I a little overemotional? Probably. But then, why not? It seems that emotions may be what makes people vote during this election, not facts.

I just hope someone reads this or something else containing facts and finally "Gets it" and makes the right choice when they cast their vote.


Submitted by Linda Vola

Dallas Shootings - Outliers

I am so proud of how my husband, addressed the tragic event that we are all still struggling with today.

As the daughter of a police officer, the events stir memories of my Dad rushing in to help during the riots in July of 1970 and my fear for his life. I was there, bused into Asbury park by Nj Bell. I was a college student working as a telephone Operator for the summer. Somehow I didn't fear for my own life. But I knew my Dad was in the thick of things and anything could happen to him. 

He was lucky, he survived.

I mourn for the fallen and pray for their families and our country that we can get over the bigotry that has bubbled to the top and is boiling over, lit by loud angry shouts from podiums hidden by smirks and claims of support for those different from themselves.

"Outliers - We, all of us, have a tendency to label groups based on the attention grabbing outliers instead of the mainstream masses. In Dallas, the now deceased shooter said last night that he wanted to kill white police officers. This came on the heels of the deaths of two black men shot by white police officers. The Dallas snipers drew a straight line from those deaths to all white police officers. That logic is just as flawed as attributing the atrocities of any group of miscreants to an entire race, religion, nationality or ethnicity.

We, nor the outliers, can kill enough people to create peace. We can crush resistance for a short time but it will return bigger and bolder. The only answer is to stop treating the masses as the outliers. Treat everyone as an individual, not blind to obvious signs of danger nor prejudiced by outlier actions. This solution is less dramatic, creates less news content and may take years to achieve, but is the only way to a lasting peace.

This solution starts with you, the individual. You don’t need Congress to act nor for direction from your clergy. Just look at each person you see or meet as if they are part of the peaceful masses that share your hope for a better day tomorrow.

Please share this post with whatever comment you believe is appropriate."

Submitted by 

Linda Vola
Creative Muse  & 

Charlie Sharp Head Wrangler

Forever Young Farm

DWB - Driving While Black

Here's a facebook post from a good friend of mine, David Walker.

David is a professional photographer, writer, artist, husband, father, brother, son, grandson and friend. His skin happens to be darker than mine. I am afraid for him and for so many others like him.

     

Daddy David

Grandson David

People feel safer to express their hate and bigotry by their support of a small minded candidate who has stirred up these hidden feelings by his innuendos and outright and nastiness. He has created a safe zone for the smirks and hate expressed by those attracted to his entertainment quality.

Think about your own black friends. How would you you feel if any of them were pulled over for the offense of DWB (Driving While Black)?

"I could sum up my feelings with two words: fear and helplessness. I am fearful that my life could be taken based on a misunderstanding by those that are sworn to protect me. I only have one life. I feel helpless. I feel as if my life is in someone else's hands, and they may have preconceived ideas about how I will conduct myself.

The helplessness has a physical weight, man. It seems as if I am always trying to convince people that my concerns are legitimate and that a badge does not sanctify every action of a law enforcement officer. Many of these same individuals tell me that all lives matter. The Declaration of Independence affirms that "all men are created equal." "All" did not include me then, so why should I assume that it includes me now? Perhaps a person's value at birth does not determine how others treat them or their worth in life. I am a black man. Does my life matter? It seems to be a cumbersome phrase for many even to utter aloud. I am also a writer. Fortunately, I have the ability to articulate my thoughts and feelings. I feel sorry for those that cannot, but their pain in no less real.

I would say that the fear and helplessness comes from the realization that if ever in have a misunderstanding with a law enforcement officer and am shot, few will listen to me. Onlookers will only say, "I do not see the problem," or they may tell me that somehow, someway, this is all my fault.

I am tired. Unfriend me if you want".

David Walker

David Walker is an American lifestyle photographer, graphic designer, and essayist and Author of The Augustan: Short, thought-provoking commentary on culture, politics, and social issues.

Times have changed...so, quit complaining - Cranston Herald

Times have changed...so, quit complaining - Cranston Herald

If you like, use the link above to post your comments to the original article so Charlie Lawrence can see them!

To the Editor:

I am white. I am male. I am also 68 and a Vietnam Era veteran. And I am angry.
And I know many people my age who are also angry. They see gays and lesbians demanding the right to get married. They see a black man in the White House with a strange sounding name, changing our health care system and suggesting that we as a nation might have something to do with the sorry state of affairs in the world.

To my fellow seniors who are upset and alarmed at this, I have a message: Stop feeling sorry for yourself! Enough of your whining! The world is changing, and it's about time you got off your mental easy chair and did the same! Your stubborn resistance to change is maddening!

Upset about gay lifestyle? I am married more than 40 years ... to a woman ... and I do not in any way feel threatened by gays and lesbians who wish to be wed. Here's some advice – one senior to another – try minding your own business. 

When I see you no longer eating pork or working on Sunday, then I'll take your Bible-based opposition to gay marriage seriously. 

And while you are at it, stop complaining about this so-called “socialist” president as you sit in your easy chairs collecting both Medicare and Social Security. And don't swallow the hogwash about a Republican saving Medicare and a Democrat “robbing” it. Please, don't make seniors look senile by swallowing that lie. ( I'll deal with that lie in my next letter.)
You constantly lament how things have gotten worse. Yes, they have.

Ours was a noble generation that fought for Medicare, for equal rights for women and blacks, clean air and water and decent wages for all. Now too many of us fight for tax breaks for the wealthiest few and more power and money for corporations. How noble is that?

We admired and respected broadcasters like Walter Cronkite and Paul Harvey. Men of integrity. Now we are taken in by any right-wing blowhard with a microphone, the biggest being a four-times married, self-admitted drug abuser. Another so insane, even Fox News dropped him.

And, yes, there is a black man in the White House. It's a sign of the changing face of America. I fully understand for many this is an uncomfortable sign; your old world is gone. For most, what you feel is not bigotry; it's fear. Deep down fear. 

Please! It's 2012. Stop fearing change! Embrace it! Welcome it as we did so many years ago because change is here and will continue with or without our help.

Charlie Lawrence
Johnston