Category: Politics

Posted in Politics, Uncategorized, Writing

#SoCS – Dec 24/16

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Good morning to everyone! I only have one thing of importance on my mind today. I want to say Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to everyone out there celebrating the holidays. In the United States, it has been such a disturbing year from a political standpoint. Since starting to blog on WordPress this year, I’ve met so many wonderful people of all political and religious persuasions. When we interact, their politics or religion never occurs to me.

I hope that, in 2017, we can all come together – Christians, Jews, Muslims – and every other religion and every political persuasion – and show our governments who seem to be trying to tear us apart, that WE are, indeed, the world. That despite the differences in how we worship or who we elect to lead us, WE are the world. The people and not the small groups of governmental officials. Those officials don’t represent us all and, in some cases, represent very few of us.

When we interact one on one, politics and religion don’t matter. We’re all just people, trying to survive, take care of our families, somehow make our way toward self-actualization. We can get along with our neighbors who may worship differently or have a different view of political governing, but WE, the people, are the world. WE are important, not the little groups at the top who try to cook up something between us. No matter what country we live in.

I’ve met a lot of people this year from all around the world. I want my blogger friends on WordPress to know that knowing them and reading their work has enriched my life. I have new friends on Facebook because of my writing who are also writers and I feel the same about you. I’ve come to like Twitter as there are people there who will help a budding writer and I’ve certainly made new friends there and I want to thank them. It hasn’t mattered one bit about their politics or religion and they haven’t let it matter about mine. I respect all these people immensely. I want to thank all of you for your friendship and help this year.

My old friends. What can I say? The year has been hard for me and to those of you who have shared those hard times with me, I will never be able to repay you and you have my gratitude. My old friends are more than special to me and I hope you will always be in my life.

To all of you, have a blessed holiday. WE are the people and WE are the world. Don’t let anyone take that away from US. #religion #politics #Christmas #Hanukkah #amwriting #amblogging #writing #WordPress

Post in response to Stream of Consciousness Dec 24/16

Thanks, Linda!

Posted in Creative Nonfiction Essays, environment, Politics, Travel

Flint Michigan Water Crisis: Don’t Forget About Flint

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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A lot of press was given to the Native American Standing Rock Pipeline Resistance, which has now been resolved. Some press has been given to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, but we don’t seem to know quite as much about it. The Standing Rock protest was being held to try to protect their water supply. The Flint, Michigan water supply has already been severely contaminated.

The Flint, Michigan water supply was contaminated beginning in April, 2014. Flint switched its water supply from Lake Huron and the Detroit River to the Flint River. The Flint River was treated improperly and the pipes in it leached lead into the river which made its way into the drinking water. Between 6,000 and 12,000 children have been exposed to lead in their water. An outbreak of Legionnaire’s Disease in the area is most likely the result of the contamination of the water supply. Ten deaths resulted.

By June of 2015, Virginia Tech tested Flint’s water and found that it had almost three times the amount of lead in it that water had that the Environmental Protection Agency classified as hazardous waste. Children were getting sick with rashes and mysterious illnesses. Lead has a particularly bad effect on the nervous system.

The President declared a state of emergency in Flint in January 2016. Criminal charges have been filed against some officials who were involved this situation. Some were involved in what amounted to a cover-up.

At this time, the Flint water supplied has been switched back to the Detroit supply though it takes a long time for the lines to be clear of lead.

Not enough attention has been paid to Flint and the children of Flint. What is going to be done about those 6,000-12,000 children who have been exposed to very high levels of  lead? Since lead is a neurotoxin, it causes behaviorial delays, lowered IQ, and developmental problems. These issues can’t be reversed. The proper diet can decrease the absorption of lead so parents are being given information regarding mitigating the circumstances somewhat. Of course, switching water supplies back to the old one is also necessary and has already happened.

Unfortunately, the crisis in Flint is still ongoing and has not had the positive ending that the Standing Rock crisis was able to accomplish.#amwriting #amblogging #writing #Flint

 

Posted in Politics, Writing

Protecting Ourselves in Today’s Uncertain World

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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In writing posts for Elizabeth’s Creativity Challenges (number 29), I’ve focused mostly on factual information. When you are writing about the word “protect,” as I am for this post, I would normally focus on the factual information on what we as a nation could do to protect ourselves from the uncertainly and distress in the world. I could also focus on what we as individuals could focus on to protect ourselves. I find myself in a different place as a writer than I’ve ever been and I think, at least according to some of us, we find ourselves in a different place as a nation.

I have to pose a question. How do we protect ourselves from our ultimate protector? Not just the protector of the United States but the protector and the most powerful man in the free world? No one more than me hopes that myself and my contemporaries turn out to be wrong about President-elect Donald Trump. I hope that he is our protector and our leader as he is going to swear to be on January 20, 2017.

I don’t believe we are wrong. At best, I don’t believe Mr. Trump knows what he is getting into. I don’t believe he has enough political or diplomatic knowledge of the workings of the world to understand what it means to be President of the United States. He sees it as a power grab. A power grab from “the other side” however he defines the other side. Since he is now a Republican, I assume he defines the other side as Democrats. He, himself, was a registered Democrat not long ago. Men who become leaders because they seek power and without the understanding of the ramifications of that power are dangerous when they command armies.

At worst, Mr. Trump does know what he is getting into and is doing things like waging Twitter wars, appointing inappropriate people to his Cabinet that have conflicts of interest, focusing on issues that are irrelevant like his feud with the New York Times, because he considers these things more important than, for example, taking his foreign policy briefings every day. This begs the question of why the President-elect does not want to know what’s going on in the world? Is he really that arrogant? Or is there a darker reason?

Another issue. Mr. Trump alienates the media on purpose. Why? He doesn’t want to be held accountable by the media. The media is an unofficial source of checks and balances. Perhaps more or less corrupt than our three branches of government. Even though we are skeptical of Congress, there are some good people there that are honest and who would try to help.

Is the protection between us, as citizens of the U.S. or the free world, suddenly just gone? What a horrifying thought and there is nothing we can do as individuals to protect ourselves on a global scale from that.

Can we protect ourselves on a personal level? That is a good question. We don’t know how Donald Trump is going to govern yet and we won’t know for sure until after January 20, 2017. We can’t plan for what we don’t know. What we can do is protect our state of mind. We can try to stay positive at least about ourselves. We can’t spend 24/7 thinking about the state of the world or we will be useless and unable to help ourselves or anyone else. We have to get on with life. Work, socialize with like-minded people, see friends and family. Don’t spend too much time living inside your own head. Instead of just getting your news from sound bites on cable news, buy a newspaper. Read that newspaper. Form your own opinions. Keep yourself physically healthy. You will feel better if you eat the right food. Drink water. Get exercise to relieve stress.

My opinion? We may need our strength. Individually and collectively. Just as important. We don’t know yet. #amwriting #amblogging #writing

 

The Challenge here is to use your creative talent to bring light into the current distress in the world around you, in whatever form that talent takes. The word today is “protect.”

Posted in Creative Nonfiction Essays, Politics, Uncategorized

Threat – Trump and the Russian Connection

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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The Challenge here is to use your creative talent to bring light into the current distress in the world around you, in whatever form that talent takes. Please remember that we are reaching out to a world that is facing upheaval and possibly a great number of changes. Let us reach out to that world and bring it the lessons we have learned by becoming artists and writers. “The word for this challenge is Threat.”

As both a writer and a U.S. citizen, the word “threat” has been in my vocabulary lately. I think many Americans have had that word in mind in recent weeks and even months when we think of the political situation in our country. The current administration has found out that Russia hacked the 2016 Presidential Election communications which may have affected the results of the election. Even if it did not affect the results of the election, it is alarming that Russia could have such easy access to computer records in our country.

The question is how do we know this is true and how is it a threat to the U.S.? That Russia did, indeed, hack into the computer records of those who had access to private election records. That Russia is a threat to the security of the U.S.

U.S. intelligence agencies were able to get evidence that Russian agencies tried to hack into the White House and the State Department. They also tried to hack into campaign  officials for the Clinton campaign. They did this by sending out thousands of phishing emails and hoping someone clicked on them. John Podesta, campaign manager for Hilary Clinton, did. They targeted Clinton because they thought if Trump won the election, he was more likely to lift sanctions against Russia.

What is President-Elect Donald Trump’s connection to Russia? Trump has sold many high-end condos in New York and Florida. Russians seem to like Trump’s condos. He and his children have also traveled to Moscow to discuss building condos and other business dealings in Moscow. Nothing much came of that. Trump did make many powerful friends in Russia, including the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, since he has been not only interested in Russia but very complimentary of the country.

How is this a threat to the U.S.? First, U.S. President’s, according to the Constitution, are not supposed to profit from their relationships with other countries. There is a definite conflict of interest here. Second, if you factor in Rex Tillerson’s appointment to the position of Secretary of State, it appears that a foreign country has captured a number of U.S. interests given that country’s relationship with the man soon to be our President and with the man  soon to be our Secretary of State. Rex Tillerson is a former Chairman of Exxon/Mobil and possesses much insider information about our oil and gas industry.

We must understand why this is so serious. Russia is another superpower like the United States. They do not have the same value system as the U.S. It is an authoritarian society while ours is a republic. World War II ended in the 1940s. It is now 2016. Generations of Russia’s have lived under Communist rule . They do not understand a market economy or a republic. Putin is a former KGB (Secret Police) officer.

The entire explanation for the animosity between Russia and the U.S.deserves its own blog post. But, briefly, after World War II, a Cold War began between the two superpowers. There were no diplomatic relations. There was constant fear, on both sides, that someone would push the red button. But, the Cold War eased in 1989 and gradually diplomatic and trade relationships between the two countries were established. There is, and has never been, trust between the governments and no understanding between the people.

If it is true that Russia has American secrets and did, indeed, try to throw the American election to Donald Trump, it is alarming and a threat to our country. Vladimir Putin does not wish us well. He wishes Russia well. Chances are, he considers those concepts mutually exclusive. If Donald Trump is either ignorant of this or complicit, that, in itself, is a threat.

 

#amblogging #amwriting #writing #Russia #politics

*This post is in response to Creativity Challenge 26

 

 

 

Posted in Politics, Weekly Discover Challenge, Writing

Tough Questions: The Other Side

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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This week’s Discover Challenge is to consider tough questions that we’ve been asked. I can think of a tough question I was asked after the U.S. Presidential Election that is head and shoulders above other questions. I was in the local bookstore which is a gathering place for university folks. Knowing my background was in finance and economics, with a smattering of political science, some former students and a couple of university faculty cornered me. Here comes the tough question.

They asked me what I thought the appeal of President-Elect Trump is to the man on the street. Why is this a tough question? I happen to be a Democrat and I did not vote for Donald Trump. Their questions were a little more complex than that. Most of them were also Democrats and they wanted specifics. I was put in the position of having to look at the other side of the issues in order to explain the thinking of the people who elected him. Tough questions!

Expressing to them that what I was about to say was only my opinion and hoping (to myself) that I was going to convey correct information, we started to have a conversation. I was very tempted to grab my phone and call in reinforcements – my friends who had actually voted for Mr. Trump, but I didn’t.

I won’t go into all the specifics but I will give you the general conversation. I told them that all I could give them was my opinion. Yes, it was my opinion based on fact. My facts were based on those provided by both the media and what I had read and gleaned myself. Since I had not discovered every fact about why the country preferred to elect Donald Trump as President of the United States but had gotten some of the information from the media, I did not feel comfortable answering their questions. I further expressed that I felt my opinions and bias as a Democrat would color my explanation.

The group still wanted me to explain why I thought he was elected. I made a few comments. I was more comfortable answering their questions since I had already told them that I was only expressing my own opinion.

Separating opinion from fact is extremely important when answering tough questions. #amwriting #amblogging #writing #weeklydiscoverychallenge

Posted in Creative Nonfiction Essays, Politics, Writing

We Can’t Stop Diversity

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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The dictionary defines diversity as the state of being different between two individual entities when and only when they are not identical. Diversity came to America with the Pilgrims. When they stepped on American soil, the population became diverse because, up to that time, the primary population was the Native Americans.

Diversity in the United States is not a new concept. We hear this often, but the population of the United States is composed of individuals so diverse that it is called a melting pot. Diversity has been encouraged in America and made possible by our immigration policy.

Diversity within countries across the world may have taken a different path, but the result is the same. Any country that looks attractive to outsiders looking in is going to draw a diverse population. Who doesn’t want to improve their lot in life?  In Iraq, for example, there are three diverse population groups. They have spent centuries fighting each other. It has stunted Iraq’s growth.

In America, our population is becoming more diverse. We now have a large Hispanic policy and many feel like those people are taking their jobs. If Americans would apply for and win their jobs, then do their jobs and work hard, they would have no fear of Hispanics taking their jobs. Instead of fixing what is wrong with our immigration policy and enforcing the immigration policy already on the books, the talk is of building a wall to keep Hispanics out. Do we really think a wall can stop increasing diversity in a country where so many want to live?

Diversity in religion often is what starts war. We can see that if we look all the way back to the Crusades. Look at the Middle East. The conflict there is all about religion. Oh, some say it’s about land. But if their religions had not been at war for hundreds of years, I think the property issue would have been resolved long ago.

Diversity in religion or skin color often leads to the persecution of the minority B groups in a population.

We began to focus more on diversity after the 9/11/2001 terror attack in New York City. We blamed an entire sector of our population, even though their numbers were reasonably small. When you think about it in that way, it makes very little sense.

Diversity is not the problem in America. Every single one of us is an immigrant from somewhere or have ancestors who were immigrants. There are bad, evil people in every religion and in every country. America has more than its share across all diversity boundaries. But, we blame Muslims for every single thing that happens in America.

We can’t round up illegal Hispanics and send them back to Mexico. We can’t put every Muslim in America in interment camps. That’s not who America is. That reeks of Fascism. We have to find another way to deal with the problems. If we let ourselves deal with diversity in this way, the shining city on the hill will be no more and the place we call America will be like every third world country on the planet. #amwriting #amblogging #writing #diversity

 

*This post sponsored by Creativity Challenge #12

Posted in Politics, The Economy

Trump, Trade, Labor, and Banking

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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I have news for President-elect Donald Trump. It’s too late. It’s too late to stop globalization. The internet, global communications and transportation, and corporate and banking connections and interdependencies reached the White House before he did. Donald Trump seems to think he can step into the White House and turn back the hands of time. But the globalization trend has already been there and it may be too late to become nationalists and isolationists now.

There is no doubt that Trump has a point. The middle class are suffering at the hands of globalization. Jobs in the hundreds of thousands have been shipped overseas. But there are several reasons for that. One reason is that labor is cheaper overseas. There is another reason. Many jobs in the U.S. are being performed automatically and do not require human assistance. In other words, robotics. Unions are absolutely not solely to blame. Cheap overseas labor is not solely to blame. We are innovating ourselves out of manufacturing jobs through the increasing use of robotics and technology.

I’m not particularly a fan of trade deals myself.  Mr. Trump is likely to slow down or halt negotiation of the TPP. However, the U.S. has become a service economy. What are we going to do for goods and products if we don’t negotiate trade deals? The plants that used to produce them are gone and if they still stand, they are woefully deficient in the technology required to produce those goods and products. It will take a generation to get those plants on-line again. I wonder if the people who voted for Mr. Trump realize how much those goods and products would cost after the cost of getting those plants back on-line and training the workers were factored in.

The stock market has been soaring since the election. Sure, this has to do with investors expecting, or perhaps just hoping for, economic growth under President-elect Trump. The stock market’s engine is investor expectations. What is likely to happen, in reality, is a drastic cut in the corporate tax rate in order to lure U.S. corporations with headquarters overseas back home and to keep corporations contemplating a move from making it.

Globalization started slowing down years ago. It is only growing at about 2 percent per year, a result of our low GDP. Since the financial crisis of 2007-08, cross-border lending between countries has slowed considerably because bank regulators took hard looks at the international lending practices of the big U.S. banks. Lending across borders is taking a huge risk with depositors’ money. We should be glad that regulators are trying to hold the line on that kind of foreign investment. Instead, Mr. Trump is likely to try to loosen up regulation on the banks to stimulate more foreign investment, taking increasing chances with our money.

In the meantime, we have a President-elect who is a businessman. Not necessarily a bad thing. But what about foreign policy? While he is negotiating deals, who will have their hand on the foreign policy button? #amwriting #amblogging #writing #banking #trade #labor

 

Posted in Politics, Thanksgiving, weekendcoffeeshare

#weekendcoffeeshare 11/19/2016

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Good morning! Come right in. I’m glad to see all of you this cold Kentucky morning! Please, take a cup of the beverage of your choice. Several types of coffee and tea. I probably don’t have as much to choose from as usual as I’ve had a terribly busy week, but I hope you’ll find something you’ll like. Bring your cup into my writing studio so we can talk!

If we were having coffee this morning, I would tell you that it has been kind of a scary week here in the Ohio Valley from a weather perspective. We, like many of you, are experiencing a drought that just started this fall. It is so dry. We did get about 15 minutes of hard rain last night; obviously not enough to do anything but dampen the ground. We live in the forest with deciduous tress surrounding us. The leaves have been falling for weeks and we have been trying to keep them cleared away. A few weeks ago, wildfires started in my state and they are now close to me. Finally, the temperatures have dropped to normal and the winds have died down. We are hoping for rain.

If we were having coffee this morning, I would tell you that I have some exciting news. News that is, at least, potentially exciting! I may have a new job. At least I am hoping it will work out. I wear two hats in my professional life. I am a writer and sell my writing. I’m working on a novel and write non-fiction articles on a variety of topics. My second hat is that of business consultant. In my previous life, I was a college professor for 27 years and did some consulting in the finance area for many of those years. My new job, if it works out, is as a finance consultant.

I know those two professions sound like they could not possibly  be simpatico. I have a variety of interests so when I retired from teaching, I was able to pursue my love of literature and writing. I, however, still have my finance knowledge and am able to consult with and help big and small business. I am often consulting for someone somewhere even though I am also writing.

Those of us in the U.S. have had a Presidential election. I know the world was watching that election. Obviously, many Americans were happy with the outcome and many were not. Political science has always been of great interest to me so I am watching the aftermath of the election carefully. For me, it is a rather frightening time in the U.S. I don’t remember such a time during my adulthood. I’m hoping for cool heads and good advisers.

In America, one of our favorite holidays is coming up this coming Thursday and that is Thanksgiving. For many people in America, we find that is our favorite holiday. Families gather but it’s not a commercial holiday like Christmas. I find myself missing the big family gatherings that I attended as a child and young adult. Those gatherings don’t happen for me anymore as most of my close family are gone. I have a quiet Thanksgiving now. I surely miss the gathering of my family at my grandfather’s farm deep in the heart of Appalachia. Mostly, I miss my family.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the U.S. To my international friends, have a wonderful week! #amwriting #amblogging #writing #Thanksgiving #politics #weekendcoffeeshare

This post sponsored by parttimemonsterblog.com

Thanks, Diana!

Posted in Politics, The Economy

Politics: Trump, Banking, and the Economy

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

Before I begin this blog post, I want to put in a disclaimer. When I started this blog, I had no intention of talking much about either politics or business. Business is my professional field and I wanted to get away from it. Politics is too volatile. But, I’ve had a lot of questions about the effect of a Trump Presidency on certain segments of the economy and on our lives that I feel compelled to answer them to the best of my ability. I’m going to try to be non-partisan, but (full disclosure), I was not and am not a Trump supporter. I will still try to be non-partisan. If I sound like a teacher, let me apologize in advance. I am a teacher :)……it’s hard not to sound like one!

The Trump transition team has made it known that they intend to repeal or, at least significantly change, a piece of legislation called the Dodd-Frank bill. They also intend to repeal the Volcker Rule. Let me explain what that means to me, you, and the man on the street.

The Dodd-Frank bill is a very complex (and long) piece of legislation that was enacted after the economic and banking collapse that happened at the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008 and the recession that resulted. Large banks were the primary cause of this collapse. The general consensus is that the large banks invested in too many subprime (risky) mortgages in order to beef up their income by charging high interest rates. They also invested in speculative securities for the same reason. In other words, these banks took advantage of their customers and took risks with their customers’ money. Banks in the U.S. have never before been allowed to do that. The banks essentially got caught and the economy almost failed because of it.

The Dodd-Frank bill was enacted to protect customers of large banks in the future. Some say that it goes too far and restricts the ability of both individuals and corporations from borrowing money. I have not read the bill so I cannot address that. What I do know is that banks do, indeed, need some checks and balances so what happened in 2007 and 2008 will not happen again. Apparently, Mr. Trump intends to repeal this legislation.

We used to have legislation called the Glass-Steagall Act which prevented banks from engaging in investing. That legislation was unfortunately repealed in the late 1990s. Glass-Steagall would have prevented banks from making these speculative investments and loans.

The Trump transition team has said they also intend to repeal what is called the Volcker rule. Mr. Volcker was once Chair of the Federal Reserve.  A regulation was passed in his name preventing banks from making investments that could endanger their customer accounts by exposing them to too much risk.

The positive side of repealing Dodd-Frank and Volcker is that it would be easier for consumers to obtain mortgages. It would also be easier for businesses and large corporations to borrow money and make investments, including risky investments. #amwriting #amblogging #writing #DoddFrank #VolckerRule

 

Posted in Politics

Election Day in the U.S.

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

Never before in my life have I felt a need to make much of a comment on a Presidential Election Day in the U.S. This Presidential Election Day seems different. I don’t know if it is because it has been such a hard fought and acrimonious campaign. Could be it is because we have two rather untraditional candidates – the first woman candidate in the history of the U.S. and a rather bombastic private businessman? Maybe it’s because the rhetoric has been ramped up to a level I’ve never heard before? Perhaps it’s because every one I talk to is very apprehensive about what will happen after this election, even though the U.S. has always had a peaceful transfer of power.

Perhaps it is because the Democratic candidate for President has been under some sort of investigation for 25 years, since her husband, Bill Clinton, was President of the United States. The Republican candidate for President has not been in the political limelight for very long but since he has been, he, too, has been under investigation.

I hear Americans constantly ask why we could not have done better in picking our political candidates. I have a question to pose to you. Would any candidate who we picked have been subject to some sort of investigation because we, as Americans, can’t seem to get our fill of dragging skeletons out of our candidates’ closets? I’ve noticed a real lack of viable political candidates at the next age group point, 10-20 years younger than Trump and Clinton. That is true, I think, particularly on the Democratic side of the aisle. Why is that? Are the good people who would normally run for political office simply tired of facing the possibility of their families being subject to the unbelievable amount of scrutiny we subject our candidates to? It seems at least to be a possibility.

Who exactly is responsible for all this skeleton dragging? Is it truly the news media? Or is it principles of the opposing party in trying to win the election? Or a combination of both? Every single person who might run for political office has done something wrong at some point in their lives and careers. It is simply not possible to live a squeaky clean life just in case you might go into public service. We are going to cause ourselves to literally have no candidates by our behavior regarding their behavior if we don’t allow them to have a life, business and professional and governmental, if they are already in government service. Can we really feel good about what we have allowed the news media and the political parties to do to these people’s families? Don’t say it isn’t our fault because it is. We watch the cable news shows or they would not be on the air. We buy into every word the talking heads say. It is, indeed, our fault.

Our propensity for finding each and every little fault in our candidates may be our downfall this time around. We have two candidates that no one seems to much like, putting many of us in the position of voting for who we consider to be the lesser of two evils. That is not America! That is not the way America handles its business. We find two excellent candidates and choose between them in a democratic process. Not so much this time.

Now we have a situation where, if Hillary Clinton wins the Presidency, rumors are swirling around that state militias will get involved and that she will not be supported. On the other hand, if Donald Trump wins, rumors are that he will not win wide support of the American people for a variety of reasons. In a day, we are going to vote for these two people under these circumstances?

Here is the deal. We, the people, caused this ourselves. We have encouraged the talking heads on cable news to do anything and say anything for ratings. We have expected candidates to be perfect people. Instead we got the least perfect of candidates. We have allowed senators and representatives to stay in Congress for 30 plus years and build up power bases so that their only concerns were money and power and not the good of our country or our democracy. Term limits anyone? Even the Supreme Court allowed for huge Super Pac’s to fund candidates’ political campaigns. We can’t say one candidate or another is corrupt. What is corrupt is the entire system and do you know where it starts? With US, the American voters. We have allowed these things to happen.

This is OUR government. OUR democracy. Have we forgotten that? We can get rid of the entire Congress if we want and we SHOULD want. We can push the reset button. Almost all the Congress is up for re-election on Tuesday. DO NOT RE-ELECT THEM. Elect a new Congress. One that is responsive to the people and to the President. One that will work with all parties involved.

Stop listening to the talking heads on any channel on cable news television. Buy a newspaper again. Read the newspaper. Form your own opinions. Don’t let some person on television whose credentials you don’t know form an opinion for you. Read, study, think. Decide what YOU think. Don’t take what they think at face value. That is one of the reasons we are in this mess. Knowledge is power.

It’s too late for us for this election cycle. I hope we can make it intact as a government for the next four years. I hope we can have a peaceful transfer of power. Let’s make it different in 2020. #2016PresidentialElection #realDonaldTrump #HillaryClinton #politics #amwriting #amblogging