The Election

Before you read this please be warned that it will be a post about politics. As I often state the primary reason I write this is for my children and grandchildren.  I feel I owe it to them to let them know why I am voting a certain way.

As always I welcome comments. Differences of opinion are always welcome.

However whether you agree with me or not I will delete any nasty statements.  I believe in a pleasant discourse. After all it IS my blog.

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It is a year divisible by 4. That means it is time time cast my vote for President of the United States. 

I have voted in every election since I was 21 years old. I believe strongly that it my responsibility to choose the people who represent me. If nothing else they are reminded that at least one person is watching to see that they do a good job.

There are other officials running to be elected but I am going to focus on the office of president.

The two main candidates are President Donald Trump and Vice-President Joseph Biden. Trump is the current president. Biden was vice-president during the Obama presidency. Once you are either one of these officials the title stays with you unless you achieve a greater title. It is a matter of respect.

Trump was elected 4 years ago. According to our Constitution he can serve another 4 years.

Both candidates are older than any other candidates in history. Health and mental acuity are both qualities necessary to run a whole country so age could be a consideration.

I am not happy with Donald Trump. I feel he is a bully. He makes a habit of applying derogatory nicknames to other people including government officials. He has demeaned other races and religions. He has severely tested relationships with our allies while openly admiring dictatorial leaders of other countries. 

Our country was heading toward an inflationary economy with the rich getting richer and the poor being left to fend for themselves. 

Chaos seemed to be the rule of thumb in all governmental actions. The turnover of top advisors to the president is ridiculously high. A certain number of people will need to be replaced in any administration. As of September 3 of this year in this administration 91% of the so-called A Team of advisors have been replaced for various reasons. This does not include cabinet members. Some cabinet positions have never been filled. As a matter of fact many governmental positions have not been filled... at all.

Nepotism is rife. His daughter and son-in-law hold highly-placed advisory positions. Mitch McConnell's wife is Secretary of Transportation. Rudy Giuliani's son is (Sports) Public Liaison Assistant to the president. William Barr's son-in-law is a legal advisor to the president, while his wife who is Barr's daughter now has a job with the Treasury. Both left their jobs with the Department of Justice so their father had no personal ties to anyone in the department while he was waiting to be confirmed. There are more than a dozen other examples.

There are several crises in our country at the moment. Multiple hurricanes and tropical storms have hit our country this year alone. No one can stop that. All we can do is try to make the clean-up and recovery from them as smooth as possible.

The whole west coast seems to be on fire. Our president has stated (and I am paraphrasing) that if the states would keep the floors of the forests free of dead leaves they would not catch fire. He does want to spend a lot of money for the recovery of these states because of that. He neglects to mention that approximately 53% of the forests are owned by the federal government not the states.

COVID-19 has attacked the whole world. In the United States alone we have 200,000 deaths because of it. There have been guidelines issued by scientists and doctors to instruct us in the best way to prevent getting and spreading the disease. Even when he was talking about the best way to act he behaved differently. He refuses to wear a face mask and is now encouraging us not to bother. He asks his devotees to attend large campaign events with no safe distances between people and face masks.

I have so much more but I think you get the idea that I will not be voting for Trump.

However I do not believe in voting against someone. If I cannot find someone to vote FOR I would not vote.

Joe Biden has been active in our government for 44 years. That is not necessarily a recommendation. There are a lot of career politicians who do not do a good job.

He has calm demeanor. He can get his point across using reason and knowledge. He is familiar with foreign leaders and has a working relationship with most. He was highly regarded by senators from both parties when he was a senator.

He listens when someone is talking to him. He may not agree but he allows the person to have his say.

He shows genuine empathy for people who are full of sorrow. He generates a strength of character that I admire.

As far as the several crises we are facing right now he has informed ideas of how to deal with them. These include listening to scientists and doctors and trying to follow their recommendations.

When Biden announced that he would be running for president a feeling of calm enveloped me. I felt as if he would be in charge. He would work to take care of everyone and everything important to my country. 

Biden has been accused of improperly acquiring a job for his son in Ukraine. 

He is older than any other candidate ever. He seems to be active and in good health.

I will vote for Biden.

No matter which candidate you choose please vote. It keeps our officials honest.