Cat at the top of the heap
doesn’t ever want to lose his seat
But the more he shovels it
Out from under him
The more he gets called a creep
His wife seems all prim and proper
Though it seems she has little to offer
She is there by his side
with nothing to hide
Still the media has often scoffed her
So when this weird year is over
And we are hopefully done with covid
We will know which cat will shine
For now we’ll be Biden our time and…
Wait to see if Trump’s base has voted
We are at a crossroad of the mind
Not of dirt and gravel // asphalt or cement
Rather, a crossroad of thinking…
One that permeates our being.
Elections are not about the man or woman
They are about a mindset
A way of thinking that affects attitudes and actions.
It is so easy to get lost in the superficial
Age, gender, personality, party, or politics;
But it is much deeper than that…
Elections are crossroads of the mind;
Forever changing the landscape of thinking;
Changes that cannot be reversed only adjusted.
Elections often come with lies and broken promises;
Expectations that repeatedly remain unfulfilled
Leaving us disillusioned at the next crossroad.
Remember, you are not choosing a person
You are choosing a mindset for the future.
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Yesterday, I cast my early vote at our local library. The candidates and supporters were confined to a yellow tape line on the sidewalk. It was set up to avoid harassment of people coming to vote. You could go to them, but you could also ignore them if you wished. Sometimes we may wonder weather our vote really does make any difference. Politics is sort of like playing the lottery. Most of the time our ticket comes up short of our expectation. Once in a while the person we cast our vote for really does make a positive difference in our world. In spite of that we still line up to cast our ballot.
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Frank Tassone asked us to examine the roots of our democracy and write a Haikia poem using or alluding to democracy.
Join in at: https://frankjtassone.com/2018/11/03/haikai-challenge-59-11-3-18-election-day-democracy-haiku-senryu-haibun-tanka-haiga-renga/
Sometimes it may feel like there is no lifeguard on duty. But in a democracy that should not be the case. Our founding fathers set up a set of checks and balances that protect us from tyranny and anarchy. Watching the reaction to the election and the rioting in a few cities across the country I thought, “this looks just like it did in the 1960’s.” Protests against the war in Viet Nam hounded President Nixon as he took office. Today we face different challenges but the protests always seem to be there. This led me to reflect on what democracy really means to me.
Thoughts on Living in a Democracy
*Democracy is a choice we make to accept the agreed upon majority rule. It is not ‘Let’s vote and then scream and shout when the vote does not go our way!’
*Change is scary and leaves us anxious and unsettled. Give and take is natural and expected in a Democracy. We are all responsible to make this work. We cannot refuse to cooperate because we did not get our way.
*Our forefathers believed the people would vote their choice and then live with the results. After four years the people can come together to either vote them back in or vote them out! The majority makes the decision. If the people refuse to come out and vote, they have no grounds for criticizing the choices that are made.
*Democracy is responsible for the minorities who also have the right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The government must allow for differences, but minorities also are responsible to accept the will of the people.
*To impose the will of minorities on the majority is to deconstruct democracy and undermines the founding principles our forefathers laid out for us. To live in a democracy is to accept majority rule. To bring about change the majority must be convinced to make it happen.
*Change in a democracy comes through our elected representatives whom we elected to do our work. They are responsible to work for the will of the people and for the common good. They too cannot arbitrarily decide not to do their job because they did not get their way. This is what caused so much stalemate in the past eight years. They should all be voted out and new representatives put in who will work for the people.
There are more, but this is all I will share for the time being!
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Lifeguard Photo: Dwight L. Roth
This poem come to me from my friend Bob in response to the political satire poem I posted yesterday. I thought is was very good so, with his permission, I am posting it on my site. Thought you might enjoy reading it as well.
Poem by Bob S. in response to Dumb and Dumber
They went to the polls to make their choice
This time hoping someone would hear their voice
They wound up getting a Big Mouth celebrity
As well as a woman with no integrity
Only 39% favor either of the two
Which leaves an American wondering what they should do?
When the best they can get is the best of the worst
Perhaps they should abstain and see what happens next
Like having a party to which nobody came
Without a clear winner should they do it again
For a country that’s based on such Blood Sweat & Tears
The two of these candidates bring out our worst fears
