Jan 22, 2021 | 2020 Election, Democrats, Elections, Feminism, Government, Something. To. Say., Women |
Hello Everybody:
I have something to say about the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Now I know once again how it feels, to be happy. I haven’t been happy for four years.
Inauguration Day, it was wonderful to see the US Capitol festooned with flags and banners, to hear the heralding music from the US Marine band, to be moved to tears by the voices of Lady Gaga, J-Lo and the amazing young Amanda Gorman. Seeing the former presidents chatting with each other.
Then the moment I was eagerly awaiting, maybe waiting my whole life for, seeing Kamala Harris raising her hand and repeating the oath to become vice president. She shattered the thickest glass ceiling in the land. It’s been in place since the founding of our country, 245 years ago. Holding the second most powerful office in the land, she isn’t only female, she’s black and South Asian.
I was happy to see the decent, experienced Joe Biden swear to defend the Constitution and then give an inaugural address assuring the nation that all would be done that could be done to end the pandemic.
I could almost overlook the masks on all the guests, and almost ignore the presence of 25,000 troops guarding Washington. But I couldn’t forget the violent, hateful American traitors who tried to destroy our democracy.
Finally, the best thing to happen inauguration day was the departure of Donald Trump. He’s gone. He’s gone. He won’t have us to kick around anymore. Good riddance. I hope I don’t have to talk about him again any time soon. I wanna stay happy.
Till next time.
Feb 27, 2020 | 2020 Election, Democrats, Elections, Something. To. Say.
Hello everybody. I have something to say about the majority of candidates for president. They are old, white men. I can say this because I’m an old black woman.
I watched the Democratic debate in South Carolina and looked at the array of candidates and they were mostly men, who were old, with white or gray hair and wrinkled white skin.
You had 78-year-old Bernie Sanders; Joe Biden and Michael Bloomberg are both 77, Tom Steyer, a mere 62. Pete Buttigieg looked like a young boy, though he doesn’t talk like one, he looks like one at age 38. On the Republican side, Donald Trump wants a second term and he will be 74 in June. The race seems to be all about the old, white men. Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar are now, pretty much the also-rans. Most pundits don’t think either woman has a snowball’s chance in hell of becoming the Democratic nominee or beating Donald Trump.
So, the country has taken a big step backwards. No women or people of color are in the presidential mix. It may as well be 1960… or 1791 when the prerequisite for becoming president was being an old, white man…and being rich didn’t hurt, not one bit. I hate to say it, but “Goodbye, Ladies.”
See you next time.
Oct 11, 2019 | 2020 Election, Ageism, Democrats, Elections, Politics, Something. To. Say. |
Hello Everybody. I have something to say about old presidential candidates.
“Age ain’t nothing but a number,” is a song popularized by the late singer, Aaliyah.” The phrase has particular relevance today when voters are beginning to focus on the ages of the frontrunning candidates for President. It hadn’t been talked about too much, until Bernie Sanders suffered a heart attack on the campaign trail. His image as a robust, energetic 78-year-old was shattered in 24 hours. He’s the oldest candidate. Joe Biden is 76, Elizabeth Warren is 70. And Donald Trump is 73. Never before have so many septuagenarians run for president.
I think ageism is likely to become a factor for each of them, because we in America think old people aren’t physically or mentally capable of being president. But do you have any idea of how many sick younger men were president and had serious health problems?
Franklin Delano Roosevelt came down with polio at age 39 that left him paralyzed in both legs, but he hid his condition from the public.
Dwight Eisenhower, while he was in office, suffered a heart attack, a stroke and Crohn’s Disease.
John F. Kennedy was only 43, but he kept secret his Addison’s disease, chronic back pain and addiction to painkillers.
(Photo) Nobody knew Ronald Reagan was unhealthy, but he had bad arthritis, and while occupying the White House he had surgery for skin cancer, prostate cancer and colon cancer. And he was shot in the chest. He also began showing signs of Alzheimer’s at the end of his second term.
Young or old, people have health challenges, but should that rule them out for America’s top job? Don’t we care about intelligence, open-mindedness, compassion, and honesty in candidates? I think we do. Age ain’t nothing but a number.
Until next time.
Jul 25, 2011 | Democrats, Politics, Republicans |
The past couple of weeks in Washington have been insane. Congressional and White House meetings over debt relief and deficit reduction look like a wicked dance of death between Democrats and Republicans in the political theater called Divided Government.
The negotiations…well, there really weren’t negotiations on both sides. The Democrats just folded in the face of almost every GOP proposal. The behind closed door maneuverings are not about getting Americans back on their feet but about which party is the last standing on its feet.
After the mid term elections last fall, President Obama and Congress were all about jobs. Yet, have you heard anybody in this current political debacle making jobs the priority? Has there been serious discussion about reducing the 9.2 percent unemployment rate? Oh, the phrase “job creation” has been bandied about. And the Republicans frequently talk about helping the “job creators.” (Read that “the rich.”) But the people who have lost their jobs, their homes, and their dignity are on the sidelines. More than 14 million Americans.
The debt ceiling must be raised. Everybody agrees to that. But the Republicans have turned what–in the past–would have been an easy vote, into a major undertaking. They want to tackle the long-term deficit by cutting spending on social programs including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid; calling for a constitutional amendment to balance the budget; and, for God’s sake, don’t impose any more taxes on the wealthy.
I teach at a college and I suspect that many of the students accepted for admission, as well as returning students, may not be in our classrooms this fall. We saw it last year. Their parents have lost jobs and can’t afford the tuition and other expenses. Because there have been cuts in federal and state financial aid. Their dreams of earning a college degree may be dashed forever.
I don’t want to hear about what happens to the deficit in 2015 or 2020. I want to hear about the unemployed who desperately need and want to go to work now, right now.
Shouldn’t there be some quid pro quo that will relieve the rich of more taxes only if they create a specific number of jobs. They’ve got to give up something.
In the face of the gridlock in Washington and the seeming lack of concern for the citizens of this country, I’m reminded of a part of the Declaration of Independence in which says government should secure the rights of the people to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It then states:
“…whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
You see our country is based on the Right of the People, not just the rights of Tea Partiers or the rich and powerful. Don’t we need to remind them?
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