Awhile ago I said I was giving up politics. My husband said it wouldn't last, LOL! Most of my adult life I have been an activist on various issues, both locally and nationally. From protesting the many wars I have witnessed in my lifetime, to writing testimony in favor of informed consent for vaccines, homeschooling rights, and GMO labeling laws here in CT; I have exercised my civic rights with my voice and written word. Civics is something that has been wiped clean from our public school curriculum and replaced with social studies, and that is a shame! Part of the problem I see in our country today is a passive attitude toward government, and the policies and laws it creates. This passive apathy has allowed our government to run amuck. Maybe it's the lack of civics being taught in high school, maybe people are too busy? Whatever it is, it has got to change! We are a free society, and we have to be civic minded in order to protect our eroding liberties. The government is meant to serve us, the people, not the biggest campaign contributors and the billionaire class.
As I write this, we have some very scary laws that are not only unconstitutional, they are against freedom, and in favor government tyranny. Some of you reading this may be shaking your head right now in disbelief. Let me briefly touch on a law that scares me the most. The NDAA know as the National Defense Authorization Act, which gives the president of the USA the sole right to lockup American citizens. The law was passed a couple of years ago and signed into law on Christmas Eve by President Obama. The law strips away due process, allows the president to seize your assets, allows the president to have you taken away to a foreign prison without access to a phone call, a lawyer, and your family will not even know where you are, or that the federal government took you! All this can happen based on suspicion and the president's discretion. http://mic.com/articles/20835/why-the-ndaa-bill-is-even-scarier-than-you-thought#.0ln3T4gnd
A group of journalists led by Chris Hedges took the Obama Administration to court over indefinite detention, which is part of the NDAA. "The principal allegation made by the plaintiffs against the NDAA is that the vagueness of critical terms in the NDAA could be interpreted by the U.S. federal government in a way that authorizes them to label journalists and political activists who interview or support outspoken critics of the Obama administration's policies as "covered persons," meaning that they have given "substantial support" to terrorists or other "associated groups".[9]" Hedges et el lost, this law is now a solid part of the the federal governments arsenal of laws that strip American's of their fundamental rights granted under the Constitution and Bill Of Rights.
Our history is not perfect, we can go back to how we acquired this land and see how brutal that acquisition was. I am ashamed of what my ancestors did to the native people to take control of America. I cannot change that history. However, I am proud of The US Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the Constitution and Bill Of Rights enabled women to win the right to vote, ended slavery, entitles American citizens with the right to privacy, pursuit of happiness, freedom of expression, and due process. Sadly, we are losing these rights rapidly. Our government spies on us, we now have free speech zones, you can be taken to jail based on a suspicion. The government can seize your property, bank accounts, and other valuables based on suspicion alone, and you don't even have to be charged, and you have to fight the government to get you stuff back, and you may lose anyhow, even though you are not guilty! http://dailysignal.com/2015/05/14/federal-government-to-return-107702-irs-seized-from-north-carolina-convenience-store-owner/
This is why I cannot afford to be apolitical. We live in a time of fear and paranoia, where terrorism lurks in the shadows, and constant war reeks havoc overseas breeding more terror. We live in a time of the greatest imbalance of income equality, where the middle class is disappearing with our freedom. We live in a time where all the income and prosperity is stuck at the top. We live in a time where women's rights are being eroded, where fear and hate are breeding a toxic racism. We live in a time where the mass media is owned and operated by a small handful of wealthy elites who shape the mainstream news with their propaganda, and hide hard news like the largest methane gas leak in history now happening in California. We live in a time of the greatest corporate welfare in the form of tax loopholes and rent seeking, "Rent-seeking results in reduced economic efficiency through poor allocation of resources, reduced actual wealth creation, lost government revenue, increased income inequality,[1] and (potentially) national decline. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking
We live in a time when most American people feel helpless and angry. Maybe this is why Donald Trump is the republican frontrunner. People say that Trump says things that other politicians are afraid to say, he's not bought and sold, he has his own money. He will make America great again. His plan? Ban Muslims, and Mexicans, build a giant wall to keep immigrants out. More tax breaks for the wealthy, hey he's a business man, he knows how to get the job done. Well, sort of. He knows loopholes and ways of keeping his fortune, his companies have bankrupted 5 times, while he kept his billions. Who paid for this? We the people did and still do. For a regular Joe, they can only claim bankruptcy once and it's much harder for a regular Joe than Donald Trump to do so.
Trump makes lots of claims that he really will not be able to keep, but one thing he can do as president is use the NDAA and that is why I cannot give up politics. I cannot sit silent and watch a presidential hopeful spew misogynistic insults and degrading comments about women, minorities, and people with disabilities. Trump hits below the belt with cheap shots that make him popular with an already angry public. I know why Trump supporters are angry, they're tired of not being able to save money, of losing jobs to China and other foreign countries, they're tired of politics as usual. Our leaders in Washington have failed us! They don't tell it like it is, they dance to the tune of the almighty dollar. The politicians in Washington today are oblivious to the people they are suppose to serve. The two party system is two sides of the same coin. I am sick of it too! Money dictates policy and laws.
I feel hopeless at times. We need real change, not the hollow promises of Barrack Obama, who I voted for once and did not the second time around. He campaigned on promises he would never keep and raised a billion dollars of corporate money to take office. He proved to be the same old thing another politician blowing a lot of hot air, a great disappointment! I lost almost all hope... Then Bernie Sanders came along. The senator from the tiny state of Vermont who rides in coach, who has made history with the most donations from regular folks like us! He doesn't take super pac money, he says things the other politician won't say, he speaks the truth! He addresses income inequality, corporate greed, Wall Street, and America's shrinking middle class and growing poor. Bernie Sanders is a breath of fresh air, and I hope some of the folks supporting Donald Trump will come to see that Bernie Sanders will bring back our economy, jobs, and make a fair playing field for America to be great again. Bernie can't make these changes alone, no one can! What Bernie needs, what America needs, to be great again, is an active citizenry! So today I jump back into politics, America cannot be great again until the people rise up and help make that happen! Thank you Bernie Sanders, for so eloquently saying such. "We must launch a political revolution which engages millions of Americans from all walks of life in the struggle for real change." Bernie Sanders
