Prom King of the U.S.A.

I just read a couple blogs regarding the upcoming election, like voting day is among us. Many have voted early. Props to you for getting it out of the way. For the rest of us...

On the subject of voting, anymore I feel like I'm in high school trying to decide Prom King again. Of course it was easier in high school because A, it didn't matter two shits who you voted for it wasn't going to change your life, and B, in my high school, my super-huge super-secret crush became Prom King, so you know who I voted for. He's not running for President unfortunately, but if he were, I would be the creepy stalker girl in charge of his campaign on a local level, applying obsessively to be his intern, and trust me, Monica was nothing compared to what I'd do to MY man in the oval office. Back off ladies, my crush is all mine. You, I see you wondering what he looks like, stop it. Stop it now.

On Facebook, I admin a couple pages. One gets very political. I don't think we intended it to get that way, but it seemed we attracted a fan base who appreciates the political posts. Between that and seeing my friends post, other pages post (many political based since I'm always on the prowl for political content), and reading many articles on the subject whether it be because I ran into the article debating on sharing it or I'm googling facts or doing any research for a debate with someone on the page, it just seems to me that this country is voting for our national prom king.

I don't think people really understand the concept of President. Some people seem to think he's King, that everything he says will happen, and everything he signs or accomplishes was solely his job with no help from anyone else. I can't resist, but I must quote Obama, "You didn't build that." No president does it all on his own. Our government is set up with a system of "checks and balances" (does that not sound familiar from high school Government class?) so that not one man rules the country. To others, it's like a fan thing. Vote for my guy. You have to vote for my guy. I'm insulted if you don't vote for my guy. Are you really so stupid you will fuck up the entire world by voting for the other guy? Let me tell you something about this other guy. He keeps children locked in his basement and snorts cat nip and kills unicorns. He's a nerd. My guy is the popular cool guy and you must vote for him or I'm going to kick your ass. It's a clique really. I have to vote for this guy because I'm in his political party/social circle. And do you really know these men? Do you really have any idea who they are? No. It's a popularity contest. It shouldn't be, but that's what it is...

So if you want to vote for a President instead of a Prom King...

Well these two blogs I read earlier that inspired my little blip on the subject, I agree with them. Ginger focused her blog on growing up before voting, you know, fact checking and doing your own research. Awesome. I agree. People who say voting for the wrong guy is killing this country, well I say sheeple are. Blindly voting for whoever your party system, religious affiliation, or your parents or friends told you to vote for is what's killing our country. You know, prom king. Please don't do it that way. Have your own brain and let it think. It was put in your head to think, and letting other people do that for you is just depriving your brain of its purpose.

Also for research, what gets me is people's memory goes to shit. I thought my memory was bad, but I love seeing memes talking about facts from 4 years ago and I'm like, "I was alive 4 years ago, and it wasn't like that at all." Then I have people argue with me, giving me links to prove my experiences wrong.

Another one is, most people are not interested in this shit until like 3 days before the election. I've seen memes saying, "The democrats did this" and ummm no I remember 3 years ago the Republicans were trying to sneak that in a bill, something they wouldn't pass otherwise but decided to give the democrats what they wanted while sneaking in something the republicans wanted that the democrats would never vote for otherwise. It's a win-win/lose-lose deal, and stuff like that happens ALL THE TIME in Washington. I found various articles on that subject back then and shared it with everyone who totally didn't care, the meme about the dinosaur got a bunch of likes, but the link was ignored, and now that the election is coming, now the meme lying about it is going viral. Like people really? When you do your own research, you should be doing it all the time. Don't wait until election day to google the candidates. By now, the stories about actual events that occurred, the ones with some facts and were written back when it happened, are lost on page 57 of Google search. The first 56 pages are now someone's biased blog with distorted facts... When people share links about, "look at this that is going on in the white house," at some point, read the article. Half ass the read if you have to. Don't ignore it thinking, "I'd rather read about boobs." Boobs are awesome, don't get me wrong, but sometimes you have to do what you don't feel like doing because that's part of being grown-up and responsible.

The other blog I read today, Moms Who Drink and Swear, she more or less got into what we tell our children. Awesome thoughts. I am a mother of 3 girls, and I want my little ladies to understand the shit we women went through to get ourselves that right to vote, and the women of our past deserve us to take that right seriously.

I am also very much against scaring the shit out of little kids outside of people jumping out of trees randomly on Trick or Treat night. My parents were very religious people, and growing up, I had lots of nightmares about the evil ugly gnarly invisible monster named Satan and all his demons who follow me trying to take my soul, and they, unlike the Tooth Fairy, are real. They say children concrete thinkers, like abstract reasoning isn't supposed to happen until the teenage years, so that might explain why I didn't understand temptation and my role in that whole soul taking stuff until I got old. Another story, my mother is a guidance counselor at a school. Years ago, and I'm not going to stipulate when because I'm pitter pattering around confidentiality shit here, she had a child come into her office scared shitless that the world was coming to an end. She stopped trying at school, didn't do homework, didn't care about her grades because the world was ending, what's the point. And you know what? Saying stupid shit we say about the presidential candidates is no different. Kids don't get the back story. They don't get any of the abstract concepts with it. All they get is what you said, concrete, black and white, and some of that's scary to say this might be where you live next year, that they will kill babies or that our President could be a terrorist or whatever bull shit rhetoric we "grown-ups" have said for emotional value. Really, our arguments have turned into, "The other guy I'm not voting for is the one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater, and the one I am voting for is a god."

But here's the part I think is also important in voting. I'm about to bust out some my of nerd here, but I shall now quote Noah Webster, the dude who started public education and stuff, like read his bio, dude was badass.

"When a citizen gives his vote to a man of known immorality, he abuses his civic responsibility; he not only sacrifices his own responsibility; he sacrifices not only his own interest, but that of his neighbor; he betrays the interest of his country."

"...if the citizens neglect their Duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the Laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizen will be violated or disregarded. If [our] government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine Commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the Laws."

Now keep in mind, Noah was a religious man. I would almost say he was a religious fanatic, but his words on it seemed more poetic and geared toward love than some of your modern day fanatics / nut jobs. He seemed very spiritual as well as religious, and I think that's why I can respect that about him. Noah also said once that the righteous will see God some day, and there's truth to that. God isn't the English language. The devil is one to use language as a means to deceive. God can't do that. God just is. You either recognize Him without the words, or you don't. When I say I agree, vote for men of principal and character, I mean vote for a guy with a good heart, no matter his religion.

To sum up Noah's thoughts, translating into modern day Bad English... Don't vote for an asshole. Vote for a guy with the better intentions. The one who wants to help people, not the one who wants to help his pocket book. The one who wants to help you. The one who sees you as a person worthy of respect.

Now that's easier said than done. You only get what you see, and it's hard to get a feel for a man's character without knowing the man personally.We expect a certain level of lying like you would in a job interview (which why we know people lie on job interviews and still take their word for stuff is beyond me, and the person who is honest never gets the job). On top of it, no human is perfect or completely pure of heart. It's a gray area (50 shades of it actually haha). People don't usually do well with gray areas for whatever reason. And the cherry on top, usually your only choices are assholes. This is only something you can figure out for yourself, who is a good person and who isn't. The important thing is to think about that. Make that a voting priority. When deciding between the guy with the better plan and the guy with the better heart, pick the heart. The guy with the better plan means nothing if his motives are not in the right place. Assholes will fuck you over. My what a smart brain and awesome plan you have! The more to fuck you over with my dear.

One thing to also keep in mind... A candidate who hasn't served is going to be very naive about being President. Most of what they want to do now will change once they get into office and see how shit truly operates. Compare Obama's campaigns between now and 4 years ago. Think about Bush's campaigns. It's true of every president. Nobody knows what they are getting themselves into when they are running. I would label The President of the United States as one of the worst jobs to have in the United States. The pay is good, but there's a lot of bull shit that comes with it. You'd be better off going into engineering.

Anyway, with that said, do your own research, don't scare the children with your rhetoric, and consider value in the man more so than what he claims to stand for, and you may not be voting for a Prom King but a real President who will represent us to other nations. Who will lead our military into war or peace. Who will look out for us and our needs, whether they be economical or ethical. Who respects liberty and everything she stands for. And please, go fucking vote. It's a liberty men and women and little children died, and many still haunt the places they died, to give you. And don't forget your state people. I never understood the importance of a decent Board of Education until I had kids enter the public school system. We have a lot of stupid people in charge of my state. Don't let that be your state.