i've often said, growing up, we barely had a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. not having much in the way of material things in my formative years likely influenced my outlook on life. the election cycles since the reagan and bush eras seem to have become exponentially contentious. the events of last week were hard to watch. i was appalled that citizens of this great country would be so crass as to despoil the very seat of freedom in the name of usurping the results of the election. in my eyes the president was complicit in the events of that day.
i most often vote for the candidate on the republican ticket. it's not that i agree with everything the gop stands for, i'm more pro-choice than anti-abortion for instance. it seems to me the gop has a more conservative fiscal approach . for sure i don't identify with the something for nothing largesse of the democrats. had there been such a thing as a star program in my younger years, my family most surely would have qualified but certainly not because my folks were sitting on their butts with their hands out saying, 'take care of me'. the life of a sharecropper is hard. that's why every year there was a garden planted and hours spent tending it. picking and preserving the fruits of that labor against the coming winter months.
everything i have i earned. through a combination of hard work and fortunate happenstance; the wife and i are in a much better place than my parents ever found themselves.
i would prefer to be judged on my character more than for any political affiliation. in these divisive times both sides are wont to throw slings and arrows at the other. society's collective state of mind is one of high anxiety. i wish i could sit both sides in the corner and tell them - "when you can play nice, you can come out, but not before."
for the last four years the democrats have been in continuous attack mode. from what i can see the next four years is likely to see the gop's turn -- and that's unfortunate.
come on people- we're better than this.
aio
