COUNT ME OUT!
(Suffering from Post-Traumatic Election
Disorder)
As
I sit in my condo trying to make sense of what has happened in American
politics, I am befuddled. I don’t even know the meaning of that word, but it is
the only word that seems to describe the way I feel. I see the future for
America as a rodeo where a cowboy is about to hop on the back of a mean bull.
For the next eight seconds he needs to hold on tight because he is in for a
rough ride. Those eight seconds for Americans will be extended into days,
weeks, months, and years.
The
“dumbing down” of America is a mystery yet to be solved. I have difficulty
getting my head around minimum-wage workers going to the polls and casting a
vote for the political party that has looked them directly in the eyes and
said, “We are not going to increase the minimum wage for working-class
Americans.” So you are stuck with at least four more years working for minimum
wage that is not even a living wage. But because Fox News told you that you
must vote against the lady who used a private server for her emails, you voted
for the Republican Party. If this is intelligent voting—COUNT ME OUT!
I
have further difficulty understanding retirees, many of whom are barely making
ends meet with Social Security checks, voting for the political party that has
publicly stated they will reduce funds for Social Security recipients.
Plus—those who plan to retire must work an extra two years because the
Republicans plan to up the retirement age.
But because Fox News told you that if a lady used a private server for
her emails she is evil and you must vote against evil, you voted for the
Republican Party. If this is intelligent voting, please do not hesitate for a
second—COUNT ME OUT!
Hold
on just another minute. I personally know many individuals who count on monthly
disability checks as their only means of income. But they went to the polls and
voted for the political party that has also stated they will cut federally
funded disability programs. Let me put this in terms that are easier to
understand. This means that your monthly
check is going to be less. It isn’t something that will happen to someone who
lives a hundred miles away; this is something that is going to happen to you.
But you listened to Fox News and you believed all the lies about the evils of
the Democratic Party, and you went to the polls and voted to cut off your nose
to spite your face. If this is intelligent voting, don’t give it another
thought—COUNT ME OUT!
But
wait, I’m not finished. I personally know many Christians who voted for the man
who told evangelicals that he will appoint judges who will overturn the
Marriage Equality Act. There is absolutely nothing on record that proves
same-sex couples have caused any harm to anyone. But those same Christians voted for the
political party that has cut funds for programs that feed hungry children. Not
only that, they have stated they will cut more funds from the same programs.
Same-sex couples have caused no harm, but cutting funds that feed thousands of
hungry children has caused much harm. I
will tell you straight out, actions such as those have caused me to have little
or no faith in man-made Christianity. If this is an example of Christian
voting, please—COUNT ME OUT!
Now
I come to the final point. I know a few gay men who have been very vocal in
their support for Mike Pence. Apparently you fellows don’t know that he spent
millions of taxpayers’ dollars to DENY the rights of LGBT citizens in the state
of Indiana. He even went so far as an attempt to jail same-sex couples who
applied for a marriage license. I know that straight America loves this, but I
have difficulty understanding gays who support these actions. Apparently you
don’t understand “conversion therapy”—a program Mike Pence intends to institute
all across America—and the harm it will do to young gay boys, young lesbian
girls and transgender students. I hope it’s because you don’t know, rather than
you don’t care, because your vote has already done much harm to gay America. I
assure you that the millions of gays yet to be born will be much smarter; they
will do extensive research and find out who voted for what, and when. They will
continue to write the book of gay accomplishments and name the great gay
leaders who sacrificed their lives for the cause. It is highly improbable that
your names will ever be inscribed in that book. If your vote for candidates who
have caused harm to LGBT citizens is, in your heart and mind, the right kind of
vote, then by all means—COUNT ME OUT!
(Of
course, I got the idea for the title COUNT ME OUT from the lady, Mrs. Hillary
Clinton, who used the important phrase “DEAL ME IN” successfully in many of her
campaign speeches. I want to give credit where credit is due.)
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