Presidential Election 2016

 

Wow! This election is incredibly interesting. I thought back in July that we had our Republican and Democratic candidate for President: Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton. Maybe some of you thought otherwise…Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump had quite a following as well. But for me, I thought we’d head to the polls (or be filling in our absentee ballots) considering to vote for either Hillary Clinton or Ted Cruz for President of the United States of America. I will mention that I appreciate the third party candidates as well and maybe someday we can get one elected, but not as of yet.

 

Then, not out of nowhere, but certainly unexpected to myself, Donald Trump comes out on top as the Republican Presidential Nominee. I had read both Trump and Cruz’s platforms, websites, etc before casting my vote for Cruz in the primaries. I liked a lot about both candidates and thought Cruz had the nominee in the bag. I was wrong.

 

So here we are three months later, three Presidential debates later, and many colorful claims from everywhere later, and we face the question: WHOM DO I VOTE FOR AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES?

 

If you have made up your mind already, I would venture to say you won’t appreciate or glean much from further reading this, but you’re welcome to read it. If you’re still considering all the possibilities from write-in candidates to the major party candidates, I invite you to read or skim my thoughts.

 

Our presidential election, as is the case every four years, is made up of issues, personalities, histories, bashing of other people on candidates, lies and truth, opinions, random world-wide events, and probably more. Our emotions certainly play a part in our decision-making as does what we choose to believe. Do I believe what so and so said about so and so? Do I think this issue really matters? Could I support a person who ________? I would guess this has been the case this year for many of us. I have been completely SURPRISED by what matters to people and what doesn’t. Emotions, our backgrounds, our perceptions, the things we hold dear, and certainly our future goals play a part in what we believe matters and what we dismiss as irrelevant in our consideration of a future president.

 

When I heard some claim Trump to be unfit because he was a businessman with no experience in the political arena, I thought of Ronald Reagan. Surely someone brought up that he had been an ACTOR. How could we trust an actor? How would we know if he was acting or he was being sincere? Would other countries take an ACTOR seriously? Granted, he had been a governor of California prior to running for President of the United States so he had some political background, but still, an ACTOR?! Obviously that didn’t keep people from voting for him. To me this is one of the nonissues that have been brought up in our current presidential race: can a businessman be President of the United States? Sure, why not.

 

A few other things that do not hold me back from considering Trump for President are the recent audios released, the claims of him touching women without permission, his bluntness, him not releasing his tax returns, him “keeping us in suspense” of whether or not he’ll accept whomever is elected President, his swearing, claims that he is a bigot or a misogynist. There are likely more that I can’t think of, but these are the nonissues I can think of at the moment.

 

What does matter to me in consideration of whom to vote for as President of the United States?

-Do they personally and (as far as I can tell) will he/she honor the Constitution of the United States as it was intended by our Founding Fathers to be interpreted?

-Will she/he take seriously their role as President of our united States and respect the office we have elected him or her to?

-Will my right to freedom of speech be protected?

-Will my right to bear arms be protected?

-Will my right to practice my religion be honored?

-Whom will they nominate to the United States Supreme Court? I want only those that will uphold the Constitution to take on those revered and burdensome positions.

-Will she/he stand up for what they believe to be right?

-Will he/she put her/his people before him or herself and truly serve? Also, will they allow Congress to serve in the capacities they were elected for?

-Does she/he seem to have his or her own agenda(s) that are pushing them to seek the Presidency? If so, what are they? Are these honorable agendas? Do these agendas further liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

 

Beyond these general queries that DO MATTER TO ME IN CONSIDERATION FOR WHOM TO VOTE FOR AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, there are also specific issues that hit close to home, or that my personal experience and beliefs lead me to take seriously in considering whom to vote for this November.

 

-Does he/she respect human life? What is his/her personal and platform beliefs on abortion? Does his/her have an opinion about Planned Parenthood and/or Black Lives Matter? What is his/her view on acts of violence and terror? Does he/she feel or say it is okay for someone to lash back in violence if they feel they are being wronged? Would said person be considered innocent if they hurt someone else? What does he/she consider the role of our police force, border patrol, and military members? Is it to defend life? Protect liberty? Uphold the Constitution? Act on whatever their bosses/leaders/Pentagon officials/Congressman/Commander in Chief tells them to do? Each of these issues will be affected by whether or not the President respects human life.

 

-Will she/he uphold the Constitution? Will she/he sign a lot of executive orders? Will she/he LISTEN to the counsel of others and consider it when making decisions?

 

-What type of educational reforms will he/she support? Will PARENTS have the freedom to choose to homeschool, or to send their children to public, private, or charter schools? Will PARENTS have power to intervene in their children’s education? Will he/she give back more control and power to the States in the education of their citizens (I know it’s a long shot, but wouldn’t that be fabulous!!)? Would he/she consider getting rid of the Department of Education completely (YAY!!)? If there is to be regulation concerning education, the States are the ones that ought to wield that power, yet somehow the federal government has taken a prominent role in the educational arena.

 

-Does she/he have money sense? Can she/he help reduce our deficit and help our economy? What is her/his take on the role of the Federal Reserve? What background does she/he have in earning, saving, and spending money? Has money come easy for her/him? Who have been her/his mentors? How successful have they been in the past with their endeavors personally and professionally? Clinton’s correspondence and connections with Saul Alinsky is troubling.

 

-What are his/her interactions with his/her family?

 

-What role does she/he want the United States to have on the world stage? Would she/he push us to become a willing participant in a global government? Does she/he feel we have an obligation to the world? What is/are those obligations? Humanitarian? Self-defense?

 

-Will he/she defend the United States of America from terrorism and from foreign threats? Will he/she use the military as pawns as if in a game? Does he/she have an opinion on the death penalty and prisons?

 

-How much will she/he support manipulating the economy through federal regulation? Will she/he pressure minimum wage increases? Will she/he encourage people to work and earn for themselves and those they love? Manipulating minimum wage leads to fewer jobs or less job benefits because a company can’t necessarily increase wages based on federal regulation, it is dependent on company profits and the value the employee gives to the company.

 

-What is his/her opinion on nuclear weapons? For our country? For other nations?

 

Now, how has all of this played out in my decision about who to vote for this year? I have thoughts on every question above, but I will limit this to a summary.

 

First, would I consider voting for a third party or write-in candidate? Yes. However, my top choice is one of the two major party candidates so no third party candidate this year. I will add that I do think voting for a candidate that is not one of the two major candidates can damage a major party candidate’s chances for triumph.

 

Second, what about all of the negatives brought up on Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump? While some of these are true (and proven) and others are claims and are unproven, I don’t think the negatives have amounted to much in my decision. Do some negatives weigh more heavily than others? Yes, the deleting of illegally kept emails while one was in public service is more disturbing to me than one not releasing tax returns.

 

Third, I want someone with gusto, passion, and love for America to lead our country. Donald Trump has this going for him; Hillary Clinton does not.

 

Fourth, my concern about respect for human life…this came up in the final debate and I was pleased to hear both candidates speak about abortion. I found it interesting that Chris Wallace quoted Hillary Clinton in saying that a fetus does not have constitutional rights. Um, okay. So a fetus can’t vote for her and so she doesn’t care about it? I don’t think that was the point, but I found the wording interesting as if since a fetus doesn’t have constitutional rights that means it has no rights or protections whatsoever. That is disturbing. A person is pronounced dead not when they stop breathing or look dead or even when their heart stops. They are pronounced dead only after their heart has been stopped for a time. A fetus has a beating heart nearly from the beginning of formation. Why is it not considered murder to stop a baby-in-the-womb (or a fetus’s) heart from beating as it would be for any other human form alive? Late-term partial abortion was brought up in the final debate as well. Donald Trump said it was terrible, and Hillary Clinton neither confirmed nor denied that she believed late-term partial birth abortion was acceptable. She claims that government should be kept completely out of the decision. REALLY? Then why has she supported the government funding of Planned Parenthood? They offer counseling that leads to many abortions—couldn’t the fact that there is some government funding mislead a person into believing that there is government approval or condoning of abortions? Also, if government stays out of it completely, at what point is it a punishable crime for a mother to purposefully terminate the life of her to-be baby? Never? She can terminate a pregnancy at any time for any reason? Or perhaps at what point can a boyfriend/friend/grandmother be prosecuted for helping a mother or performing themselves acts on a pregnant woman that lead to the death of a fetus or baby IF the pregnant mother consented? Does a mother really have the right to TERMINATE the development of a baby in their womb? If so, who gave them that right? Is it a constitutional right or a human right to kill an unborn child? Do you think the Creator of that to-be child appreciates His creation being stopped in its progression? Yes, I’m talking about the Man Upstairs, our God and Creator, the One that created the Earth and every living thing on it. No, I don’t think He appreciates His creations being destroyed while in their developmental stage. I appreciate that women have choices about how to use their bodies, but the choice of having a baby comes before you engage in acts that could lead to pregnancy. Once the act is performed, there are other choices, but the choice to stop the heartbeat of a child to-be is not one of them. I understand there are cases of rape, incest, a woman’s health that may delineate extremely rare circumstances where abortion may be the answer, but these are so few and rare that there need not be a blanket acceptance of ending a baby’s life while in the womb. Because I believe this, it does not mean I judge women who have had abortions to be terrible people or that they should be condemned in some way. I do not condemn them nor should anyone. Our actions have consequences either now or later and we are not the ones to dish out the consequences. Women ought to be informed of the emotional suffering that may come if she chooses to have an abortion, and she ought to be informed of the alternatives (raising a child, adoption).

 

Wow, I went on forever on that one.

Okay, next. While Donald Trump is not as polished a statesman as Hillary Clinton, this is actually a plus for him in my book. I like people that speak their mind. I don’t like rhetoric, polished speeches written by someone else, or regurgitated sound bites from various sources. I like people to speak THEIR mind. Donald Trump takes chances and isn’t afraid of saying what he thinks. Now, if he could not apologize this might be a problem, but he can, which brings me to my next point.

 

Donald Trump can apologize. Hillary Clinton does not seem to be capable of giving an apology. I am not talking about, “If I could do it again, I would do it differently,” apologies (which was hers at the first debate). What parent on the planet would accept that answer from their son or daughter? A parent would delve deeper, “Oh differently, how so?” Or at the very minimum, an apology includes, “I’m sorry.” A bit further would be, “I’m sorry. What I did was wrong.” Even more humble would include, “And I recognize that my actions have hurt others and I ask for their forgiveness.” Even better, “I will do my best not to hurt others or act dishonestly in the future.” There. Some may say apologies are political suicide. I say if you don’t make them, it is the beginning of the end of your career as a politician. You now have something over your head for which you haven’t truly cleared yourself and it will continue to be a thorn in your side. Give it up, come clean. In doing so, you may find the audience much more understanding than you thought they would be. I mean, who hasn’t messed up?

 

In foreign affairs, it will be interesting with either Hillary or Donald as President. Hillary doesn’t have a very good record or good relations going for her and Donald has none so…I guess we’ll see.

 

Unfit for President? I used to think it takes an honest, self-sacrificing, loving, benevolent, knowledgeable, understanding, wise person to be the President of the United States. However, in terms of the character and actions of a person that cause them to be “fit” for the Presidency, I no longer have a list. In learning about past Presidents of the United States, many of them would not have fit on my “honest, self-sacrificing, loving, etc” list and most of them did pretty well as President. Being knowledgeable cannot even be measured or really known as it could encompass knowledge by experience, book smarts, and at different times our nation has needed different leaders. George Washington’s formal education ended around the age of 15, yet he had great character and leadership abilities. Our nation certainly needed him. At this time, 2016, we do not need a politically savvy leader; we need a leader for the people. Donald Trump fits this bill much more than Hillary Clinton. Health isn’t an issue in who I choose to vote for as we have procedures in place to account for health issues.

 

One thing that has rubbed me the wrong way is Hillary Clinton bringing up that her father was a small businessman that worked hard and that somehow this makes her better than Donald Trump whose father gave him a loan to start a business. This hasn’t played a large part in my choosing to vote for Trump, but it has given me pause to think. Why would she bring that up? She certainly has no experience building a business. She has no experience of not having a pay check. She was not among those struggling or unable to afford higher education. Doesn’t this actually put her more out of touch with most Americans than in touch with them? Some Americans have gone to bed hungry because there was not money for food. Most of us overheard our parents speaking about money woes or budgets at some point in our lives. If we attend college, most of us have/had to earn the money ourselves (or perhaps family chipped in), maybe we had or will have to stop along the way to earn enough to finish school, then we pay off educational loans through work, maybe we’ve tried our hand at one or more small business ventures or chose to work for someone at the wage they deemed us and the task worthy of, perhaps we invest here or there, and so on. Can Clinton relate to any of that? Can she relate to living without surety of the future? Does it matter if she can relate to those she represents? That unsure life is the one most of us lead. It involves risk and success and failure and trying again and again. We don’t have teleprompters or a staff of 15+ people telling us what to do, say, or how to act. We figure it out as we go. Can she relate to that? Can she make her own decisions? I question her ability to take risks and be willing to put herself out there for the good of America.

 

In short, of all the possible presidential nominees, I think Donald Trump is the best choice for President of the United States at this time. I appreciate his candidness and believe our right to free speech and practice of religion will be protected as well as our right to bear arms. I believe he will nominate upstanding judges to the Supreme Court that will defend and protect the Constitution. I believe he will set in motion policies (tax cuts, deregulation, etc) that will lead to positive effects on our economy. I believe our military will be honored under his leadership. I believe our foreign affairs will be strong. I see a bright future for America under the Presidency of Donald Trump. We do not live in a dictatorship so regardless of who is President, we the people will still be able to make America shine, but I believe our liberties and freedoms will be much more abundant under a Trump administration than any other candidate’s administration. I don’t believe America will take on socialistic policies or push punishing thoughts (political correctness) under a Trump administration. Actions will have consequences as they ought to, but thoughts will be permissible as they ought to be. How can a person counter negative/not-good thoughts if they cannot admit that they think those thoughts and learn why they aren’t good? There has to be a starting place and if the starting place is politically incorrect, so be it. It is a starting place. I believe a Trump administration will allow for this type of growth: acceptance where we are with the potential of soaring higher than we thought possible.

 

Now, some of us may be hesitant to put our voices out there in support of Donald Trump or one of the other candidates. Maybe this is because we don’t like to lose and if we choose a side we might lose. Or maybe it’s because we really don’t know how the person we back will act as President. The hesitation is understandable, but we ought to conquer it. Those things: win or lose, actions of someone in the future, etc are out of our control. If things don’t go as we believe they will and as we’ve professed they will, so be it. If someone is rash enough to believe that we know everything and that somehow our supporting a certain candidate led to poor results that person is clearly lacking in understanding. We judge the best we can. We let our voice be heard with the facts and information we have. If we end up being wrong, we’re wrong. We did the best we could, and at least we LET OUR VOICE BE HEARD. Go Trump!

 

Motivation

Motivation can be a slippery thing. You've got it one minute and it's gone the next. As of late, I've been thinking about two types of motivation. They are both outcome-related motivation. One is the "to-do" outcome and the other is the (as Mater from Cars would say) "tuh-not-to" outcome.

An example of "to-do" motivation: We view a person or an image that represents having great success getting fit and they become our "to-do" motivation. We think of them--their health, fitness, spiritual strength, etc to help us press on in accomplishing our personal goal of getting fit. 

In keeping with this same idea of trying to be motivated into getting fit, our "tuh-not-to" motivation would be a person or an image of something that represents to us bot being fit. We may picture a person--or ourselves--weighing 500 pounds, sitting on a couch eating potato chips and ice cream.

I recently had brought to my attention an example of "tuh-not-to" motivation in the realm of not viewing pornography. Remember the serial killer Ted Bundy? Well, he offered an interview shortly before his execution and in it he links his behavior as beginning with pornography. Great example of a "tuh-not-to" motivator in choosing NOT to view pornography and to get away quick when it finds you.  

Why "The 15 Minute Blog"?

"The 15 minute blog" came into being by accident. A few weeks ago, as I was finishing up my reading of a blog post, I was stunned by a challenge issued to each of the readers of that blog: To begin a blog of their own. I was surprised by the challenge and soon forgot about it. However, it kept creeping back into my thoughts so I decided I'd better decide to forget about it forever, do a blog, or something else. I decided to do a blog. Lest ye think that I am far removed from the blogging world, I have had a personal blog since 2008 (6+ years) and have 3 followers. Yes, THREE followers. I also have a family blog that has many more visitors, but even that blog hasn't been updated since 2012. For ease and convenience I have merged my previous blog (H-Opinions) with this blog (My 15 Minute Blog).

Why the title? Because I am somewhat anti-"spending my life online". There are so many other enjoyable pursuits that I don't want to miss out on by posting or reading a bazillion blogs each day. So I intend to do 15 minute blog posts: whatever I can write in 15 minutes on a topic of my choice is what will end up on the page. Beyond that, I do get "sucked in" to writing and reading and many other things so in limiting my time I hope to 1) stay motivated to continue the blog (it's only 15 minutes!) and 2) continue growing in other ways and not become obsessed with my blog. We'll see how I do.

Movie and thoughts--part 2

North and South: I began this movie knowing that it was of the Pride and Prejudice era and somewhat Pride and Prejudice-esq. I was quite surprised that the plot was surrounded by integrity to oneself and the goings-on of merchants and workers. Union workers are a central part of the movie, as are "masters" (the mill owners). What was refreshing was that neither was idealized or made to be something it is not. The fierceness of masters is seen, the wildness of those brought to desparation during a strike is seen, as are the benefits of unions and having business owners. Adding to it is the benefit of workers and masters seeing one another's point-of-view. This gave a heightened sense of accomplishment to the movie itself; of course, not all workers WOULD see the masters' points-of-view just as many masters WOULD NOT see their workers' points-of-view. I believe England (and other parts of the world) have much more experience in this than does the United States. We can learn from them. We can learn to let the benefits and drawbacks of unions to be known and discussed. It seems to be a hush-hush issue to mention something amiss with unions and yet there are clearly things that are amiss. In some cases, eliminating certain unions would be the best option for our country and allow people to see others' points-of-view more easily, just as it does in North and South.

Movies and thoughts--part 1

The Jane Austen Book Club: I'd give it 3 out of 5 stars; it was okay. During the movie, something specific bothered me and I didn't recognize why until a few hours after the movie. The daughter is a lesbian. The family responds to this with little concern and similar interest to a daughter with a boyfriend, breaking up with a boyfriend, etc. The scenes of she and her partner are portrayed similar and akin to the other traditional relationships going on in the movie. This bugged me. I have no problem with each person and each family choosing how to deal with same-sex attraction within or without their family, but what we need to realize is that just because it was shown this way in the movie doesn't mean it is this way in real like. This is how Hollywood wants us to act toward same-sex relationships. Everything is normal. Everyone is happy. They are just like you. Embrace them for their choice. Embrace their choice. Well, Hollywood can push rhetoric and their ideas, but this character's part and the family and friend's reactions are not real. They are made up and pretend. Happiness does not always come from doing what you want to do and we don't have to pretend that it does.

Arguing with Idiots

Here are some links to some of the finalists videos in the Arguing with Idiots video contest. These happen to by my favorite. ENJOY!

Animated

Rap

New America

For more click here.

Those who've survived before...

My dad forwarded this to me via email and it's worth considering.

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered
with bright colored lead-base paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads. As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes. Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight.. WHY?

Because we were always outside playing...that's why! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were OKAY. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Play stations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping pong paddles, or just a bare hand and no one would call child services to report abuse.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. If YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good. While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?
~
The quote of the month is by Jay Leno: 'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'