Take Me To Your Leader

I've been putting off some things I want to say for a while because I don't know where to begin.  It's all so complicated and intricate and every point gets lost in the crowd of other points.  No one is listening to each other.  No one is willing to see the other point of view.  No one is open minded enough to accept that maybe someone else is right.

I actually try not to read comment threads or get my information from FaceBook, but I fall down the rabbit hole and certain pieces of dirt just stick to me and I can't shake them loose.  So, let's talk about some of these points I see over and over again.

You lost.  Get over it.

It's not a game.  This isn't a hand of Go Fish with a clear winner, a clear loser, and no consequences.  The makeup of the Electoral College is shady, at best, because they are people chosen not by knowledge or experience, but by being somehow useful to the cause.  I mean, there are no boundaries on who can ultimately make our decisions and it's not assigned by their ability to represent the people in our nation who have no voice.  This means when one candidate wins popular vote and another wins the Electoral vote, no one is really being represented.

The fact is that the founding fathers attempted to set up our government with these checks and balances in an attempt to protect minorities (used here to mean 'under represented', not to discuss race, gender, orientation, etc.) so that the majority doesn't always rule.  So while it is definitely worth pointing out that Clinton won the popular vote, it is important that Trump won the Electoral vote.  Theoretically, this is to protect those voices who aren't being heard.  And it kind of worked because look at who's talking now.  The bigots and arrogant white males whose voices have been suppressed in recent decades.  So maybe it's an evil of our own making by daring to try to change the minds of people who want to hurt and insult others.

Of course, I still think I'm right.  Hurting and insulting others is wrong across the board.  This isn't a personal choice to be made.  This is something that everyone should adopt.

The Electoral College has a role, but just like the office of presidency and any other office, it is subject to corruption.  The problem I have is that there is no checks and balances for the position of Elector so the corruption can run completely out of hand.

So, let's elect the narcissist.

I'm the kind of person who always tries to see the other side.  Mainly so that I know how to best argue against it in order to gain arguments for my opinion, but also because I like to think I'm open minded.  In a strange way, it helps me put everything in it's place so that even when I disagree, I can be at peace with those who disagree.

But what I cannot seem to resolve in my brain are Trump supporters.  Trump is what he is, he clearly didn't have 0 votes so majority, minority rule aside, we have millions of people who said hey, this is the guy we want running the country.

And I can't figure it out.  How do you NOT see it!?  Every time someone questions him, it's fake news.  Let's invent a new term: alternative facts - because somehow if you put the right spin on it, you can change the actual truth?  When the media - whose job it is to show both sides of every issue - asks a question that Trump either doesn't know the answer to or doesn't like the answer to, it's them being "not nice".  It's not their job to be nice!  It's their job to get the answers for us, the public.  

Yes, there is corruption in the media.  There is huge bias these days that is out of control and needs to be called to attention, but he acts like the fact that there is bias in the media means the facts themselves are different.  NO.  It's the rose colored glasses being presented on those facts that is swaying people's opinion.  THE FACTS THEMSELVES ARE EITHER FACTS OR THEY JUST AREN'T FACTS.  Do you see how that works?  It either is or it's NOTHING.  It's not a lie.  It's not alternative.  It just ISN'T.  

I don't like the name calling and Psych 101 terms people bandy about, but at the same time, I feel that Trump couldn't be a bigger narcissist if he tried.  I mean, seriously, folks.  "See it my way" or "WAHHH!" like a freakin' baby.  I know everything.  Even geniuses don't know EVERYTHING.   NO ONE DOES.  There is too much information out there for that to be possible.

I guess we should have seen that blindness by the public coming.  I've observed over the last decade or so that people who have a little knowledge on a subject will declare themselves experts.  We have a bit of a virus running around lately where people think they are experts when they are novices and think it's enough.  They also tend to refuse to listen to others with even more knowledge and experience because, well, what do they have to learn?

They watch Fix It shows and even though they never lifted a drill, they know exactly how to make build a house.  Yeah.  I bet you could do it on your own.

Why waste money on college?  I read books.  I know stuff.  Or tech colleges are cheaper and don't make you learn all that liberal arts junk.

Notice that people who graduated from legitimate, well regarded schools might regret their student loans, but never seem to regret the knowledge they have.  Trust me.  If you haven't gone to college, you can't know the difference, but those who went know the difference and we can see it in those who didn't.  There are many things about higher education from a well rounded college that is different from just reading some books, watching DIY network, or going to a tech school.  It's in the details.  It's in the way you learn how to think, not just the knowledge you gain.

The same boat

I was at a dinner for a friend's birthday when one of her friends made a perfect assessment of the situation.  

Maybe we are upset because for years we thought we all had the same end goal; we just had different ideas on how to get there.  This election made many of us realize we don't all have the same destination.

This is painful and we have the right to speak our discontent because, obviously, America, free speech, etc, but also because we have got to get it together.  Having different directions is what pulls a country apart.  We are on shaky ground.

Religion vs What's Right

Heavy topic today.

The LDS church, a few days ago, released a statement denouncing discrimination of individuals based on sexual orientation, etc, LGBT... for short.

In one statement, it is mentioned that "The Western democracies are based on religious principles, and people who've lost sight of that and who can't credit the importance of individual religious conscience or the free exercise of what our conscience leads us to believe, they are poorer in understanding our civilization and in understanding people of religious faith."

Which sounds great except I'd like to argue that point just a little.

I believe that freedom of religion is designed to allow you to practice your religion. It entitles you to go to church on Sunday and/or put a cross on your front door. It was created to give you the freedom to practice your religion in your home or your place of worship.

Not in Congress.

It does NOT entitle you to sanctify laws restricting the freedom of gays to marry or asking the Supreme Court to give you an exception to providing birth control.

While the LDS church is saying they supported passing laws that did not allow gays to marry because it goes against their beliefs and are now saying that does not excuse discrimination, they are creating a double standard.  Is it not discrimination to support laws that give you different rights than someone else?  On a base level, not supporting gay marriage IS discrimination!

I don't feel that a church should be required by law to perform a gay marriage, but I also don't think any religious figures have the right to tell their constituents how to vote - to make them think God somehow spoke to them and told them to take away rights of others  -  which, by action - gives those church members permission to condemn another's lifestyle.

You can't have it both ways.

As for the birth control issue, that made me angry because if you are a publicly traded company, you should not be treated with religious freedom.  Hobby Lobby is not a church.  You might go to church on Sunday, but you are not God's Employers when you hire people to work at your company.

Again, you can't have it both ways!  You want to be publicly traded?  You have to follow the laws of the land.  Frankly, it was completely ignorant.  I get the idea of not wanting to condone birth control, but do they have ANY CONCEPT of how often it is prescribed for health reasons?  I almost bled to death because od issues with my uterus.  The birth control helped, but did not solve it in my situation, but hundreds of thousands of women who don't have sex, let alone those who are married and don't want another kid right away, use it to control pain, bleeding that can lead to anemia and a plethora of other health problems, and all kind of other issues.