Thoughts on Thanksgiving.

Today is a day set aside for all of us to reflect upon all that we have in which we are thankful.  It doesn't mean that we are any less thankful for those things any other day of the year, or that we should not share our thanks with others when they do or say that for which we are grateful, appreciative or much obliged.

This day is a special day of thanks as we look upon all that we have already acknowledged, but also to find those things for which we have not yet said thanks for, or discover that some past trouble is now a lesson learned, an experience gained, wisdom which we did not have and now can be thankful for and which we may be able to pass on to another.

This day is a special day of thanks that we can, hopefully, gather with family, friends and friends that are family and share with them those things that we are most grateful for in life and in them.

This day is a special day because it matters not in any system of belief or matter of conscience, only that we see what there is in our life, be it all that one can amass in this material world, or one small shred of hope that cannot be extinguished no matter the weight of all our other woes.

I am so ever thankful for so many things, that to list them all, if I could recall each one, would create a missive that would end up on the TL;DR list.  So, for the time being and for the sake of brevity (I know, I know...something y'all are thankful for), I will just say that for all the wonderful people who love, care and support me, for the things I am able to do, the things I can enjoy, the love and life that I am able to share with others, these things I am thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We The People: Political Power

So, we survived another brutal election cycle.  Here are some of my thoughts.

Whether the candidate you chose won or lost, the process worked.  Maybe not as you wanted it to, but it worked.

So, until such time as we see things like abuse of executive privilege, utter disregard of the Law of the Land (aka The Constitution of the United States), and other things, we should be proud to know that our political system, for all it's many flaws and problems is still functioning, even it it is seems like it is on life support.

And maybe it is on life support.  Think about it.  The most important organ of our whole political process and our government, as noted in every document that is of any significance to how our nation runs, is the People.  Congress, both the house and senate alike, and the President, the face of the nation to the world and the executor of the laws passed by said Congress work for us - ALL the PEOPLE.  Not just the folks in their declared party.  Not for whatever other groups of which they may have membership in.  Not just registered voters.  For every single citizen, born in or naturalized, of this nation.

And that organ is failing.  We, the citizens, are failing our nation.  Instead of being our own voice, added to all those who support or are against each particular issue, we throw a few dollars for membership in some organization that pays it employees lots of money to attempt to influence politicians to side with their cause.  Most of these organizations do not represent broad issues.  They do not care about the middle ground, or consensus, only about their purpose, which may or may not be explicitly stated in their mission and vision statements.

It is time for us, the People, to get more actively involved politically.  You should have your elected officials on speed dial.  Their e-mail and snail mail addresses should be in your address books, Rolodex or whatever and wherever you keep those.  And the news outlets...it should come to the point where they are calling you when you haven't submitted your opinion on a matter.  Your local newspaper and local TV stations should hear from you every time you feel a politician isn't doing their job in Representing You, a member of the People, their employer.  If things seem off, if something smells, if you believe that the actions of your elected officials or any agent of the government isn't performing up to a high standard and isn't treating every single citizen as equally as possible; that they are not fulfilling their roles as duly elected officials of the US, State, County, or other municipality and the Constitution or other document that establishes that level of government, then squawk.  Loudly.  Be the squeaky wheel.  When 320+ million wheels are squeaking, then maybe these men and women who only seem to remember who they work for is when they want you to help them keep their cushy jobs, will actually start working for us, the People, and not the political machines and the lobbyists and special interest groups.

If you, we, us, the People wish to have our politicians (I cannot yet deign any of our current elected officials with the honorific of statesman {usage in this case is gender neutral}) be held accountable for what they do, then we, the People must be held accountable for monitoring their performance and critiquing it as loudly as necessary, or on those occasions when they do it right, giving them proper thanks and acknowledgement for doing the job they were hired to do.

This partisan crap needs to end.  The seeds of ideas may derive from the extremes, but it is consensus and compromise that bring about appropriate, "common-sense", legislation that is of benefit for all citizens and not some small group thereof.

Now, let us prepare to celebrate the 45th peaceful transference of power from one President to another, while ensuring that we the People, are truly the political power of this nation, not the few who we elect to represent us.