It's Over

The light bulb went on the other day, and I got hit with the obvious stick, and it felt good!

As anybody who pays any attention whatsoever to the news - or what passes for it these days - knows, the airwaves and the internet are full of arguments, disagreement, and complaints.  The finer points of axe-grinding, finger-pointing, name-calling and blaming have been raised to new heights as what seems like half the population takes on the other half in a continuing struggle to come out on top, even though nobody really knows what that means.

Well, here’s a news flash for you:  The last undecided voter, a young woman in Peoria, Kansas, finally made up her mind once and for all on April 1, 2018!  That means there is nobody left to convince on any issue!

Let your mind open and let the ramifications of this new reality sink in.  We’re done!  We don’t have to fight anymore, about anything!  It has all been decided, and there’s nothing left to talk about until the next election, which is the only place where we can exercise our right as a citizen in a way that actually does something.  We can vote.

In the meantime, we can just shut the hell up, all of us.  We don’t need to talk about politics anymore, there’s no need.  I already know who I’m going to vote for, and I don’t care who you pick, that’s entirely your business, which means it’s none of mine.

Of course, stuff will continue to happen, and people will react to it, as usual.  I’m not suggesting we give up our rights as citizens to tell the government what we expect from them at any and every opportunity that presents itself.  Far be it from me to even suggest that.  What I do suggest, though, is that we stop and consider who we should be talking to about issues that come up, and who we should not bother with.

Every one of us, at least the ones that aren’t currently homeless, has a representative who is elected to represent us.  We have City council members we can talk to, and a Mayor, if we live in town.  We have a County Council, and an Executive, and of course we have a State Representative, along with a Senator, and a Governor as well.  All of these people have to listen to us, because we live in the districts they represent and we vote for or against them in every election, if we’re holding up our end of the Citizenship Agreement.

And let’s not forget, at the national level, we have both a U. S. House member and a Senator who have the same responsibility to listen to us and respond to our concerns when we take the time to express them.  Or, you can go to the top of the line and work our way back down.  That starts with the President and Vice-President, of course, but you could extend that down to the Cabinet members if you’re a glutton for punishment.

So, as a citizen, you have many different people who would like to hear what you think about any issue on their plate, and, if you let them, will gladly send you newsletters along with never-ending requests for donations and invite you to their public events, so you can talk to them in person (don’t hold your breath on that one).

Every one else can go away.  I don’t need to discuss political issues with my cousins, my co-workers, strangers at the bus stop, people standing in line at the grocery store, or the beggar on the street corner.  I certainly don’t need to bother with trolls on Facebook.  I can smile and be pleasant, say, “Nice day, huh?”, or, “How about those M’s?”, and it doesn’t matter if the person I’m talking to is wearing a Confederate Flag T-shirt or one that says Black Lives Matter, because I don’t want to talk about their causes or hear their opinions.

If someone on the street comes up with a petition for something I would like to see adopted, I can sign it, but that’s all.  No, you don’t get any money, and no, I don’t want to hear about it.  I can sympathize if you’re all worked up about this or that cause or problem, but, in the words of an old song by Ten Years After, “Don’t ask me what I think of you, I might not give the answer that you want me to.”  Address your complaints and your suggestions to the only ones who can actually do something about it, your own representative.  Why are you wasting your breath on the rest of us?

“But, but but”, you say, “Look at those other guys!  Look at all the money they’re spending!  We have to match or beat them in order to win the election!  If you don’t give big now, we will lose!”  To that I ask only one simple question:  How do you measure the effectiveness of all that spending?

As to that, I think – but there I go again, don’t I?  Trying to slip in my opinion when it really doesn’t matter, does it?  Hey, how about those Seahawks?  They gonna be great this year, or what?  :-{)}