Raccoons and Voting

The following is in response to this letter that a friend forwarded to me.

http://100percentfedup.com/dear-rnc-an-everyday-american-writes-a-letter-to-explain-the-trump-phenomenon-to-the-washington-elite/


The funny thing about this letter is that it is full of the same lies Trump is spewing and his supporters really don’t seem to care about. YOU are an intelligent and critical thinker, your success in a very difficult program proves it, dig deeper and analyze the evidence; Google “countering Trump’s lies” (I know you are drowning in school but just as your degree will bring long term affects so too will this election).

  1. Illegal aliens have been allowed to invade our country.

Of the more than 41 million foreign-born people living in the United States in 2013, about 30 million were naturalized citizens, permanent residents and legal residents. Eleven million were unauthorized immigrants. Of those who did not have authorization to be here, about 40 percent entered the country legally and then let their visas expire.
http://www.tolerance.org/immigration-myths
***These are Europeans too. I was friends with many English nanny’s who came here that way and worked in Greenwich, Westport, Darien for cash.


 2. This country is weak, bankrupt.

“The country is weak”, if referring to our ‘war machine’, is way off base. 
“In fiscal year 2015, military spending is projected to account for 54 percent of all federal discretionary spending, a total of $598.5 billion. Military spending includes: all regular activities of the Department of Defense; war spending; nuclear weapons spending; international military assistance; and other Pentagon-related spending.”
“U.S. military expenditures are roughly the size of the next nine largest military budgets around the world, combined.”
The following has several links that relate to the issue.
https://www.nationalpriorities.org/campaigns/military-spending-united-states/

“If the U.S. Treasury went bankrupt, America would experience the largest depression in the history of the country.”
http://thelawdictionary.org/article/what-would-happen-if-the-us-treasury-goes-bankrupt/

“If there’s one article of faith in Washington (and elsewhere), it’s the idea that the United States might get into a debt crisis if it doesn’t get its fiscal house in order.
This is not true.
The reason why it’s not true is because we live in a fiat currency system, where the United States government can create an infinite number of dollars at no cost to meet its obligations. A Treasury bill is a promise that the government will give you US dollars–something that the United States government can produce infinitely and at no cost.
That’s the reason why interest rates on United States debt have only gone down even as the debt has ballooned.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/pascalemmanuelgobry/2012/10/19/no-the-united-states-will-not-go-into-a-debt-crisis-not-now-not-ever/#197c57f257ee

 3. We are becoming a nation of victims where every Tom, Ricardo and Hasid is part of a special group with special rights, to the point where we don’t even recognize the country we were born and raised in.

Actually we are the nation we were always meant to be. Various peoples from all over the world, an amalgamation of many colors, races, religions. The United States has a bumpy record of “Treating All Men Equally” but that is our mainstay and we do our best to abide by it. We must admit that we ALL have the same "inalienable rights" making no distinction for race, skin color, religion(or none), sexual orientation, gender, disability or whatever other difference that makes us this great melting pot.
At the base of the Statue of Liberty a plaque reads, in part, 
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" 

4. ...bringing tens of thousands of Muslim refugees to America, while leaving Christians behind to be persecuted.

“More than 43 million people worldwide are now forcibly displaced as a result of conflict and persecution, the highest number since the mid-1990s.
…
Major refugee populations include Palestinians (4.8 million), Afghans (2.9 million), Iraqis (1.8 million), Somalis (700,000), Congolese (456,000),  Myanmarese (407,000), Colombians (390,000), Sudanese (370,000).
…
Children constitute about 41 percent of the world’s refugees, and about half of all refugees are women.
About two-thirds of the world’s refugees have been in exile for more than five years, many of them with no end in sight.”
http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/briefingpapers/refugees/

“A total of 2,290 Syrian refugees have arrived in the United States since fiscal year 2011, which is when the Syrian civil war began, through Nov. 20, 2015, according to the State Department’s Refugee Processing Center. Of those, only 62 were identified in the center’s database as Christian. That’s 2.7 percent, even though the Christian population in Syria is about 10 percent, according to the CIA World Factbook.
…
It’s important to note that the Syrian refugees are referred to the U.S. by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
From 2013 though Nov. 17,2015,  the U.N. says it has referred 22,427 Syrian refugees to the U.S. for “resettlement consideration.” The U.N. could not tell us how many of the 22,427 U.N. referrals were Christian, and the State Department did not know how many Christian Syrians may have been rejected by the U.S. But we know the U.S. is drawing from a limited pool of applicants provided by the U.N. from a predominately Muslim country.
…
Chris Boian, a spokesman for the UNHCR, told us the refugees crossing into Europe are typically not registered with the U.N. and will not be referred to the U.S.
“It’s very important for people to know there’s a big, big difference between the relative chaotic scene we’ve seen played out in Europe and the resettlement process in the United States,” Boian said.
…
One last thing to consider: Not all 23,826(current #) refugees referred to the U.S. will be admitted to the U.S. The Congressional Research Service says in a February 2015 report that the U.S. typically “aims to consider for resettlement at least half of the refugees” referred by the U.N.”
http://www.factcheck.org/2015/11/facts-about-the-syrian-refugees/

"Each year the President, in consultation with Congress, determines the numerical ceiling for refugee admissions. For Fiscal Year (FY) 2016, the proposed ceiling is 85,000.
 - Over one-third of all refugee arrivals (35.1 percent, or 24,579) in FY 2015 came from the Near East/South Asia—a region that includes Iraq, Iran, Bhutan, and Afghanistan.
 - Another third of all refugee arrivals (32.1 percent, or 22,472) in FY 2015 came from Africa.
 - Over a quarter of all refugee arrivals (26.4 percent, or 18,469) in FY 2015 came from East Asia — a region that includes China, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

There are many conditions and variables to a refugee being admitted to the United States, for the full description go to the link below.
“If a person is accepted as a refugee for admission to the United States, it is conditioned upon the individual passing a medical examination and all security checks.
According to a Human Rights First report, the processing times of the U.S. refugee resettlement program “can be quite prolonged, leaving some refugees stranded in dangerous locations or in difficult circumstances.” According to the Department of State the entire process can take an average of 18-24 months to complete.”
 http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/refugees-fact-sheet

 5. Our enemies are making fun of us.

No. No, they are not. They are making fun of the Presidential race, specifically the Republican side. The “debates” are not debates they are embarrassing displays of who can yell the loudest and lie the most. Check with the fact check sites:
“Trump's statements were awarded PolitiFact's 2015 Lie of the Year.
He has a 61% FALSE and PANTS ON FIRE total rating and another 17% MOSTLY FALSE rating from Politifact (that's 78% lies).”
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/ 

Other countries are cautious of what a Trump presidency in the United States of America will mean in a broader sense to the world.
“Republican front-runner and avowed racist Donald Trump has recently stepped up his xenophobic rhetoric against Mexico and Hispanic immigrants as he draws closer to white supremacist groups, doubling down on his absurd proposal to "make Mexico pay for a border wall." In response, the legislators of Mexico City have unanimously passed a bill that bans Trump from entering the city.”
http://www.occupydemocrats.com/2016/03/03/payback-mexicans-officials-approve-proposal-to-ban-trump-from-their-country/
“Scottish freelance journalist and activist Suzanne Kelly launched a petition last month to block the former reality TV star from British shores, which led to the debate. The petition accuses the 69-year-old of "hate speech" for calling for a travel ban on Muslims entering the United States. It has received more than 574,000 signatures.
Any petition that gets more than 100,000 signatures is considered by Parliament's Petitions Committee, which weighs whether to send the petition for debate by lawmakers in Parliament.”
 http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/18/europe/uk-parliament-debates-trump-ban/
"America's Agitator: Donald Trump Is the World's Most Dangerous Man
Donald Trump is the leader of a new, hate-filled authoritarian movement. Nothing would be more harmful to the idea of the West and world peace than if he were to be elected president. George W. Bush's America would seem like a place of logic and reason in comparison." - English translation of German magazine De Spiegel
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/donald-trump-is-the-most-dangerous-man-in-the-world-a-1075060.html

 6.  There is this one guy however, who guarantees you he will get rid of them, so you hire him. You don’t care if the guy smells, you don’t care if the guy swears, you don’t care how many times he’s been married, you don’t care if he was friends with liberals, you don’t care if he has plumber’s crack…you simply want those raccoons gone! You want your problem fixed!”

"Donald Trump may not be as brilliant as he claims he is, but he's not stupid. He understands who he is attracting." - Joy Ann Reid”
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-dog-whistles-heard-clearly-by-racists-635481667632?cid=sm_fb_maddow

"The New York Times described Trump University as "not a real university at all, but a series of seminars held in hotels across the country." The now-defunct Trump University is currently facing multiple pending lawsuits brought by former students and by the state of New York, alleging misrepresentation."
http://mediamatters.org/research/2016/03/04/fact-checkers-slam-trumps-latest-false-and-lite/209041 

"Trump’s bad bet: How too much debt drove his biggest casino aground
Trump received the approvals he needed for the Taj, but the prime-rate loans never materialized. Determined to move forward, he turned to the very junk bonds he had derided in the hearing. He agreed to pay the bond lenders 14 percent interest, roughly 50 percent more than he had projected, to raise $675 million. It was the biggest gamble of his career.
In April 1990, the Taj opened as the world’s largest casino-hotel complex, joining Trump’s other holdings already operating in Atlantic City, the Trump Plaza and Trump’s Castle. But Trump could not keep pace with his debts on the three casinos. Six months later, the Taj defaulted on interest payments to bondholders as his finances went into a tailspin. In July 1991, Trump’s Taj Mahal filed for bankruptcy, the first and most significant of the four that his companies have experienced."
In this interview with the Washington Post "Trump vehemently denied that the deal represented a personal failing or affected his personal wealth.
“This was not personal. This was a corporate deal,” he said. “If you write this one, I’m suing you.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/trumps-bad-bet-how-too-much-debt-drove-his-biggest-casino-aground/2016/01/18/f67cedc2-9ac8-11e5-8917-653b65c809eb_story.html

“What also doesn't help is when you have a Presidential candidate spewing bigotry and racism among people that are already twisted with fear and hate. He allows them to think that it is ok to release their repressed hostility because he, a "respectable" businessman and Presidential front-runner, not only speaks to their fears of the "others" but encourages their brutality as well. Mr Trump puts forth statements, conjecture, assumed to be true by his supporters and the persons that are the focus of his diatribes are demonized and sometimes physically attacked. The color-bar seen at his rallies is a darker mindset that is giving a new face to Jim Crow. It is a Jim Crow that does not just disparage blacks, this Jim Crow diminishes all people of color, gays, women, Muslims - anyone who is not fitting into the image of ‘real’ Americans. Or as former Grand Wizard David Duke said “Voting against Trump is 'treason to your heritage'” - JMG

  7. “You’ve been on vacation for two weeks, you come home, and your basement is infested with raccoons. Hundreds of rabid, messy, mean raccoons have overtaken your basement. You want them gone immediately.” 

As to this analogy I do agree but with one caveat. The American people who are so upset about this situation have forgotten one thing - they never secured their house and they let the raccoons in. By not voting and voting against their interests they allowed the corporations to decimate the American workforce and workplace, the lobbyists to get their way, the unchecked politicians to not represent their constituents and also those who allowed racism to undermine the leadership of the President of the United States.
A vote for Trump may be a vote against “the establishment” but it is also a vote against what the people say they really want - accountability and a decent future. 
Donald Trump is accountable to no one but himself, he never has been because he is a businessman first and foremost(go back to his bankruptcies). He is most definitely not going to be accountable to the people of this country. He is climbing on the backs of voters to get what he wants - power. He has said over and over that the military, Congress and other countries WILL DO WHAT HE WANTS. That is not how a real leader leads, diplomacy is the way it is done, think of other leaders who have eschewed diplomacy…
To go to an example from a psychological viewpoint who is the better parent: the one who beats and berates or the one who loves and nurtures?
I put forth this essay in the hopes you will consider even a fraction of what I’ve written and think of what your hopes, wants and desires are for your future. People often do what they feel is best for themselves without thinking of permanent ramifications, realize that by settling for the fast talker now you sell yourself short in the long-term.

Values In Politics Survey

I just created a survey (10 quick, easy questions) on SurveyMonkey because I'm curious as to what is influencing people as to "Values in Politics" 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/W297956

Anyone can participate in survey, feel free to forward the link too.

- you can change your answers on any survey page until you complete the survey

- your responses will be anonymous - no one, not even me, will know who took this or their answers

- SSL to encrypt data sent to and from SurveyMonkey

- cutoff date and time when this collector will close and stop accepting responses.

     Date: 3/31/2016    Time: 08:15 PM

I will post results the 1st week in June.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/W297956

The Bitch & The Lunatic

I read on Facebook people not liking Hillary Clinton because she is a bitch. Is she a bitch because she is a capable woman? She was a successful Senator and Secretary of State. She did her best at her jobs - better than some men have done. She was tough and took no crap - that's a bitch? However, a man with the same attitude is considered powerful, a leader. I will be the first to admit her corporate ties bother me but her ties are less than Trumps - he IS corporate America. Supporters of Trump speak to the fact that he is beholden to no one, this is true, he is not even bound to his supporters. He is beholden to only himself and that is a dangerous thing. According to Politifact "The vast majority of Trump’s contributions to his own campaign — about $12.6 million — are loans rather than donations. This means he could expect to eventually recoup these funds.
Further, of the approximately $12 million Trump’s campaign spent in 2015, about $2.7 million went toward reimbursing Trump-affiliated companies for services provided to the campaign, such as traveling in his own plane and helicopter, according to a New York Times analysis." - http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/feb/10/donald-trump/donald-trump-self-funding-his-campaign-sort/
Does America want someone who has no experience in dealing diplomatically with others? Someone who is divisive, racist, classist, misogynistic, xenophobic - who is basically a jack-booted thug? Someone who proves he does not understand American greatness. America's greatness is compiled of many things, not the least is our diversity. We are a melting pot of many races, religions and life experiences. We reach out and help those in need, whether our own citizens or those of the world. We want the best for future generations and I do not believe we will find that in selling our souls for slogans that make us feel good and included in the moment. Trump is selling an illusion of prosperity and greatness that comes at a steep price, the rights and safety of our friends and and neighbors - the ones he tags as "the others" and "them". He promotes violence at his rally's as if it is the norm and he is not willing to disavow the white supremacy that has latched onto his unspoken message.
I would rather have Hillary "the bitch" knowing that she is a capable leader, that she will never be an embarrassment to our country and will not segregate our population into "us" and "them". Mr Trump needs to understand it is "We the People" and this is a world community where ranting like a lunatic does not gain you respect.


This was originally posted to Facebook and below is my follow-up to a comment.
It holds true here as well - if you read this please comment.

"So what are your reasons for disliking her? I am curious. No one is willing to state their cases for liking/disliking the above. I am just curious - not looking to debate - I spell out clearly above (and elsewhere) the pros & cons for myself.
I WANT to understand what is the attraction and repulsion. What makes racism and no policies avail over diplomacy and experience?
I REALLY WANT TO KNOW."

Entitled to be Human

In response to a comment to this article:

"She made poor decisions and now wants taxpayers to pay for it?  Arrogant  person..."
http://projects.aljazeera.com/2016/02/section8-mobility/

This woman made decisions that society encouraged and then demonized. In her senior year with scholarships to FOUR colleges she became pregnant. Instead of an abortion she chose to give birth, something the right to life groups encourage, however, once she chose to raise the baby the demonization started. Originally it was a two parent home but after her boyfriend left not only was she a single parent working hard and paying her "fair share" - federal and state taxes but she was doing it without government safety nets. She then applied for Section 8 (with years on the waiting list), to help make life easier - to try and get a boost up. She wants what any parent wants - a clean, safe home, good schools, a safe neighborhood and a chance at upward mobility for herself and her children. Are these wrong for an American, a human, to want and strive for? 
What exactly do we promote within our society - empathy, love and humanity or indifference, cruelty and hatred toward our fellow man? Does dropping a donation in the church basket or writing a cheque to a charity absolve us of compassion to the poor, the homeless, the hungry? Why does the color of a persons skin, where they live, if they are impoverished or if they speak with an accent matter? If they are good people who just want a better life, the same life you strive for, it should not. I hear people speak to the fact that they are not biased against the poor/lower-middle class yet they begrudge those who access the safety nets that were put in place to help exactly these people. When did Americans become so resentful of the people we once were? The immigrants, the working poor, the disabled, the elderly, the generations that were our grandparents and great-grandparents, they still exist, struggling to survive. I believe Lady Liberty speaks these words not just to arriving immigrants but to America's residents as well: 

"Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

I see people who want a better life held back only because on some level society has deemed them unworthy of success because they need a helping hand. People need a helping hand sometimes and not everyone has a family, a church or religious/secular group to help, or the ability to work more than one job and at the same time attempt to further their education. Sometimes the 'Government' does need to help that is why these safety nets were created and that is why they DO work. The Social Safety Net of the United States is made up of 13 categories of Federal Welfare Programs to protect low-income Americans from poverty and hardship. Eligibility for welfare benefits depends on a variety of factors, including gross and net income, family size, pregnancy, homelessness, unemployment, and serious medical conditions like blindness, kidney failure or AIDS. The programs are meant to be a safety net to catch Americans if they fall on hard times. They are: Negative Income Tax, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), Housing Assistance, SSI (Supplemental Security Income), Pell Grants, TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), Child Nutrition, Head Start, Job Training Programs, WIC (Women, Infants and Children), Child Care, LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program), Lifeline (Obama Phone). Whether you despise the idea of "entitlements" and deem them unfair you must admit that children, who are the majority of the recipients, deserve food, shelter and a stable living environment. We are ALL human, are we not? 

Apropos

 She hasn't spoken to me in over a year and it was pretty sporadic before that. I love her - I always will. I don't know if she loves me, likes me, hates me or is indifferent to me. I won't ever know unless she decides to reach out in some way. I feel bad for her because I really can't think of what I could have done to cause this rift. Except. Well, there is one thing. Our Dad died in 2009 and I called her that weekend and told her he had taken a turn for the worse and was not expected to make it. She said she didn't have the money to fly out and I told her I would pay for the ticket. When she stopped contact in 2015 she still owed me about $300. She had paid $25 here and there but when I would ask if she was sending a cheque she would lie or plead poor. If she had just said she had no intention of paying me back it would have been easier all around. I had expenses of my own and it was a hardship for me to pay for her ticket but she is my sister and that was our father dying. I wonder if roles had been reversed...

I'm making excuses for someone who is selfish.  About 1 month before my dad passed he had a conversation with me about my sister. He looked me in the eye and told me to stop buying my sister gifts(I had a habit of buying her things I thought she would like but not purchase for herself). He said she was selfish and cared for no one but herself and all the presents in the world would not buy her love or her friendship. He acknowledged that while she was his daughter and he loved her - he and my mother had not raised her that way and he could not understand why she was the way she was and it bothered him. The situation with the plane ticket should not have been a surprise but it is fascinating that it was related to my father and what he said. My sister did not disappoint.

I have an uncle who always treated me well to my face but privately told his children to keep their distance because I was "crazy" - I'm bipolar. Here's the best part his daughter was diagnosed as bipolar in college - she told me herself. I guess it rubbed off after all. He and my dad were estranged  in later years and my dad never knew why. The day before my dad died I called his brother to let him know the doctor's didn't think dad would last thru the next day and his response, his only response was... "that's too bad". What a dick. That was always the way my dad's family was - he was the black sheep - he was the kind one.
My uncle's wife is not much better. It's been 6 yrs and she sends me a friend request on Facebook - I said yes.  I would send her funny memes and comment on her posts but she never responded. She would respond to similar things posted by her other friends who happen to include my sister (who has me blocked due to the plane ticket fiasco) but not me so the other day I un-friended her and she proceeded to ask me what was up in a PM. I told her I didn't know what she wanted and it seemed we were already not friends - she wrote back saying it was my decision and she hoped I would be happy. After 24 hrs I put out a friend request to her because I thought maybe I had been rash. As I was clicking I noticed this on her board:

So I figured this was supposed to be about me. It was - she gave me a few more hours before she blocked me. Passive-aggressive anyone? I'm not sure how I'm deemed angry and looking for conflict - all I wanted to know was why after 6 yrs of no contact did she reach out on FB but never talk to me (she did stalk though - that I know for certain) Her meme is apropos  because it actually has more to do with her and my sister - who made this comment on it:

My sister who hasn't spoken with me or our mother in over a year because she had to make us the bad ones over a plane ticket to her father's funeral. My sister is a recovering alcoholic, anorexic and bulimic who blamed everyone else for her problems. 

My sister is the source of her conflict.

She is the angry one.

My aunt and my uncle they are the source of their conflict. 

They are the angry ones. 

I'm not the healthiest but I'm not crazy and I'm in therapy working thru my issues. I can't speak for them but the last time I had talked to my sister "she did not have time for therapy." My sister is an RN - she's not dumb nor is she poor but as my dad said she is selfish.

I pity her and my extended family - it is their loss.

The Return of Jim Crow

I watched ‘Selma’ the other night. I found myself cheering and clapping and crying along with the heroes of Voting Rights history. That was 1965 and racism was out in the open. As horrible a time as it was at least they were honest. Now it’s 2016 and racism is here but it is a festering underbelly. The children and grandchildren of those who fought against Equal Rights and the Voting Act see their elders actions as a different kind of “Patriotism”; just as the Confederate flag is still argued to be a symbol of historic pride. During the film they show actual footage of the Selma march. Southerners line the roads, taunting the marchers, spitting on them and giving them the finger all while waving the Confederate flag - yes that really shows the truth behind such an iconic piece of Southern history. A Southern woman, a few years younger than me, has told me with pride that her parents were activists against desegregation and equal rights. Another tells how she could be friendly with black girls at school but they were not to be brought home, this 15+ years after Jim Crow was officially over.

I’ve been told that if people went and got better-paying jobs there would be no need to make the minimum wage a living wage. There is a disconnection between a white person with higher education and poor people, who are mainly black and don’t have the same educational opportunities. The idea that anyone who is a head of household and is working two jobs because one job won’t afford full-time hours and even then that two jobs don't pay a living wage and is still be below the poverty level is foreign to many Americans.


Private and/or religious schools popped up everywhere in the South during desegregation, due to white's not wanting their children to go to school with black children. The quality of education plummeted for poor whites who could not afford the better private schools. We see that still in the South but with a slight shift. Poor and lower-middle class whites and blacks are held at arms length by upper-middle and upper-class whites that are able to extricate themselves from the public school system and put their children into private and/or religious schools. While public schools struggle to maintain federal standards of education private religious schools teach biblically centered subjects that leave a whole new generation ignorant and private preparatory schools to cater to those with the cash. School vouchers are just exacerbating the problem by keeping sub-par private religious schools afloat by injecting much-needed cash into their reserves.


Voting Rights are being restricted through uncompromising voter ID laws. A total of 36 states have passed laws requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls. 33 of these voter identification laws are in force in 2016. A photo ID can be a significant burden and such laws intrinsically discriminate against minorities, students and the elderly. North Carolina now mandates government-issued photo IDs at the polls, the bill does provide for a "free ID" to be offered at DMVs but it is difficult for those without transportation or the appropriate paperwork to get one. The state's early voting period was reduced from 17 to 10 days. "First of all, we didn't shorten early voting, we compacted the calendar," said Governor McCrory. The law also ended same-day registration and pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-old voters who will be 18 on Election Day.


What also doesn't help is when you have a Presidential candidate spewing bigotry and racism among people that are already twisted with fear and hate. He allows them to think that it is ok to release their repressed hostility because he, a "respectable" businessman and Presidential front-runner, not only speaks to their fears of the "others" but encourages their brutality as well. Mr Trump puts forth statements, conjecture, assumed to be true by his supporters and the persons that are the focus of his diatribes are demonized and sometimes physically attacked. The color-bar seen at his rallys is a darker mindset that is giving a new face to Jim Crow.


These and other issues are what America needs to address in order to deal with the vehement hatred that is permeating our country. Jim Crow is alive and well and is coming out of the closet again after 50 years to see what mayhem he can accomplish.

You

 We need to be less afraid of what others think of us and be who we are. In the end, we will all die so why not live your life to the fullest, celebrating who you are? My mother always said that unless someone is putting the air into your lungs then you shouldn't worry about their opinion of you. Odd, yes, but overall makes sense - no one controls you but you. 

You know who you are - the real you. Whether you identify as a boy or a girl, in-between or nothing at all, it is all about you. Who you love and what you identify as, gay, straight, bisexual, asexual or any of the myriad used to describe sexual attraction without gender assignment, is all about you. Wear the clothes that make you feel beautiful, be a totally fabulous drag queen, be gender neutral - keep them guessing. Long hair or short, even bald if you choose because it is about being comfortable in your own skin and you are the only one living in it.

 No one else no matter how hard they try can make the decision for you. The politicians can legislate, religious leaders and their flocks can pass judgement, family, friends and neighbors can ostracize, strangers in the street can be the assholes they tend to be but in the end, the end of the day and the long road known as life, you know who the real you is and you must be true to yourself. 

Don't give up. Remain strong in the face of adversity. Seek out like-minded people. If you need to, create a new family of people who love you for who the real you is. Take joy in being who you are, honor yourself every day and in every way and above all else - have no fear.