marysgardens

My vote won the popular vote, but lost the electoral vote. Perhaps your vote won the electoral vote and lost the popular vote.  In any case, we have a new president-elect.

It is neither simple nor easy for many of us to accept the results, especially since in this instance, the winner forcefully declared that the election was rigged and said he would decide after the election whether or not to accept the results. Now that he is sure that he has won, he accepts the results and no longer declares the election rigged.  

Upon what should our own acceptances of these election results depend?

In two previous presidential elections losers of the election declared that they intended to reject every proposal our newly elected President Obama would make.  They told the press that no matter what he proposed to Congress, they would reject it.  This was not just any one casually saying no to an acquaintance.  It was our elected officials of Congress saying no to our newly elected President, not based on evaluation of the proposals, but instead, upon sore losing.

What a shameful response to our democratic system and its process of checks and balances.

In this most recent election, Trump lost the popular vote.  But he won the electoral vote.
He won, but not overwhelmingly.
It seemed that he won by a lot, because so many pundits were wrong and had predicted his demise.

I have been listening to the barrage of explanations for the results of this election by pollsters, economist, journalists, comedians, congressmen, psychologists, psychiatrists, fortune tellers, winners, losers and bloggers.  I am neither pleased nor satisfied with any of the explanations.

I find them all wanting.

But most of all, I find arguments by the winners telling us to accept the results, wanting.  They are asking us to do what they did not. They did not embrace the man we previously elected, they refused his proposals, they ridiculed him, called him names, they lied about his citizenship and religious affiliation, they ridiculed his background his family, his ideas. They did all that they could to make our elected president seem fraudulent and illegitimate.  

It is most unfortunate that our newly elected president Trump participated in all this lying and negativity.

How does one stop a vicious back and forth response to previous sore losing?

There are ways and means that we have worked out to control hatred and violence when it brews in weak political systems.  We know how to manage it, to reduce its terrible force and damage.  There are alternatives to racism and sexism and brute force responses to ethnic rivalries that have been tried and worked. There are ways and means to stop the poor from being further shafted, to rein in the rich and powerful, to further develop and share infrastructure and services, to stop brutalizing our natural environment, to control outrageous behavior of banks and corporations. There are ways and means to manage corruption and crime, to flag liars.

We know how to do better.

This leaves me believing that this is not the time to capitulate.

It is now the time to clearly state our intentions to keep going, to be part of this great system we share, whether it is through peaceful demonstration or actively monitoring the actions of our newly elected officials. We must continue to be part of the debate.

Now is the time to work even harder to prevent our leaders from declaring war and bombing and attacking other countries with fake excuses, such as weapons of mass destruction that do not exist. Because we already know that this could happen. 

Let us not allow our leaders to weakly stand by when a huge natural calamity such as floods, fires, earthquakes, or dangerous infectious diseases erupt and threaten our very existence. Because we already know that this could happen. 

Let’s be prepared with a good government plan and program to respond to it, to prevent it from becoming yet another highlight of our disaffection with each other. Because we already know that this could happen.

If a good idea is proposed, let’s get behind it and support it, regardless of who proposed it.  And if it is a bad proposal, let’s argue against it.

This is not the time to allow our people to become ravaged by conquerers who may argue that winners take all.  After all, parties win our elections.  They do not win our country.  

Our country is something we all share.  And we also share responsibility for monitoring our newly elected officials and ensuring that they implement government programs as we intend, through negotiations, compromise, using objective and fair implementation practices.

Let’s get serious about serving a democratic government by learning more about what it takes to be one, and acting accordingly.

Once upon a time there was a little girl.  And a little boy.  They heard about voting and wondered what it was.

“Mom, Dad, What does voting mean?  Why do you vote?”

Mom said, “It means to declare who you want to leaders of our country.”

Dad said, “Voting is an activity where you boil your opinion down to ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ about every four years or so.  It simplifies things.  It balances power.”

The other Mom said, “Voting is part of our constitution, it is an obligation.  It is like when I say, ‘Eat your vegetables, it is good for you.’  Just trust me.  You need to vote.  It is good for you.

The other Dad said, “Ahh, just fagettt about it.  It doesn’t make a twit of difference if you vote or not. The system is rigged. “

The little girl decided to vote.  The little boy did not.  Guess who won the election?

Michael Moore recently put out a concerned CALL for action reminding us of the importance of voting.
We have the privilege of voting in privacy, and freely, and ONCE
and he reminded us of the power of our vote.

Of course,  many of us will remember to vote.

But his words also remind me that although voting is necessary it is not sufficient.
We, the people, must be more informed and more politically active,
look past our personal grievances, religious affiliations, ethnic identities and take on a bigger sphere of concerns.
We all lose when we aren’t concerned about the WHOLE of our country.

This means reading articles and listening to people who disagree with us.
This means reaching out to others and listening to their grievances.
This means being informed and choosing effective candidates at
local, state and federal levels.
This means “We the People” and not big business or rich interests.
We, the voters insist on good governance.

Starting this year, I want to see our elected Congress act, 
making decisions and choosing actions,
not through refusals to meet or talk, saying “NO” to compromise.
I want our representatives to act positively, through 
debate, discussion, deliberation, negotiation, and decision.
I want them to act through compromise.

Whether it was the drawing up of our Constitution, 
or the struggle to agree on any Bill of Rights,
or whether it is a contemporary problem needing agreement, allowing us to govern and be governed, we must learn to negotiate.  

In diplomatic circles, it is often stated half jokingly, that it is not until the various groups are relatively equally unhappy with the proposed solutions, that a compromise deal can be reached.

We all lose when there is 
NO discussion, NO debate, No negotiation, No compromise.
When there is no negotiation, there is stagnation and fighting.
We all think we are right.  But that is not enough.
We have to listen to other people’s points of view and figure them into our decisions, to the best of our abilities.

We need balance in government using the deliberations of Congress, the White House and the Supreme Court, taking into consideration all of our people’s votes. We need to agree to use the system, wholly and effectively, and respectfully. 

I want a balance of power through governance,
not through personal name-calling and ridicule
not through wealth, pay-offs, cronyism and corruption.
not through refusal to compromise,
not through cheating and lying.
I want it through discussion, deliberation, decision and compromise, of individuals representing all of us.

And I want it now.

JUST FOR FUN:

An Australian friend of mine sent me this performance of the haka,  a tradition of the New Zealand Maori tribe.

It is used when they challenge others.  
According to my friend, the polite thing is for the opposition is to watch and listen in respectful silence.  I hope you enjoy it.