Tag: Vote

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What We Can Do To Get Our Nation Back On Track

What We Can Do To Get Our Nation Back On Track

By Cate Rees-Hessel

 

Fight For Our Freedom…

As we commemorate the 25th anniversary of 9/11 with sadness for our losses and praise for those who sacrificed, during the 250th year of our nation, we must remain steadfast in our convictions and not lose God’s hope. I pray daily for our country and I post anti-Trump material each day, also. Here is what we can all do to bring our nation back from the brink:

  1. VOTE and encourage others to vote
  2. Choose Blue no matter who
  3. Sign petitions
  4. RESIST
  5. Write to your elected officials and newspaper editors

BE FIRM AND MINDFUL – WE CAN BE THE CHANGE…

  1. Boycott businesses and institutions that don’t share your values
  2. Educate our youth about politics and ethics/morals
  3. Pray more than you breathe
  4. Stand firm in your convictions
  5. Complain when things go wrong

BE FIRM AND MINDFUL – WE CAN BE THE CHANGE…

  1. Post against the Republican lack of morality
  2. Attend rallies to peacefully protest
  3. Know your rights, especially where ICE is involved
  4. Educate yourself – knowledge is power
  5. Don’t waiver, keep the faith

BE FIRM AND MINDFUL – WE CAN BE THE CHANGE…

  1. Campaign for Democrats
  2. Host a political event or fundraiser
  3. Become an election judge
  4. Do what is right even if it is not popular
  5. Donate to liberal causes

BE FIRM AND MINDFUL – WE CAN BE THE CHANGE…

  1. Step away from unnecessary drama
  2. Block those that push your political buttons on social media, email lists, and the like
  3. Attend town halls and political events
  4. Read anything you can that will bring about change
  5. Follow Democrat influencers

BE FIRM AND MINDFUL – WE CAN BE THE CHANGE…

  1. Use your local library as a resource
  2. Purchase from liberal stores and websites
  3. Arguing with MAGA’s often does not work – they are brainwashed and can’t be reasoned with
  4. Avoid purchases with tariff
  5. Wear pearls each day for Kamala Harris, the rightful winner of the 2024 election

BE FIRM AND MINDFUL – WE CAN BE THE CHANGE…

  1. Watch or read local and national news at least once per day
  2. Write a blog
  3. Give a speech
  4. Write postcards to voters
  5. Keep reading Calamity News and Politics – we are all here to support one another…

BE FIRM AND MINDFUL – WE CAN BE THE CHANGE…

 

Things I Thought I Would Never See

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Things I Thought I Would Never See 

Things I Thought I Would Never See

Seeing the Unbelievable

 

By Cate Rees-Hessel

 

Seeing The Unbelievable…

As a woman of a certain age, there are so many things that I never thought I would ever see or experience;  some bad, some good, and some in-between:

  1. Donald Trump in the White House-not just once, but twice
  2. Talking to a small round device named Alexa
  3. Setting alarms through Alexa, not an alarm clock
  4. Donald Trump in the White House
  5. The White House torn up and tacky as can be with hideous sprayed gold furnishings
  6. Storing all my files in the palm of my hand, if not smaller
  7. Dealing with a generation of people that have no idea how to read or write cursive
  8. Donald Trump in the White House
  9. Mail delivery arriving after dinner time
  10. Eggs over seven dollars a dozen, hamburger seven dollars a pound
  11. A global pandemic
  12. Donald Trump in the White House
  13. Medicare advantage plans (but are they a disadvantage?)
  14. Smart water, watches, jewelry, phones, plugs, televisions, and appliances (I remember a time when these things weren’t smart but people were…)
  15. Electric cars
  16. Donald Trump in the White House
  17. Sport Utility Vehicles
  18. Global warming – a very inconvenient truth
  19. Online learning, banking, and entertainment
  20. Donald Trump in the White House
  21. E-books on Kindle and the like
  22. Video doorbells
  23. Botox, Radiesse, Juvederm, glycolic and TCA peels, and non-surgical facelifts
  24. Donald Trump in the White House
  25. Video streaming services
  26. Retinol, niacinamide, and hyaluronic acid
  27. GMO foods – the majority of store shelves contain Genetically Modified Food
  28. Donald Trump in the White House
  29. Out of control racism, sexism, and anti-semitism – back in the day, we stood on street corners and marched for equality, but unfortunately we have turned back time
  30. Geocaching – I still don’t fully get this
  31. Computers in everyone’s home (and hand)
  32. Donald Trump in the White House
  33. Over five dollars for a cup of not very fancy coffee
  34. People that call themselves Christians or even human beings wanting to see elderly, disabled, low-income, and children go hungry and without healthcare
  35. Artificial intelligence rampant in our world, including our medical and financial records
  36. Donald Trump in the White House
  37. Masked immigration agents terrorizing our nation, killing citizens on the streets of Minneapolis
  38. SPF lotions and oils to protect us from the sun’s rays, when we used to lay out to tan with baby oil and iodine
  39. Bottled water costing at least $2.00 because unfiltered tap water is unsafe
  40. Donald Trump in the White House
  41. The Epstein Files, where “adult” men have sex with children and brainwashed individuals think it’s okay
  42. The MAGA cult that can’t see the truth about a man with dementia and a complete lack of morals
  43. An insurrection because a great man and his great female VP were elected president
  44. Donald Trump in the White House
  45. Flat screen 50 plus inch televisions hanging on a wall
  46. Red light treatments, hydra facials, dermaplaning and microneedling
  47. Social media, including very cute talking cats, and silly dogs on Facebook
  48. Donald Trump in the White House
  49. Lab grown diamonds and gemstones, make mine a big one.
  50. Nose and belly button rings – I thought I was wild and crazy with double-pierced ears
  51. People that that support a convicted felon as “president”
  52. Donald Trump in the White House
  53. A demented psychopath as “leader of the free world”
  54. Java as a computer language, not just my morning coffee
  55. Umami in cooking – I honestly don’t get that
  56. Donald Trump in the White House
  57. Kimchi, kale, and pumpkin spice being all the culinary rage
  58. Water parks with slides and raging rapids, and splash pads/patios
  59. The world wide web with e-cards, e-signatures, and a wealth of information at our fingertips, some good, some bad, and some in-between
  60. Did I mention Donald Trump in the White House?

Editor: The sight and experience of Donald Trump walking the halls of the White House still creeps me out, hopefully his reign of terror is about to end. Vote! 2026 could be out last chance to save democracy.

 

I Am My Politics; And So Are You

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I Am My Politics; And So Are You

Harris and Walz are igniting the Democrats

I Am My Politics; And So Are You

D. S. Mitchell

Editor: Writing for Calamity News and Politics gives me a platform to discuss headline events and political policy. It also provides me a place to vent and fume. If somebody doesn’t like the drum I’m beating, they are fully able, and encouraged to move on; to a site that better satisfies their social view of the world.

 

My Son

“Don’t get so wound up, it’s just politics”, my son told me one time.  Well, whether I’m saying it to my son, or to a potential reader, or to a neighbor, the guy sitting next to me at the bar-that is the wrong attitude. In the end, politics is government policy, and government policy; in case you hadn’t noticed, effects everything in our lives. So the choices you make politically are a vision of who you are and what you want in the world around you.  The schools, the hospitals, the parks, the highways, the airports, the waterways, international trade, economics, military defense, environmental action and social justice.  Nearly every part of our daily life is effected in someway by the policies that our elected officials enact in Washington, D.C., or our state capitols. Got it? We are the politics we support.

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Walz In With Harris

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Walz In With Harris

Harris and Walz are igniting the Democrats

Walz In With Harris

By Wes Hessel with Cate Rees-Hessel

 

A Man of Service

 Our Madame President candidate has chosen Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her Vice Presidential partner. The two-term leader of the Land of 10,000 Lakes is also a retired National Guard veteran, a former factory worker, a high school social studies teacher and football coach, and a six consecutive term Congressional Representative. He is originally from the northwest part of Nebraska, then moved with his family to far north central Butte, NE, where they were closer to relatives, after his father’s lung cancer diagnosis. Mr. Walz would graduate from Chadron State College with a bachelor’s in social science education.

 A Teacher

After a year as an instructor in Guangdong, China, through WorldTeach, his first teaching job in  the U.S. was back in northwest Nebraska at Alliance. Here he met Gwen Whipple, a fellow teacher, marrying her in 1994. Together then they helmed an organization called Educational Travel Adventures, arranging high school student educational summer trips to China, until 2003. In 1996, the couple relocated to Mrs.’ Walz’s home state of Minnesota, settling in Mankato. Tim received his educational leadership masters there in 2001.

A Veteran

In the meantime, Mr. Walz had been in the National Guard since he turned 17. In 2001 he reached 20 years of service and intended to retire, but re-enlisted after the September 11 attacks. As part of Operation Enduring Freedom, he deployed to Italy with his unit for a posting as part of the European Security Force. Command Sergeant Major Walz was for a short time the senior enlisted member of his 1st Battalion of the Minnesota National Guard’s 125th Field Artillery Regiment. He retired in May 2005 with the rank of master sergeant.

A Six-Term Congress Member…

His 2005 retirement was in anticipation of his run for Congress. His decision to run for office came after he worked as a volunteer for the presidential campaign for John Kerry. In February 2005, Mr. Walz filed to run for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District House seat. In 2006,  Walz beat six-term entrenched Republican Gil Gutknecht  and was off to Congress. Tim Walz was the highest ranking (retired) non-commissioned service member to ever enter Congress.

Multiple Significant Committees

One month into his first term, Congressman Walz became a member of the Agriculture Committee, the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. This required a special waiver from then-Speaker Pelosi, exempting Tim from the rule preventing most freshman representatives from serving on more than two congressional committees. Later that same year he added the Armed Services Committee to his responsibilities. After twelve years of service as a member of Congress, he was the ranking member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, where he was continually working hard for our veterans.  It was then that Walz returned home to Minnesota and throw his hat into the governor’s race. In 2022, he beat his Republican opponent by nearly 8 percentage points.

A Governor

During his most recent term as Minnesota’s governor, he signed into law bills which provided students with free lunches (a program he wants to make national), instituted universal gun background checks, codified abortion rights, and implemented free college tuition for low-income families. His policy positions have been described as ranging from moderate to progressive.

A Family Man

Personally, Tim and Gwen have a daughter Hope, who is a social worker for a homeless shelter, and a 17 year old son, Gus, who has, as they told People Magazine, “…a non-verbal learning disorder, ADHD and an anxiety disorder — all conditions that they call his ‘secret power.’” Mr. Walz has been a hunter since high school, and is a gun owner, but is a strong advocate for gun control.

An Awesome Vice Presidential Candidate

Walz is a stellar candidate for the office of Vice-President of the United States of America. We all need to strive to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz this coming November. Vote Blue.

The Electoral College Stinks

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The Electoral College Stinks

If we want real democracy in this country we need to get rid of the Electoral College

The Electoral College Stinks

Support the National Popular Vote compact, it makes sense if you believe in democracy.

By D. S. Mitchell

Losing While Winning

I believe whoever wins the most votes should become president of the United States. Unfortunately, with the Electoral College system that is not what happens. Twice in the last five elections the candidate that became president of the United States lost the popular vote. Donald Trump, won by less than 80,000 votes in four key electoral college states. He simultaneously lost the national popular vote by nearly 3 million votes. That means the guy who came in second was elected in 2016 (Trump), 2000 (Bush), 1888 (Harrison), 1876 (Hayes), and 1824 (J.Q. Adams), thereby altering history. Does anyone doubt that a Hillary Clinton presidency would have looked very different than the Trump presidency that we got.

The GOP Solution

The Electoral College system has become a powerful tool for the Republicans in their effort to lock in one party control of government. Elie Mystal, in an Editorial from a couple of years back, in The Nation magazine, wrote the GOP’s ultimate solution to the country’s changing demographics is to “forge a new theory of government where the rule by a white minority can withstand the popular will.” The nature of that effort was clear during Trump’s first impeachment trial. Republicans desperate to acquit Trump married themselves to a group of discredited legal theories, perhaps appropriate in a banana republic, but certainly not fitting for one of the world’s longest surviving democracies. The Senators embraced a view of executive power and privilege, that ultimately denies our democracy and anoints a king; which coincidently meshes nicely with Trump’s “permanent immunity claims.”

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OPINION: 2020 Election Observations

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OPINION: 2020 Election Observations

By Trevor K. McNeil

How Did This Happen?

It is a question that has been asked before. Though as we get closer to Election Day and things might still go either way, it is still a productive exercise to try and figure out how we got to where we are today. Particularly with so many Trump Voters, particularly in swing states, suffering industrial strength buyers guilt.

No Easy Answers

The answer seems obvious. All the Trump voters are backward, racist, sexist, idiots who don’t know what’s best for them. A ‘basket of deplorables’ as Madam Clinton once put it. This is a mistake. Not only is it reductionist and prejudiced, the very things most accuse Trump of being, it is also wrong. I don’t mean wrong in the modern sense of things that make people feel icky. I mean it in the far more basic, Aspie way of false as according to the evidence. There are simply too many people of various groups, including those whom Trump has attacked, supporting him for this to be the whole story.

Ears Plug, Eyes Closed

If anything, the less savory things Trump has said or done are incidental to his support. Not that what he did doesn’t matter. It does in terms of general morality but a lot of things are a matter of priorities and he has other aspects that outweighed his misconduct. At least in the minds of those who prioritize such things. One of the things a lot of critics overlook is his focus on jobs. Particularly in places like Michigan. A state in which things have been so bad for so long, the condition of cities like Flint have been referred to as ‘economic terrorism.’ A situation which makes it easier to understand Trump’s support despite his desire for a border wall or his opinions on where it is okay to touch female strangers. Even if they ‘let’ you.

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OPINION: Vote By Mail

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Vote by Mail:
Sealed and Delivered

Vote by mail has been a staple of voting in the United States as far back as the 1930's

Vote by mail has been a staple of voting in the United States since the 1930’s. It is now time to expand the system. Democrats are pushing to make it law, in every state.

OPINION: Vote By Mail 

Sealed and Delivered

By Trevor K. McNeil

Last month several Democratic Senators and Representatives introduced legislation that would require all voters to mail in or drop off paper ballots if 25 percent of states declare a state of emergency because of the COVID-19 outbreak. 

New World Order

A lot has changed in recent months. A surprising number of people, who should really know better, have started referring to this as “the new normal.”  If there is a glimmer of hope amidst the fear and the death surrounding COVID-19, it is that we humans are a highly adaptive species. The fact that we still exist is  testament to our adaptability and resourcefulness.  The coronavirus has changed our environment, but that doesn’t mean we need to stop doing what is important, including performing our civil duty by voting.

Changes

“Stay at home, stay safe” orders have changed our lives. One of the biggest changes is a switch towards remote work, app banking, grocery delivery, and home schooling. This is life in the age of social distancing. There are, however, things that are not so simply accounted for as work, shopping, banking or education. These activities have had an established correspondence system for years.  One of the major issues that has arisen, in this election year, is how people are supposed to vote when they have to stay at home and self-isolate.

Computers Can’t Solve This One

Online voting has proponents, but more opponents.

Online voting has proponents, but many opponents. Most argue it is to easy to hack.

One of the proposed solutions for voting, during COVID-19 is online voting.  Online voting has been debated for years. Proponents stress the convenience, mobility and accessibility of an online, or phone voting system, while detractors hype the risks.  Opponents most reasonable argument centers on the risk of hacking.  Many opponents claim online voting would spell the end of democracy. Of course, these also tend to be the same folks who are suspicious in general, who extol the wonders of the good old days of typewriters and whiteout. Neither the pro or con position is particularly helpful in terms of solving the issue of finding the safest and most efficient voting system.

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OPINION: Land Seizure, Eminent Domain

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OPINION: Land Seizure

Right of Kings: Eminent Domain 

By Trevor K. McNeil

Hold Them Accountable

Sadly many of the men and women elected to represent the American people; whether at the state or national level, have consistently demonstrated an inclination to put their own interests ahead of all else. Which is partly why petitions, letter writing campaigns and voter registration drives are so effective. Threaten an elected official’s job and you will get their attention.

If The President Does It, It Is Not A Crime

Despite issues of trust and mistrust most people do not feel the government is working directly against them. This general level of trust in government is also part of how injustices and atrocities happen. The last lines of the pledge of allegiance “with liberty and justice for all,” are in some case notably missing. The Founding Fathers revered on a level that approaches the religious, despite some rather uncomfortable historical facts. Indeed, the Founding Fathers added to the Constitution a concept that perhaps would have best been left in old Europe and their autocratic rulers.

It Must Be Okay

Americans are able to overlook and forgive a lot when it comes to government policies and actions. The overall sense being that if the government does it, it must be okay. However, with the situation on the southern border the right of government to seize privately owned property by right of Eminent Domain is once again coming under scrutiny.  The issue has been brought to the forefront by Trump’s demand for a “wall” on the Mexican border. The private property owners across four states are potentially affected. Thousands of lawsuits are in the future as Trump pushes for a massive government land seizure.

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