Don't listen...WATCH

A friend recently suggested I should "Stop griping."

Her stance was that she didn't complain to me when Obama was in office, and she really didn't like him...therefore, it's her turn.  I should be quiet, and not gripe about the fact that Trump won.

Bless her...what I think she really meant is that a little guy like me sounds a bit lame, complaining incessantly about Trump's winning the Election.  He's rich, important (hateful, but she wanted me to overlook that as he'll "shake things up").  I think she was trying to sugar coat it a bit and just call it 'griping'.

In Trump's first 45 days in office we've had one, two...maybe even three constitutional crises (Trump attacking the judiciary, Trump attacking freedom of speech in the media, Trump claiming without evidence that the previously sitting President ordered a wiretap on a candidate of the opposition).  

You've had a Republican congress that simply refuses to consider that there's anything out of place, because for the first time we've got a President that won't interfere with them, and both Senate and Congress that have Republican majorities, so they get exactly what they want.

At such a time, we really have no choice but to shout, to rail, and make sure our voices are heard.

So thanks for the concern, darlin', but I think you've missed the point of this whole thing called 'Democracy'.  

We all get to have our say.  The internet gives us all an amplified voice, and an audience to hear it.  

Especially the muppets we've all elected, time and again, to public office.  Yes, I'm talking about the President, but I'm also talking about all the others, vice this, speaker of that, federal, state, county, city, judge, sheriff, etc.  In a very real way, we make our government. Why would we ever be quiet?  Our elected officials need to hear us, and our concerns and our needs so that, hopefully, the most good possible can be done for the most citizens.  

But there are two other things we must do: THINK, and REMEMBER.

The best way to guess future behaviour of a person is to look at past behaviour.  Whether that's a President who specialises in lying, cheating, stealing, and then dodging, or a Senator who won't do the right thing as he or she feels it will bring them more power, or a Congressman so scared of having to face his constituents that he won't even face them.

The only real tool we have in Democracy is a blunt instrument: the vote.  Let's use it, but use it well!

Don't vote Republican OR Democrat simply because that's what you voted last time, or because someone told you to vote that way.

WATCH these tricky people, learn what they do in their job, and see if you'd really want to work next to them.  See if you'd want to do business with them.  See if, in your heart of hearts, you think they're really trying to protect you and your family, or rather if they're just out to get a little more power or make a quick buck.

And if they aren't living up to your expectations, then vote them the hell out!  Think, and Remember.

As I told her, once you've thought about a given situations, gathered evidence, and made a decision based on the evidence then contact your representatives and let your feelings be known:

For the House of Representatives:
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

For the Senate:
https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/

Make sure your voice is heard.  You *pay* these people, so they work for you...tell them what they should be doing.
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