I don't know about you, but my social media has been pretty crazy lately. Some people are extremely excited about Hillary Clinton being the Democrat nominee, some people are terrified/outraged. And some, I'd wager to bet the majority, are just quietly taking it all in and hoping calmness and logic will prevail over emotion by November. I've been mulling it over, and wanted to offer my thoughts about all of this.
Regardless of who the nominee is, the president is not the person with the most power in this country. He or she is one of many people who wield power in this country. Our nation is purposefully set up like this so no one person can have all the power. He or she isn't the captain of the ship, he or she is the steering wheel of the ship, and moves in the direction that he or she is told to by the captain, which is us. Yes, the president does have a good amount of power at their fingertips, and that does need to be taken into account when looking at our options in November, but it is not the sole source of power in this country.
What the president isn't and should never be: Our Messiah. Lately it seems to me that we look to the president to solve all our problems and we become disappointed and disillusioned when that doesn't happen. I feel that we sometimes idolize the role of president and whoever it currently is. For anybody of Judaeo-Christian persuasion, we know this is generally a bad thing. In fact, it's rather quite frowned upon and should definitely be kept in check. We should never make the mistake of turning the president into a god. They should never have that much power over us. We simply cannot and should not, put all our hopes and dreams on the shoulders of this person. Some of the hopes and dreams we will have to achieve on our own, regardless of who currently does or will become the next steering wheel of America.
The person in the role of the presidency is merely a human, just like us. He or she is fallible, is not and cannot be perfect. He or she will inevitably disappoint everybody at various parts of their tenure as president. This is simply the way it is because a government is a human-made entity, run by fallible, imperfect humans. As much as we try to make it look like it's greater than this, or capable of being better than it is, we will always be choosing the lesser of two evils when we vote.
We like to say things like "This is the most important election of our lifetime," to try and drum up support of our candidate and to encourage others to go out and vote as well. But the truth is, every single election, at every single level, is the most important election of our lifetime. Local elections will affect our daily lives much more often and much deeper than those at a national level. "Lesser" elections like those of our Congressmen and women and those in the Senate are in some ways, far more important than whoever we elect as the next president. With our current Do-Nothing Congress up for reelection, we have a responsibility to vote them out of office. If they remain in office, it won't matter which Democrat is elected, because none of their goals will be achieved.
And finally, to the "Bernie or Bust" people, I'd like to point out just a few things that are subject to change, should the Democrats lose the election in November. The Affordable Care Act, women's right to choose what they can and cannot do with their bodies, two or possibly three Supreme Court Justices who serve a lifetime term, our dignity and standing in the rest of the world. All of these things will affect not only the four to eight years that a GOP candidate is in office, but for generations to come. It will affect not only America, but the whole planet, as well. Writing in a person as a candidate or encouraging them to run as a third party candidate has always been a way of helping to elect the other side's candidate. In the history of this country, no write-in or third party candidate has ever won a presidency. If this candidate did not win the primary election, what makes you think he or she could possibly win via these means in a general election? Just remember that the "bust" part of that saying affects everybody else in this country as well, not just you. A scorched earth policy only destroys the earth; I have yet to see anything good come of it. If November comes around and you still just cannot stomach the idea of voting for Hillary Clinton, I would honestly encourage you to not vote for that category at all. You are allowed to do that, it is your right to abstain from voting for a category if all the options are so abhorrent to you that you cannot do so in good conscience. I would, however, highly encourage you to vote for your state's Congressmen and women and Senate members who are up for reelection. Either voting them back in or out, as you see fit. Just because you skip one category doesn't mean you can't vote for everything else.
It is still an eternity away until November, and anything can and probably will happen between now and then. Emotions are high, and it's about to start getting even uglier. One thing to remember in all of this is that we are all trying our best to do what we feel is right for the present and future of our country. And when the election is over, and the dust has settled, we still have to work with each other, live with each other, and be friends with each other. Don't let an election ruin real life relationships in your own world. Nothing is worth that. Not even Donald Trump.
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