Donald Trump's supporters are angry with the American government. So are Hillary's. So are Sanders's. So are Stein's. The government is a morass of shady politicking, bought officials, and inaction. The economy is booming for Wall Street. Have you noticed it booming for you? Money is all going to the top one percent.
Plenty to be mad about, no argument. But you can choose crazy chest-thumping mad, or thoughtful legislative reform. You can alienate every country on the planet, or you can go to (watch out for this awful word!) progressive thinking. We're actually not so far from a human-oriented, non-rich-corporation-oriented Washington. This election or next we could actually see change in that direction.
There are about a billion differences between the candidates. Here are a couple.
Most of what Everyone Knows about Hillary is rumor and hatred. She is not “under indictment.”
Donald is in court in November on racketeering charges. Again in December on child rape charges.
If you are a Hillary supporter, get out to vote and bring a friend. If you are a Donald supporter, please think about the above. And then you, too, should go out and exercise your citizenship by voting.
You can check on all this at “Snopes.com.”
I got into fact checking awhile ago. Someone told me, in all solemnity, that Obama had had a foreign student loan for his college education. Of course it set me thinking, “If he had a loan from that program, how does it fit with his American citizenship?”
Here's the thing: the fellow who told me that believed it. I knew him to be an Obama hater because he worked it into the first three sentences of our conversation about a music venue. So he was gratified to hear affirmation of what a cheat the President was, and evidence that he was not American, and to repeat this statement to any and all. But it wasn't true.
Went home and googled “Obama Foreign Student Loan.” A site called Snopes.com explained that this was an e-mail hoax that had been going around for some time. Purpose? To denigrate Obama.
This cuts both ways. It flashed all over Facebook that Usain Bolt and Shakira donated millions to Haiti for hurricane relief. All the fans and liberals rejoiced in such uplifting news. But it was a fake news report. Purpose? To create lots of clicks and ad revenue online.
The internet is a marvelous source of information. But anyone can say anything there. Fortunately, it is also a lie detector. People post all sorts of “news” on my Facebook feed. Apple is giving away free computers! Mr. Rogers was a Navy SEAL! Tom Hanks is dead! Sometimes we know better. Sometimes we get carried away with delight or shock and promptly repost it. Someone eventually looks it up and posts the truth. Sometimes we are very chagrined!
Google “good fact-checking websites.” and take your pick. (Fact-checking is also fun, you'll find!)
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Hope this WILL change your mind.
I have met Zephyr Teachout twice, here at Green Wolf Brewing in Middleburgh. She is quite as sprightly a person as she appears in the ads. (Well, her ads. The Republican attack ads are something else. And isn't it funny how one candidate's campaign can always find a horribly unbecoming photograph of the other fella!) She had conversations with a lot of people, gave a short speech, had more conversations. I'm sorry if you missed these events.
She spent some time explaining that two rich guys each wrote Faso a check for $500,000. That's a lot of leverage in an election for two people. Her average contributor gives $19. “If only,” she said, “we could get the Bernie people to give us the other seven dollars!”
To make her feel better, my wife and I wrote her a check for $500,000. Unfortunately, we had to say, “Good luck cashing that,” and swapped her for one a whole bunch smaller. Faso is a lobbyist in favor of fracking, the pipeline, and privatizing Social Security, which means big banks will be in charge of it.....oops!
Teachout is in favor of clean water, getting big money out of politics, and renewable energy. About the only thing the opposition can find to say bad about her is that she is a college professor. And that she is a NYC politician out-of-sync with “us.” (Grew up on a dairy farm in Vermont.)
A quote from Bernie Sanders (don't run away, now!) “You have at least three billionaires, including Sheldon Adelson, pouring millions of dollars into super PACs to try and buy this seat in Congress. The super PAC funded by Adelson has spent more money attacking Zephyr than they have for any other candidate in the country.”
“The most important congressional race in the country.”
Little ol' us!
You takes your pick.
She got away before Bernie the fiddler and I could challenge her to demonstrate her clog dancing.
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This aging (beats the alternative!) troubadour plans to present himself to participation in the various open mics around the Schoharie Valley and environs. Watch for reports. Or go on out there yourself and report it here. Meanwhile, let's give a big Bravo! to the Green Wolf Brewing Company's pub on Main Street in Middleburgh. Music every Friday and Saturday. I cannot give enough appreciation to a club that instantly devotes itself to regular live music. That's coming from a musician. As a patron, hearing the music made and conversing with the makers is way more fun than pushing F5. That's not mentioning the beer, which is attracting aficionados.
Your Tip of the Week (lotta categories being created here---will we live up to them?) is to e-mail Sonny Ochs at sonnyo@midtel.net and ask her to add you to the concert mailing list. This will bring you news of folk music events, including her very friendly series in the back room of the Middleburgh Library. The ambiance will easily match 8th grade homeroom, and you may have to sing along and stack your own chair after the show. These concerts are a great pleasure. Artists up front and five feet away. Can't beat it.
First interesting date: Nov. 8th, when the election results are tallied.
Second interesting date: Nov. 9th, when we see what Mr. Trump has to say about
the result. (Assuming he loses, which he seems to have made inevitable.)
Watch this space.
Dennis D'Asaro
Middleburgh
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