Over the next many weeks, we’re all going to have our political ideologies and biases challenged. Many of you already know, admit, and even embrace your preference, which is, of course, absolutely fine (even though it’s an incredibly toxic way to live…you do you, boo-boo).
For those of us who claim to be “middle-of-the-road,” and not on one team or another, we will be tested. One way to confirm whether or not you are truly an independent thinker is to experience what I did Saturday morning. While scrolling through the cesspool that is Twitter, I saw two Meme’s back to back, one bashing Joe Biden, the other bashing Donald Trump, and I laughed uproariously at both…can you?
If you found yourself, even for one second, arguing against either meme, you not only have a terrible sense of humor, you also have a political bias. Just admit it and join the team officially.
As for the rest of us, we also have some admissions to make so let’s get to it.
The presidential election, especially in 2020 is very similar to the Super Bowl. Even if you aren’t a fan of either team, you need to pick a winner and root for one of the participants. No one on Earth is more annoying than that loser at your Super Bowl party who claims they don’t care who wins, they just want a good game. Hit the road, bitch.
Despite what social media, your friends and family and seemingly everyone tells you, rooting for Trump or Biden doesn’t mean you have to put on the jersey and become a member of the team. It simply means that you have evaluated the binary choice that you have and have discovered which of the candidates you believe will make either your life or the nation as a whole, better (those two things don’t always work in tandem, BTW).
So, let’s all admit our biases whichever way they may lean; either we’re deranged and we literally define ourselves by aligning with a political party or candidate, or we’re sane and well grounded and we simply feel that one party is, on the whole, better than the other right now, but we don’t claim to be on that team. Either way, those are the choices. We have no time or place for political agnostics…pick a god damned hole!
Is Trump simply too toxic and un-presidential? Is he too much of a threat to the environment and LGBTQ rights? Is his handling of the Coronavirus so unforgiveable that he must be removed from office, even if it means a Biden and/or Harris administration that will evaporate the Trump tax cuts, begin to move towards eliminating America’s dominance vis a vis fossil fuels, and potentially stack the Supreme Court?
Is Biden so far gone that he can’t be trusted? Are you genuinely terrified that Harris will be placed as the President and execute the most radical far left agenda possible? Are the questions about his son’s and brother’s business dealings enough to give President Orange 4 more years of appointing a record number of federal judges, building more of a wall, and potentially dismantling Obamacare?
It really is that simple…you have to weigh what matters to you. Abortion and gun rights aren’t on the ballot; the Supreme Court is solidly conservative for a generation so those battles have been fought and won or lost, depending on your point of view.
What is on the ballot are things like the economy, military, environment, immigration, health care, and how the world views us. Depending on what you believe may happen in a second Trump administration or a new Biden administration, perhaps the very foundation of the nation is also on the ballot. Should Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico become states as the Democrats want? Should the senate eliminate the filibuster, allowing the majority party to rule by fiat? What about DACA and the 15 million now adults who were brought here by their parents from foreign countries as children and have spent the last 20 years being “Americans?” Do they get that title and the rights that come with it or do we send them away for choices they had no part in?
Personally, I want low taxes, a strong military, fewer regulations on businesses, an open country not afraid of the virus, and support for our law enforcement. Those things scream “TRUMP!”
But I also want to know that Queenie and others in the LGBTQ community will be protected and advocated for and not be discriminated against. I also want to be certain that social justice reforms within not just our police departments, but all aspects of our society are championed. I support the legalization of marijuana and hate the constant intrusion of religion into our politics and policies and all of those things scream “NOT TRUMP!”
In the end, we all must decide what matters the most to us as we determine who to root for…but most importantly, and sadly, most unlikely, we need to remember that we are all Americans and that we do this “democracy” thing better than anyone else in the world for one simple reason…when the other side wins, we accept and abide. At least we used to…I’m not suggesting we’re all going to sing Kumbaya the day the results are determined, but at the very least we must strive to at least line up on the field afterwards and walk the line high fiving the other side saying “good game,” even if we don’t really mean it. I figured since we’re all acting like children these days that maybe a lesson we were all taught back then might prove instructive.
Good luck America…you’re going to need it!
