Lawrence has Alzheimer…
…or how quickly we forget.
Another election is coming up and the public’s manipulation has started but what bothers me most is the silence.
Oh, yes! Silence from the public that is being deceived not just by promises from politicians but from their fans offering help, particularly to elders. People who have been cheated and never say a word afraid of … I don’t know what!
I think this is reaching epidemic proportions because it was not even two years ago that we heard so many complaints about elders being cheated filling out their absentee ballot. Dishonest people will ask those defenseless voters, probably lacking verbal and written skills in English to request an absentee ballot.
First of all, absentee ballots are to be used by voters who will not be in town on Election Day, happen to be in a hospital or are incapacitated from leaving their home. Anyone who can go to the Senior Center to spend the day is also able to go vote.
If you do request an absentee ballot, don’t sign it and give it to anyone before filling the names for which you want to vote and sealing the envelope. We heard of so many cases where they confided on good natured people who picked them up and later misused them by filling another candidate’s box. I even heard of someone taking them from people’s mailboxes!
When meeting a candidate, make sure to ask questions and get to know him. That’s something most people don’t do. Ask about the role of the position which he is running. If he or she is honest in his or her interest to serve, an answer with the description of duties will roll out with no effort. If they are pretending to know and giving you a load of non-sense, other people in the audience or gathering might call him or her on it. Don’t be shy asking questions even if you think they are not important. Many other people could be thinking the same and don’t ask.
When it comes to local offices, keep in mind that those answers must be relevant to our city and our needs. Don’t allow gibberish about national news to take place because that is an easy way out of answering with all the hatred that politicians learned to spew.
Above all, remember that your vote is precious so don’t trust anyone filling out the ballot. If you cannot do it yourself, find someone you trust to mark the correct box.
Don’t ever feel that you don’t count; that’s why they come asking for it because it does.
Political signs
You might be surprised that I have not written this year about the proper dates to post political signs in homes and businesses. The truth is that I forgot. There are so many things going wrong in Lawrence that I didn’t pay attention to that.
But last week, Mike Armano, State Senate candidate came by my house and said that they are making a list of homes willing to have a sign on their lawns after August 1st. Then, it dawned on me that it will be one month before elections and the rule says signs should only be posted 30 days before and must be removed 30 days after the elections.
That ordinance is a laugh because it’s been months since we started seeing political signs all over the city. If we only had more inspectors to give fines to violators of political signs and people who don’t recycle, we could make a dent on the city budget and make it look cleaner as a result.
Freedom FROM religion?
I read a story about a restaurant in Ohio that used to give a 10% discount on Sundays to anyone bringing a bulletin from church. It was a nice gesture that was welcomed by many families after their service.
Then, they started receiving negative reviews online regarding the promotion and a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) threatening legal action. This organization is a member of the Secular Coalition of America and considers themselves protectors of “the constitutional principle of the separation of church and state.”
Of course, the owner stopped the practice and apologized to the group to avoid a legal hassle he could not afford.
“We are shocked that there is such little understanding of the Civil Rights Act and that there could be this kind of confusion, naïveté that you can reward some customers for their religious beliefs and penalize others,” Annie Laurie Gaylor, the co-president of the FFRF.
Would someone tell these idiots that is it “freedom OF religion – not FROM it!
The more we keep giving in to this craziness, the more rights and liberties we’ll lose.
Payano in full force
Pavel Payano notified us that he will be pulling out of the State Senate race (see announcement on page 2) to dedicate his time to get Juana Matías elected to Congress.
