My Vote

I don't typically post or write much about politics and specifically how I vote, but I wanted to write this post so that one day when my boys are old enough to appreciate it, they will have the opportunity to read this and know where I stand. 

I have grown up with a respect for the office of the President and a love for our country. I was taught that we are fortunate and blessed to live in this land. My favorite holiday next to Christmas is Independence Day. I get emotional when I think about the hardship that those that came before us went through to ensure that we had this incredible land of the free that we have today. I do also have a son named Lincoln. Yes, there are many things that have gone wrong. Yes, we have parts to our country's history that are not steller. Yes, there are laws I don't agree with, leaders I don't like and injustices that occur but bottom line is the USA is a chosen and blessed country. 

It has been a long eight years with Democrat President Obama in office. His speeches of hope and change were simply empty promises.  I didn't vote for him and frankly don't care for him but regardless, I still respect the position. I was excited to see who would be able to come rescue our broken, morally damaged and bankrupt country in this election. This election year is one for the history books. 

In the end, it came down to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. I, like most Americans, was surprised that those were my two primary choices for President of the United States. Surely there were more qualified and better suited people who could run and win this election - but apparently that wast the case. Not this time. This was now our reality. I wasn't thrilled with some of the things Trump had done but I am tired of politicians and our government getting wrapped up with lobbyists, giving all of my hard earned money to programs and people who don't truly need it and creating a culture and society of laziness, freebies and greed. I decided I can deal with the fact that Trump was going to say some things that were probably not appropriate but I appreciate the fact that he isn't trying to be overly politically correct and calling things the way he sees them. Yes, some of them are mean but we as a county have gone so far out of control with politically correctness, that it's starting to impede on our freedoms of speech and our ability to choose for ourselves. I like the idea that he is not a career politician and that he can run a business. I also really like and respect his children. I think they are incredibly smart and they have a more well rounded view of the world and working families. 

I was (and am) absolutely disgusted and appalled at most everything Hillary Clinton has done. I would love to see a woman in the White House but honestly, as a woman, Hillary is the absolute last person I would want representing women and taking that honored spot in history. We as women can and deserve better. I will not dive into all of the things that she has done since that has been hashed out in the media for the last year and a half and I'm tired of it but it's there, in all it's nasty filth and distain, if someone chooses to look for it. I remember as a young girl when Bill Clinton was President and the Monica Lewinsky drama happened. I clearly remember thinking that as a woman I wanted to see Hillary have a backbone and stand up for herself and she didn't. It was clear to me she stayed in that relationship for the power and money. That is not how I wanted women to be represented and I was disappointed in her as a first lady and further disappointed in her since. 

I have hope for the future. I want our country to be a place where my boys can grow up and feel safe, obtain a great and affordable education and live the American dream of owning a home and securing gainful employment while raising a family of their own. This country is a divided one. More divided than I've ever seen. I know it can be better. I saw touching and marvelous patriotism in the aftermath of 9-11. It's unfortunate that we had to go through that to see such moving human kindness in my generation but it's something I will never forget. I think this country needs a hard look at it's roots - get back to the basics and rebuild a country that stands as one nation under God and as the beacon of freedom, heroes, and opportunity.