As I sit here and ponder, how our Elected Representatives could ignore those of us that actually voted for them, in preference to their own self-centered interests, I am beginning to notice that a lot of people do not know how Government is supposed to work. The Mainstream Media isn’t helping matters much either.
I will list my experience in learning, in the order that I was taught.
I started my journey in a political chat room. I met a lot of people who had differing and supporting opinions. I started to read. I noticed that America was slowly but surely, being cut off from the rest of the world. No more Al Jazeera English, European news, and those little Japanese girls that laughed at funny things we Americans did or thought or said, gone because of George W. Bush and the Patriot Act I.
One day, after two terms of re-writing how Government is supposed to work, watching as Bush turned Executive Orders into Directives, not what they really are, hearing people decry that the Democratic Party was the Majority, albeit a one vote Majority, I watched and I learned and I listened as Nancy Pelosi took impeachment off the table. Of course, like everyone else I was furious about that. Everyone else that was a member of the Democratic Party, that I was aware of anyway. That Bush didn’t really care about Osama bin Laden anymore. Here where I live, for the next cycle (that’s what they’re called by the way), we had a Caucus instead of a Primary in Nevada.
My opinion on that is that the state of Nevada was too cheap to pay for a Primary and that they thought Nevada residents would be too lazy, uninformed or confused to attend a Caucus.
That’s where my real education began. I became an Obama Delegate. Mind you, this is after seeing many Candidates pass my way. All of a sudden the “Rurals” were important. At the time I didn’t know why. I know now. Redistricting was coming after the National Census. They plan ahead. Some times decades in advance.
My first encounter was with Hillary Clinton at Skate Zone. Too many “plants” in the audience for me. That’s where I learned the definition for the term Political Theater.
My next encounter was with Dr. Ron Paul. I came away with the distinct impression that he had some very good ideas however, he really hadn’t thought things through completely, or he really wasn’t aware of the State of the Nation at that time. Then he went and lied to my husband about the privatization of the Media ( I woke up to the sound of my husband in the living room yelling “You lying sack of shit!” over and over). Dr. Paul still isn’t aware or chooses not to disclose that he is aware, of the privatization of the Media.
In the interim, I was looking forward to seeing John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich, both of whom withdrew before they had a chance to show up.
My last encounter was with Barrack Obama. Keep in mind, by this time I was pretty downhearted by what I was hearing and seeing. Mike Huckabee swung by here too, I really had no use for him though, since he believes women ought to submit to their husbands and I wouldn’t have been allowed into the Church he chose as his venue because I’m not a member. I’m not a member of any Church. Obama came to our little Middle School and when I arrived, I picked up a Blue Print for Change and I started to read (I’m ever so grateful to my mother for having a Doctorate in Language Arts to this day). I sat and read. Obama was almost two hours late to the Middle School (I believe because they couldn’t find it, if you live here that will give you a little chuckle I’m sure). Obama was and is authentic. There wasn’t one thing he said that I could disagree with, I was still a novice to the inner workings of American Government though.
Here comes the fun part, the State Caucus. On a lark, I decided to become a Delegate. I had decided to vote for Obama after reading the Blue Print for Change however, becoming a Delegate seemed like a good thing to do at the time. I’m not a proponent of the Electoral College. Especially after I read its history and what the powers of the Electoral College encompass. It’s outdated and needs to either be revised entirely or done away with completely. The Electoral College may, at its choosing, take the majority vote, should it think the Constituency is not informed enough, and place it with any candidate it sees fit. After which the representatives may be relieved of their positions, but not before the vote has been cast. Quite a dilemma there if you ask me.
I went from Precinct Caucus to County Delegate for Obama. I was told at my Democratic Headquarters that I didn’t have to show up for my County Caucus. Delegates count and I was suspicious when everyone in the building kept promoting Hillary as their choice, so I called my Precinct Captain and told her what they told me about not having to show up (I’m sure you’re staring to get a picture here too).
I went to the County Caucus and those of us that were Obama Delegates were threatened with being removed from the building and not being counted if we didn’t quiet down. Illegal by the way, as stated in our State Constitution and in the U.S. Constitution under the category of Voter Disenfranchisement. Someone called an attorney and the matter was settled, though not without Hillary supporters who were in charge of the count, over counting their Delegates twice, and under counting the Obama Delegates once. The guy who told me that I didn’ t have to show up was really surprised to see me at the County level too I might add.
At this point, I started receiving emails from another Obama Delegate about the Consent Agenda for the State Delegate Convention. I decided to show up a day early and then have a look around. There were Delegates and Candidates everywhere. I also wanted to see if I could find the person who was sending me these emails and have him explain them to me, in detail.
As fortune would have it, I found him the next morning before the Convention started, in the designated room for Obama Delegates and he explained in great detail what he was promoting. The State Party was trying to pass by voice vote, a pre-approved Electorate Slate. Their Agenda, as it stood, was to have the pre-approved Electorate Slate, choose Hillary Clinton across the Nation as their Candidate of choice. That hidden vote passed in two Territories and one State. It didn’t happen in Nevada or anywhere else. When the gentleman from the emails stood up to call a Point of Order, the microphones were cut off. When I realized what had just happened, I stood up and started to yell “Point of Order”, over a murmuring crowd of about 3500 people. I’m pretty loud, and everyone there heard me. The microphones suddenly became hot. I was already yelling and a little nervous however, as I continued to yell “One person, one vote” and explained that I did not approve of the Electoral College, the crowd seemed to wake up, and that hidden vote, in the Consent Agenda, failed. While I was walking through the hotel lobby, I got to hear my own voice being played back via local radio news. I don’t mind saying that I impressed myself because quite frankly, I really didn’t know at the time what I was doing. Only that it needed to be done. We got to elect our own Slate.
When I got home, I volunteered for the Campaign for Change. I proceeded to go from door to door, in every precinct in my community, and promote Obama for President. I learned after the election, Nevada had one of the highest election turn outs in history. I was very proud of us voters that day. So proud that I decided to run for Town Board in my community. This is the point where things start to become a lot more clear. I was insulted by Hillary supporters at just about every turn. They knew who I was and I did not support the State Agenda. The State Agenda was to get Hillary elected not Obama.
I lost by only eight votes and I never even put up a sign to support myself, nor did I accept any donations. Notice that I’m not really disappointed by my loss, I had bigger fish to fry. The position I really wanted was Chair of my County Democratic Party. I attended every meeting and I signed all the attendance sheets. I even have witnesses that are Elected Representatives who attended with me. The reason I say this is because, through the magic of photo-shop, my name was removed from the rosters, therefore disqualifying me from the position. I might add I raised holy hell over that and our Rural-at -Large Representative, was shouted down at the State Party meeting over this. He was called names too from what I’m told. The County Democratic Committee even moved the polling place for the elections, some 200 miles away so people who supported my bid for the office, wouldn’t be able to vote for me.
For my next adventure, I became a Campaign Manager for a really wonderful Candidate. He withdrew after being approached by the State Party and I was the recipient of many an insult, from more than a few State Party members. By this time I was the member of several outside organizations too. Other community members and I co-hosted events locally, with their support. I’m not sure how useful some of those organizations are anymore. Two of them seem particularly detached from what’s really going on at the local level.
The next cycle arrived and I was asked to co-manage another really wonderful Candidate, I accepted. This is where I learned the most. I held a joint Meet and Greet, where several of the upper echelon Candidates had agreed to attend, and then, without any notice what-so-ever, two of them did not show up. The third middle echelon Candidate was told not to show because some other event was more important than where all his voting constituency resided. I’d like to remind everyone at this juncture , it’s about the VOTES and keeping your COMMITMENTS. That particular lesson will stand the test of time.
I learned that the majority of Candidates aren’t really aware of current events, they’re insulated by their staff. They have their platforms however, they only know what their manager tells them.
To bring a synopsized epilogue to this, let me state that there are dealings behind closed doors (regardless of transparency), where promises are made, in order to facilitate Agendas. All political Parties have their own Agendas and are more like a club, promoting people according to Tenure in their Party. Last but not least, most voters need to refresh their memories about how a Law becomes a Law, because Obama is keeping his promises to his supporters, the House not withstanding. Each branch of Government is supposed to be equal in their efforts to pass Laws according to a Majority Rule. We are a Republic based on Representative Democracy, or we wouldn’t vote. We the People ARE the Government. As further evidence of this, and for those of us who wax nostalgic over simpler times and explanations, I offer you this:
How a Bill becomes a Law
