Category: Other

Today is a big day for all of us Americans. Today is Midterm Election Day in the U.S. We get to vote for our senators, congressman, local politicians, mayors and governors. To be honest I have been like many I have been tired of the dirty politics that have been going on in Washington. I am pretty much disappointed by our elected officials. However, that should not discourage us or keep us from the polling places today. Instead, that should motivate us to turn out in record numbers and vote. You, like me and my loved ones, might be so disappointed that you don’t even know who to vote for.  Perhaps you are like my sister, and do not like any of the candidates and hence do not want to vote at all.  To you, all I keep asking, think of it this way, do a process of elimination and think, who would you absolutely not want to see in the sit you are voting for? If you sit out and not vote, the chance for that guy getting elected might be even closer.  Just remember, you can’t win if you don’t play and the election outcomes are determined by those who participate.

Why is voting so important? Voting is our right and responsibility as a citizen.  Our nation’s democracy was founded upon the principle of fair and free election where every eligible citizens vote. According to a Huffington Post article by Dr. Judith Rich, publish last week, it is our responsibility to ensure that our electoral process is conducted in accordance with this principle and that those violates the process do not win the day. “It is our responsibility to protect the process itself, and that does not happen by withdrawing our participation. As messy as it may be, our participation is required”. Secondly, you still have your one vote, and if you don’t exercise it you give up your right to have a say in the matter and that, ultimately, is the premise upon which this country was founded. Thousands of people have given their lives so that you and I can have that right.

Before you decide you sit out and decide your exercise your right to vote, think about our founding founder and all the great men and women who gave their lives for us. We owe it to them to vote. So, go out their and cast your vote. Take your children with you. Show them the importance of voting, of the fact that we even have the right to vote, and why it matters, so that they  someday will vote for themselves.  According to yesterday’s Washington Post article by Amy Joyce, learning by living is exactly what election day is about. “We talk a lot in our family about making the world a better place, and today is one example of that. Voting teaches kids and teens to be change-makers. Demonstrate that you believe problems have solutions, and that the voting process consists of groups of people making decisions on how to generate those solutions.”

So readers, let me end by two quotes today. The first is from “Father of the American Revolution”, Signer of Declaration of Independence, and Governor of Massachusetts, Samuel Adams, “Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual – or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country”. The second if from Civil Right Leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, “Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us.  The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressman and government officials, but the voters of this country”. Hope you will all go out and exercise your right and responsibility and U.S. citizens to vote today.