Happy Happy Happy Brunch Sunday from Florida! Let's raise our mimosas or mugs and clink a cheers to a bit of connection between work, notices and ads in our inbox. Written with a London accent in my head. Reading with an accent is completely voluntary.
Today, I physically raise my own mug in response to my intro. Cheers to all of us, truly. Look how far we have come. It is okay to pat your back just twice. We all got through another week of dark chaos on the outside with light and creamy insides.
(One collective relieving sigh.)
I know--That over there is happening, and This is also happening. Believe me, I've got my own This's.
The sun keeps rising. We are still in it.
When I was young, I was certain that I would not live to see thirty years old. Maybe it was because the peak of the AIDS pandemic meshed with my junior year of high school. If kids were having sex, they were probably going to die.
Maybe each generation has fear about their future?
As each birthday passes, there is a small astonishment each morning for a week or two.
We are all still here.
A moment for those who are no longer with us.
People started to die of AIDS in the US in 1981, yet our country's president did not speak publicly on the subject until 1986. In 1985, there was a worldwide AIDS conference in Atlanta, GA--and the President still did not speak about it for another year. His name was Reagan.
We have been through a lack of leadership before. There have been many before and since. Our current president is unapologetically bending every good thing to the will of the international corporate "interests." That word has been used to hurt The People for too long. More and more systems are deleted or modified to keep those pillars in place.
The vote fight this year is to not have a conservative-leaning judicial power for the next thirty years. It's to boot out the permission of racism. That's the best we can hope for. I am not saying we need liberal judges, striking fear into the hearts of conservatives across the nation. It's not that dramatic. Are there any non-rapists or pedophiles left that can consider facts and vote from conscious instead of power and gain? Anybody?
Whew. You're right, maybe politics was a meander that I should not have taken. Maybe I shouldn't bring up religion either. We could sit back and pray, and hope that people will do the right thing--or that God will fix it. He can't fix it unless THROUGH US. If you have faith in Him, you have to believe in yourself and act in a way that helps you sleep.
The Declaration mentions God as "Nature's God," "Creator," and "Supreme Judge," but the Constitution never mentions God at all, as Anthony Minna wrote:
"...the Constitution is hardly a document glorifying top-down power. On the contrary, the theory of government underpinning the United States Constitution is popular sovereignty. The government derives its legitimacy from the consent of the governed, not from an assembly of elders, not from a king or a prelate, and not from a higher power." (Feb 2016, https://allthingsliberty.com/2016/02/why-god-is-in-the-declaration-but-not-the-constitution/)
What if leadership comes from the people? What if we can affect changes, or even effect change?
Yes, there are fewer polling places. Volunteers can drive you to the polls. People with cars can volunteer for people without cars. Employers can give employees rotating times to go vote--or schedule those who vote-by-mail to work the day.
Yes, there are multiple systems in place created by the powerful parties and corporate lobbies that exist to limit the power of the people. True.
We must do all we can.
State Primary dates, with Covid-19 changes, can be found here: https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/2020-state-primary-election-dates.aspx#Alphabetical
State registration deadlines are found here by clicking on your state: https://www.headcount.org/deadlines-dates/?state=florida In Florida, there are EIGHT days to register before August 18.
Please check your own registration for 'accidental' changes made to your information or status that might kick you out of the line.
Today's Deep Breath: (Here's a practical juju nugget, a collective Next Best Decision.)
We have been led to believe that we are not in control. We have been divided to hate each other.
Let's decide not to do that.
Love for the People.
It's just a decision. If you notice, after deciding to Love the People, that it was a bad decision, you are free to go back and decide again to hate.
Maybe for a few months, we could all try it.
The Great Love Experiment!
Vote for the People. Is this a big ask? Is this too much?
You're busy?
You need child care?
You have to work?
Sign up for a mail-in-ballot before your deadline. (Florida, you have 8 days.)
I love you. Thank you.
Until next time,
Tami Lowe
