FELON ELECTED AS COUNTY AUDITOR

Honestly, I’m not making this up. It is not fake news. It happened here, in a bellwether county, which lost that status last week after going for Trump in a big way. A convicted felon was elected as county auditor.

The incumbent auditor, “Jim”, had served for over 20 years as the county treasurer. He has a degree in accounting, is a certified public accountant, and has nearly 40 years of experience in governmental accounting Four years ago, he was elected county auditor. Obviously, he’s a competent and experienced person.

“Rebecca”, his Republican opponent, has no apparent experience in accounting. She said she had some experiences as a business owner. (not sure what that business was.) She’s also a notary. She won the election by about 2500 votes.

How did a convicted felon get elected as county auditor? — Felon elected as County Auditor. Before she changed her name, she had a public record.

Trouble is, Rebecca used to have another last name. Somewhere along the way, she reinvented herself. Apparently, no one in the Republican party thought to check Indiana’s public records website . By keying in her original name, you see that 20 years ago she did jail time for committing a robbery. She had been arrested for another robbery two years before that.

When she filed for candidacy in the primary, it included a paragraph with the sentence, “I am not ineligible to be a candidate due to a criminal conviction that would prohibit me from serving in this office.” I guess Rebecca forgot she was convicted of robbery resulting in bodily injury back in 1996. Or maybe she thought it didn’t matter.

It boggles the mind. How in the world did Rebecca worm her way into the upper echelons of the Republican party? Since I’m not a political activist, I’m not privy to the facts. Undoubtedly, there’s a story to be told.

Fortunately, her past has finally caught up with her. She’ll have to go before a judge, who will hopefully decide that a felon convicted of robbery cannot hold the office of county auditor. Consequently, the person who came in second will retain his old job, after all.

I think I know what happened here. This is Trump country. He carried our county with 57% of the vote. And 41 % of voters in this county vote straight ticket. Which means they don’t care in the least about the qualifications of the person they’re voting for. Why would anyone vote straight ticket? There’s no excuse for that in a small city where we are familiar with the candidates.

Here’s the moral of this story: . Don’t vote straight ticket. Vote for the individual, not the party. Otherwise, a convicted felon could become your county auditor.

October 19, 2020October 19, 2020

WHY WOULD YOU VOTE STRAIGHT TICKET?

Our local newspaper just featured a story about our county’s bellwether status. For those who don’t know: that means we’ve predicted who will be elected president since the year 1888—with two exceptions. Now, they say that’s going to change if we go for Trump. That doesn’t really bother me so much as the rest of the article. The author says that 41% of both republicans and democrats vote straight tickets. This leaves only a small amount of unpredictable votes. It boggles the mind. Why would you vote straight ticket in a small city?

Voting is different in a big city metropolis. I was first eligible to vote when I moved to Chicago after college. I’m sure I voted straight ticket because I didn’t know any of the people on the ballot. I was just voting for the party of my parents. Honestly, I didn’t give it a whole lot of thought. Year later, I moved to Miami and voted the same way. I had never met any of the candidates and their names meant nothing to me Again, the safe bet was to vote straight ticket.

Why would you vote straight ticket? In this bellwether city, many are still undecided. — Why Would You Vote Straight Ticket? This bellwether county could lose its status this year.

Now, I’ve lived in this county where I vote for the past 50 years. I have known, met, or , interacted with almost every local candidate. I can’t imagine voting against a person I admire or respect based on their political affiliations. Conversely, why would I vote for someone I don’t like, just because they belong to the party of my choice?

We voted early this year, on the second day the polls opened. It was a little more crowded than usual , but no lines at all. We got right in. When the poll worker came to instruct me , she opened to the first page, stopped, and looked at me. It was obvious she expected someone my age to vote straight ticket, which would make the whole process a whole lot easier. When I told her I wanted to split my ticket, she seemed nonplussed. But she did her job, and told me to turn the page. Then she left me to my private decisions.

There’s nothing difficult about splitting your ticket. In fact, it’s a lot more interesting. In the rare cases where you don’t know all the candidates for a given office, you can always fall back on the party of your choice. And when I see my favored candidate walking down the street, it gives me a warm feeling. Even if I don’t identify as a member of their party, I still believe he/she will do the best job. And I’m glad I didn’t vote straight ticket.

October 12, 2020October 12, 2020

CITY CODE ENFORCEMENT LACKS TEETH

Most responsible homeowners take pride in mowing their lawns and maintaining their property, but some don’t. That’s why cities have regulations about lawn mowing. Currently, any grass over 12 inches high is in violation of city code. At that point, they may receive a complaint in their mailbox. If the notice is ignored, the city mows the offenders lawn and charges them $60. Which happens to be less than what it would cost to have it mowed by a lawn service. 2^nd, 3d and 4^th offenses are charged at the same flat fee of $60. Our city code enforcement lacks teeth.

hOMEOWNERS should be fined if they refuse to mow their lawn. — if a person isn’t fined for 2nd & 3d offenses, City Code Enforcement Lacks Teeth.

What happens to a nice neighborhood when one homeowner lets his yard get overgrown with knee high grass and mountains of weeds? Property values decrease, and everyone feels frustrated.

In our subdivision, there is a homeowner who thumbs his nose at society by refusing to mow his lawn more than once or twice a year. Is he poor or disabled? No, he’s an executive at a good company, who has the luxury of working from home. He’s healthy enough to play golf. Also, he owns an upscale lawn mower in good working condition.

This situation has gone on for several years. When I asked the woman at code enforcement why there hasn’t been some kind of fine for 2^nd 3d and 4^th offenses, she responded that the city has over 700 un mowed lawns, and ‘you can’t make someone mow their lawn.” Wow, if you’re going to apply that logic, you could say, “you can’t make a person stop running red lights.” No, you can’t, but you can bet your sweet bippy it’s going to cost you more each additional time you run a red light.

Last spring, the Okemah. Oklahoma city council decided to crack down on offenders by hitting them in the pocket book. . By a unanimous vote, they set a fee schedule for certain violations of the city code. Under the resolution, failure to keep your lawn mowed could result in a $100 fine for the first offense, $150 for the second and $200 for the third offense. A warning will be issued before any fines are assessed.

The city of Ferndale, Michigan issued the following statement regarding code enforcement: ” The lawn grass cannot be longer than 7″. As a courtesy, we will send a notice once per season to the homeowner letting them know they have 7 days to cut their grass. If the grass does not get cut, the City’s contractor mows it for them. This service will cost the property owner $275.00. Given the alternatives, the property owner normally realizes that it is much less expensive to maintain their lawn themselves or hire someone than having the City do it.”

You have to wonder why our city council is so lax about code enforcement. What are they afraid of? A person who won’t mow his lawn probably isn’t going to vote in the next election. But his neighbors will.

October 7, 2020October 7, 2020

Will Election 2020 End The Troubles?

Remember “the troubles” in Northern Ireland that went on for about forty years ? We visited Belfast soon after the peace agreement was signed in 1998, but there was still plenty of tension . In fact, as our tour bus entered the city, armed militia stopped us, and walked through the bus, checking for whatever? Maybe to see if anyone had a gun? Clearly the peace agreement between, British Loyalists and Irish Nationalists hadn’t ended the troubles. Will the 2020 election end the troubles in the USA?

People in America were lined up for hours on the first day of early voting yesterday. Early voters are not undecided. Those who were interviewed expressed strong feelings for their candidate of choice.. While I applaud all the interest in voting, it makes you wonder what will happen, no matter who wins.

If Trump wins, will women stop having abortions or go underground? Will the Black Lives Matter movement grow stronger? Will rioting and protesting escalate out of control?

Will troubles end on election day?Or will they escalate no matter who wins. — Will Election 2020 End Troubles for America? It seems likely that it won’t.

If Biden wins, will Trump supporters turn in their guns? Will they welcome immigrants flooding into the country receiving free medical care? Will they meekly agree to another lockdown and shut down their businesses? If none of the above, look for trouble.

There was another contentious election day back in 1960. A lot of people opposed having a Catholic president, but he won, anyway. The troubles didn’t end when John F. Kennedy was elected, then assassinated two years later. In fact, what followed was an escalation of our involvement in Vietnam– the longest war in American History.

Both Biden and Trump say they want to unite the country. That seems like wishful thinking. America’s troubles will not end on election day.

September 30, 2020September 30, 2020

COPING WITH POST DEBATE DEPRESSION

Even though I’ve tried to stop watching so much news, it seemed un American not to watch the first presidential debates. But it wasn’t long before the two candidates–Biden and Trump– began trading insults and yelling at each other, and my husband wanted to turn off the TV. I owe him an apology. Because I kept hoping things would get better, but they didn’t. Consequently, we stayed up way too late, compensated for our frustration by eating too much popcorn, and today, I’m coping with post debate depression.

In my freshman year of college, I was on a debate team. If any student had behaved the way Trump and Biden did during the lst presidential debate, they would have been kicked out of the class, or if it was too late for that, received a resounding F on their report card. You don’t interrupt. You show respect for your opponent. And hopefully, you bring some new research or an intelligent argument to the debate. None of that happened last night. We didn’t hear anything we hadn’t heard before. Yes, we know all about Hunter Biden, and we know how Trump handled COVID-19. There was absolutely no surprise, nothing at all to be learned. Except that we have a poor choice of whom to vote for come November. Because neither candidate showed the slightest bit of class.

Only a masochist would want to watch the next debates. If you like having nightmares and feeling like the world is a dreary place, that’s what you should do. I don’t. I want to feel cheerful and optimistic about the world my grandchildren will inherit. Before that happens, I have to get back that hopeful feeling. Here’s how I’m planning to do that today.

First, a great big shopping trip wearing my pretty new cloth mask, sent to me by Humana. It’s soft, and has three layers, so I think it will give me good protection against covid-19. If you don’t like shopping, this won’t help you one single bit. But I do like to shop. I’ll spend some time in my favorite supermarket, splurge on some gourmet food items, and try a new recipe tonight.

a walk in the woods will help cope with post debate depression. — Coping with post debate depression: . A walk through the woods may help.

After lunch, I’ll close the shades and take a nap. It’s going to be a sunny day, so when I awaken I’ll probably drive down to the river. When things go wrong in my life, I always head for water. I’ll sit on a bench and admire the bend in the river. There’s going to be a good strong wind today, so I’ll dress warm enough to enjoy the cool cleansing breeze . I’ll take a short walk in the woods. And then, I’ll go home and start thinking about my new recipe..

And in a couple of days, I’m going to feel much better.

September 28, 2020September 29, 2020

THE SINNER VS.THE SAINT

Soon, we’re going to have Vice Presidential candidate, Senator Kamala Harris questioning Federal Judge Amy Coney Barrett as to whether or not she’s fit to be confirmed as a supreme court judge. It’s going to be like a scene from the Wizard of Oz: Sweet Dorothy from Kansas pitted against the Wicked Witch of the West. Get ready for a case of the sinner vs. the saint,

Amy Coney Barrett is mother of seven children–including two adopted black children, and one child with Downs Syndrome. She’s been married to the same man for eighteen years. In contrast, when former San Francisco prosecutor Kamala Harris was twenty nine, she hooked up with an influential married man thirty years her senior who helped her get ahead in politics. Recently married, she has no children, only step children.

This is what then Democratic presidential candidate, Rep Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, had to say about Kamala Harris. :

As attorney general of California, “She put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations, and then laughed about it when she was asked if she’d ever smoked marijuana. She blocked evidence that would have freed a man from death row until the courts forced her to do so. She kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the state of California. And she fought to keep cash bail system in place that impacts poor people in the worst kind of way.”

Federal Judge Amy Coney Barrett was voted most popular professor on three different occasions at the University of Notre Dame. During her confirmation hearing in March of 2017, a group of 450 former students signed a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, telling senators that their support was “driven not by politics, but by the belief that Professor Barrett is supremely qualified.” She also she had the unanimous support of her 49 Notre Dame colleagues, who wrote that they had a “wide range of political views” but were “united however in our judgment about Amy.”

The contrast between the two women couldn’t be more stark. Kamala sashays around in a form fitting pants suit, while Amy is seen holding a small child’s hand, walking to the podium in a modest dress.

the saint vs the sinner: Barret vs. Harris — The saint vs. the sinner. There is going to be a showdown between two very different women.

I have a problem with Amy Barrett’s stance on abortion, but it’s not a deal breaker. This week in my city, a beautiful, seven year old boy was murdered by his father with a belt. No unwanted child should be brought into this world, only to be tortured and killed. This is why I am pro choice. And I don’t think Roe vs. Wade will ever be repealed.

Nevertheless, we’ll soon have a ringside seat to an interaction between two very different women.. It will be interesting to see who prevails. The saint or the sinner?.

September 23, 2020September 23, 2020

CAMPAIGN YARD SIGNS ARE A FUTILE EFFORT

It’s that time of year again. The campaign yard signs began to appear a few weeks ago, but now, they’re all over the place. Some people are enthusiastic yard signers. Their lawns are littered with numerous signs, all of which usually means they’re pretty active in some political party. I imagine the signs are expensive. I don’t know, because I’ve never been a political activist. But I do know that a yard sign will never persuade me to vote for a particular candidate. Campaign yard signs are a futile effort.

Do campaign yard signs work? they annoy many, and may not change voters minds. — Are campaign yard signs a futile effort? Although they annoy many people, they increase name recognition.

The question has been posed to various political experts: Do yard signs really work? The consensus seems to be that they raise awareness about coming elections. Campaign yard signs may motivate people to get out and vote. Other than that, they don’t actually influence voters one way or another.

Why do some people litter their lawns with numerous yard signs? It’s speculated that it may be to simply annoy the opposing party. Sort of an in-your-face type thing. See here you liberal/conservative fools. This is who I’m voting for, not your stupid candidates. If that’s the motivation, it works. Many people are annoyed by yard signs. Why would that be? Obviously, because they may not agree with your politics. But also because they’re ugly. There is nothing artistic or aesthetically pleasing about a yard sign.

We’ve been asked once or twice to let some friend or acquaintance to post campaign signs in our yard. Reluctantly, we agreed, just because we liked the person, and didn’t want to hurt their feelings. But six or seven signs? Never. Just as I dislike talking politics with strangers, I don’t want to advertise my political leanings to the entire town. How I vote is my own business. And sometimes, I change my mind right before I go to the polls. I’d hate to have a yard sign for a candidate who gets arrested for drunk driving right before election day.

The one advantage I can see for yard signs is their predictive value. During the 2016 election, there were Trump signs all over town, even though the polls predicted he would lose. So far, I’m seeing an equal number of Trump/ Biden signs. But the Trump ones were out earlier. I guess they were left over from the last election. But it’s early yet. Yard signs may be an exercise in futility. But they could be an important bellwether.