CommentsMY TURN-With half the country cheering and the other half expecting Armageddon any minute, these are strange times. I have read many comments asking how we can we celebrate Thanksgiving with the country in chaos.
As Americans, how can we not celebrate Thanksgiving? Regardless of our political preferences we still live in the best country in the world. Each and every one of us can find something to be thankful for -- be it good health, family and friends, etc., etc., etc. Before you accuse me of having a "Pollyanna" attitude, let's be realistic.
This last election has a silver lining: It shows how important it is to vote. The people who stayed home have no right to complain about the results. Those who put their heart and soul into promoting their candidates and/or initiatives and lost have the right to have a pity party, at least for a short while.
Perhaps now, more people will be motivated get involved in knowing what the government can and cannot do.
Yes, the Electoral College can skewer the election. Our Founding Fathers were not into Democracy. They figured the great unwashed didn't have the knowledge to choose wisely. They were snobs! In their wildest imagination they couldn't dream of how this country would look in the 21st Century.
It doesn't matter how many people sign a petition to get rid of the Electoral College, or if our Senator tries to put forward a bill to do that…it won't change this election. Donald J. Trump will be the President for the next four years, unless he decides that having the press follow him everywhere he goes and not being able to make money is too oppressive and resigns. The sooner everyone faces this fact, the better.
There is much discussion about “Fake News” which has become so widespread that it deserves to be capitalized. There is talk about whether it also helped skewer the election results. Facebook President, Mark Zuckerman is changing the way his portal treats certain news outlets by cancelling identifiable sites. He has said, however, that Facebook users have an obligation to notify the company if they see Fake News.
Certainly the preponderance of Fake News has come from conservative and "Alt-Right" sources. But the left has participated in the same game either by accident or on purpose. And they are still doing it.
A good example: I was getting ready to write this article when I received one of those "pass along this message to twenty of your friends” messages. Supposedly, it was advice from the "Oracle of Omaha,” Warren Buffet. It was pretty interesting and since my source was very reputable I was going to include it in this article.
Even though CW is devoted primarily to opinions on the news, I try to fact check before I include something from a third party. This supposed message outlined ten ways to make Congress more efficient and productive. Warren Buffet is a very practical man but the ten points sounded too good to be realistic. I turned to his website which lists many of his more famous quotes and to Snopes.com, which is a very reliable neutral fact check site.
Whoever put this list together, took his quote from an interview in July 2011 on how to solve the national debt. According to Snopes, "It was during that exchange that the Oracle of Omaha made his now famous statement about rendering ineligible for re-election all sitting members of Congress whenever the deficit exceeded 3% of gross domestic product.
"So yes, it's true that one of the most respected businessmen of modern times did indeed voice the quote now widely ascribed to him in various e-mailed forwards, although his remark was more in the nature of a wry commentary on the workings of Congress than a serious proposal for tackling the budget deficit.
"The rest of the lengthier e-mail in circulation has nothing to do with Warren Buffett. What is presented as the ‘Congressional Reform Act of 2011’ began circulating on the Internet in October 2009 as the ‘Congressional Reform Act of 2009.’ In a nutshell, what is presented as a proposed 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution isn't something that has been put forward by any member of Congress and thus is nothing more than a bit of Internet-based politicking."
So when it comes to getting news from social media -- if it sounds too ridiculous or too good to be true, it probably is.
I hope the Democratic minority in Congress doesn't act like the Republican majority under President Obama that swore to make Obama a one-term President by blocking everything he wanted. Revenge is no way to run a country. The mission should be to compromise on issues that will help the American people and to fight those things that will have a disproportionate negative effect on the majority of Americans. If you fight everything then nothing becomes important.
The office of the President deserves respect. President-elect Trump was very disrespectful of President Obama. Remember what First Lady Michelle Obama said: "When they go low, we go high." We are just going to have to make the best out of a frightening situation. We also have to make sure that we don't tolerate disrespect from others -- including friends and family.
We know that the President-elect is very competitive and hates to lose. He might just surprise us with some effective governance. As for most of us who live in California...we are insular. We don't relate, for the most part, to that “Middle America,” that seems to have a disproportionate influence on our political agenda.
We are fortunate that our economy is growing and California has led the country with many reforms. But perhaps we made a mistake by being a little arrogant; we need to look outside our own "bubble.” House Speaker Paul Ryan, has a telephone survey on Obamacare. Check out his website for voting directions. Get involved and pay attention to what our congressional representatives are doing; attend their meetings locally and equally important, know what our local government is doing. Educate yourselves as to how we all can make this country better.
No, ladies and gentlemen, Armageddon is not upon us...at least not yet! A suggestion for your Thanksgiving Dinner: Trump supporters, don't gloat…and Clinton supporters, don't whine. Both sides have much for which to be grateful.
As always comments welcome.
(Denyse Selesnick is a CityWatch columnist. She is a former publisher/journalist/international event organizer. Denyse can be reached at: [email protected]) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
Th(angst)giving: Serving Up Turkey, Pie and Politics
