Voting my convictions, not my gender

I will be so happy when this election season is over. The last year has been exhausting. I am so sick and tired of politicians, the media, and my feed speaking to me as if I am an idiot. I am so tired of politicians, the media, and my feed expecting me to follow along like a lemming after the female politicians and blindly obey them when they tell me to vote for their agendas simply based on gender. I am so tired of the white, gun-owning, Bible thumping candidates expecting my vote without actual answers to issues. I am so tired of the lies about Medicare, the lies about Veterans, lies about the border, the economy, and the very dangerous lies about abortion. There are so many lies about joy and hate, racism, and fascism. I do believe the “Joy” party has forgotten that when you point a finger there are three pointing back at you.

The majority of women in this country are intelligent. We are not single issue voters. We are tired of the hate and division. We are learners. We want to vote with our heads and our hearts. Berating us because we don’t agree is a major turn-off. We are tired of being lectured about what we should do and think. As mothers, we worry about feeding our family, not just abortion. As women, we care about school shootings, not just the 2nd amendment. As voters, we care about our nation’s standing in the world, our safety, and our prosperity. As a human, I care deeply about the hate that is being spewed from both sides. I care that I am being lied to over and over again when I can clearly see what is going on.

I’ve never liked being told what to do; this political season seems over the top with elected people and their surrogates telling me what I should do based on my gender. They act as if there are only one or two issues I should care about as a woman; but they don’t know me. Abortion: I have a child a lot of women would have aborted. What do you think my opinion is on that issue? LGBTQ+ rights: I love and support my LGBTQ+ people. What do you think my opinion is on that issue? Women’s healthcare: I’m a female nurse who is menopausal. What do you think my opinion is on that issue? Economy: I am a smart, accomplished, upper middle-class worker. What do you think my opinion is on that issue? I am a Christian. I am a Gramma. I am a hunter. I am a creative. I am a nature lover. My point is that I am an onion, and so is every single American out there, women and men. We are multi-layered and no one person is alike. No one person gets to tell another how to vote; and no one person or group should expect a vote. I will vote my convictions and my hope is that everyone else will.

You don’t need to keep dumbing it down for us. We know what is going on. We know what the REAL issues are that affect ALL Americans.

Let’s have a civics lesson: what does it actually mean to be a citizen of the United States of America? A citizen is someone who legally belongs to a country and has all the protections and rights of that country.

Democracy: is a system of government through elected representatives.

1st Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” from the National Archives.

The right to vote in America is set aside for its citizens, not its visitors- legal or otherwise. That vote is to be private and not tampered with in any way.

Project 2025: a written outcome of a think-tank. This think-tank puts out their ideas every election cycle. It is not an agenda of a party or politician. Neither candidate, or party, has said they will follow this agenda; in fact they have said they WILL NOT.

I’m tired of people throwing around words that they think the rest of us don’t understand. For example, fascism and Nazi. It seems the ones throwing the verbal barbs don’t understand the meaning of the words they say and/or they hope you and I won’t. If they put “ist” behind a word and then call a whole group that, they hope it sticks and they hope you believe it. They hope you are ignorant and a follower.

The hypocrisy on both sides of this election makes me think about what it is we say vs. what we do; what we do vs. what we think; and what we think vs. what we feel. Do all of those things align? Hypocrisy is on full display every day on every media site. Just flip channels, even the media is hypocritical. If they are not all saying the same thing, then one is not telling the truth (or all of them). When not talking about them, I am referring to us, you and me. Are we living and displaying our truth? Are we hypocrites? Are we voting our convictions?

Rant over.

May God bless America as she votes 11/5/24.