Who will be the next US President?

I have been off the radar for awhile - frustrated with the blog thing I guess.
I have wanted over and over again to write something about the US election that is happening today, but every time I started something I ended up sounding like a ranting lunatic, which I'm not.
But I am frustrated.

• I am frustrated with the process. With politicians being able to stretch facts and outright lie to the people they work for. It just isn't right.
• I am frustrated with conservative politics - with words like "legitimate rape" and "binders full of women."
• I am frustrated with the American public - just watching the politics roll by - repeating sound bites without understanding the consequences.
• I am frustrated with politicians saying they are Constitutionalists - while they take away some one's right to marry who they love because it says so in the Bible (rightly so the Founding Fathers were pretty clear about that whole separation of Church and State thing).
• I am frustrated with liberal politics - for not being better at explaining that economics of the wealthy will not make our lives better.
• I am frustrated with the theory that privatization ... of medicare, of education, of FEMA, of social security, of prisons, of sewage and trash collection ... will solve all our problems.
• I am frustrated with people forgetting that we need the EPA because before regulation companies polluted our water and air and soil.
• I am frustrated because people so soon forgot that unregulated (unethical) business practices led to our financial collapse - the loss of our homes, the loss of our jobs, the loss of our hope.
• I am frustrated because people hate the Affordable Healthcare Act (aka Obamacare) and they have never even read it.
• I am frustrated that we have allowed our government to define a corporation as a "person" and have in essence destroyed the democratic process.
• I am frustrated that people are using our one and only fundamental right - the right to vote - as a way to suppress one political party from being able to vote.
• I am frustrated that the color of ones skin is still an issue in this election (Colin Powell would NEVER support President Obama if they weren't both black).
• I am frustrated that while the American public is focused on this election, they will not even give the government a second thought until September 2016.
• I am frustrated that billions have been spent this election cycle and there are still children in the US who go to bed with no food.
• I am frustrated that CEOs of the very corporations that destroyed our American dream are getting bonuses worth millions - while the people they "laid off" have no homes.
• I am frustrated that oil companies are still getting millions in tax breaks - along with their millions in profit - while hard working families can't afford to drive to work or heat their home.
• I am frustrated by how many of my students have never read the Constitution.

Overall I guess you could say I am frustrated. Having said that I see patches of bright light and hope in my gray frustration. I am hopeful that President Obama will have 4 more years to undo all the damage that has been done to our country. He will be able to continue to rebuild our reputation abroad, rebuild education, rebuild the housing market, rebuild the middle class and the American dream. I am hopeful that women will not allow all that has been gained to be flushed down the drain. I am hopeful that my children will have access to a better education and a brighter future. I am hopeful.

As ugly as it gets - the negative ads, the name calling, the outright lies. This is what democracy looks like. I have to go now - it is time to get to the polls - I am hopeful that I will make a difference and help to build the world I want my children to grow up in.

Three things that irritate me about people ......

I was going to wait until tomorrow to start my 30 day blog, but I have been reading comments on many news blogs today so this question seems really appropriate!

1. I hate stupid people. I am not talking about people with learning disabilities, or people who didn't go to college (some of the smartest people I know didn't go to college). I mean people that are just stupid! People who spout opinions based on the headlines of articles they never read. People who, when they realize they are losing an argument, resort to name calling (instead of saying "wow, maybe you have a point"). People who think that the world revolves around them. People who text & drive. I think you get the point.
2. People who think their way of life is the only way to live. This includes people who think it is okay to dictate my morality based on their beliefs. Or people who try and tell me how to parent (while I have very strong beliefs on parenting, how you raise your children is your business). People who try and tell other people who they should marry. People who tell me how I should practice my faith. Again, I think I have made my point.
3. People who have not respect for others, or for themselves. This can be a pretty big category .... racism, classism, homophobia. But it also includes corporations that pollute the earth and don't think twice about it, or fire people because the billion dollar profit they made wasn't enough. Or politicians who think that getting reelected is a good enough reason to allow the few to rule the many (just the thing the Constitution was written to avoid). People who don't say thank you when you purchase something in their store. And young girls that think so little of themselves that they think they need to dress like a porn star at the age of 15 (while this is society's fault as a whole, and parents' fault for allowing it, these young girls turn into the young women I teach who come to class with their butt cheeks hanging out, or the young women strutting their breasts all over the Internet thinking that this really validates their worth .... while it irritates me, this one really makes me sad). People who cut you off in traffic and then flip you the bird, or block the intersection so when your light turns green you can't go.

Wow - you would think I would be irritated all the time. But I'm not. Most of the time I just shake my head and move on. Or voice my opinion to the situation and walk away. Maybe that is why I started this blog - to voice my frustration over how self-centered, greedy and disrespectful our society has become.

The good news is that with all the negativity in society - those of us who do not subscribe to it stand out! It makes us easier to find each other and creates a ray of sunlight to brighten people's day. And maybe, just maybe, like that Liberty Mutual Insurance Commercial we will rub off on people and the world will be less irritating!