This election is so 2016

( originally posted 9/28/2016)

You know how you sometimes start a blog and then forget about it? Me, too.

I would give almost anything if we could zip through the next 6 weeks just to avoid election coverage. The first debate is tonight and it will bring out the worst in people afterwards. My candidate is awesome, yours is awful! The really jacked up folks will see an article online that says, " completely shuts down/destroys on and YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT". By the way, stop reading those. Those are what intelligent people call 'clickbait' and you're regarded as a moron for sharing it with other people. Ever have to click through twelve slides to get an answer to the question in the title? They work off of advertising hits/clicks and they're using you to do it. And if you do see someone sharing it in an email or on social media, scroll right on by. 

Election season also puts Snopes and Politifact in overdrive. I follow both of those sites and I'm always amazed at what I see. Some of the stuff they review I think, no way, nobody in their right mind would believe that. Lo and behold, it will inevitably pop up in one of my social media feeds. A tip from me to you, if you ever see a really questionable story on a web site, find the "about" section of the page. Make sure that A) it's not a satire site and B) they don't already have an agenda. I mean, teapartytakeover.com is probably not going to do a story with a positive spin on Hilary Clinton ever, but where do they get their sources? From members? Any credible news sources? 

(if you answer "well the liberal media won't report on this....", please STAAAHHP. I'm going to have to beat you with Rosie O'Donnell's leather restraints. You know what the media reports on? Whatever gets the most clicks. That's right, you may be sick of hearing about Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the national anthem, but every time you click on the story or watch it on TV, you're telling that media conglomerate "I'm interested". That's called 'trending' and YOU are part of the problem, not the 'liberal media', dumbass)

Back to the election. My advice is this: whether you are a Republican, a Democrat, or a Libertarian (ok, OR a Green Party follower), you will want to vote along party lines. I don't understand why it's such a badge of honor to say, "I NEVER vote for a party, I vote for the candidate". Well, that's great, but there's usually a reason each candidate has a party affiliation. Because they buy into the platform of that party. Sure, they get money from the party, but they largely agree on most issues. It's called compromising (something Congress has forgotten the last six years). You may not like any candidates this year, and you wouldn't be alone. But ask yourself this - what if 15 million Americans decided not to vote this year just because they have to hold their noses to do it? Then ask yourself what would be the worst case scenario if the candidate you hate the most wins? 

Spend some time reading the party platforms, look at the history of what candidates have done in previous terms (not from what they said on TMZ) and then vote. Also, spend some time reading about your state and local elections. You'd be surprised what kind of crazy stuff gets done in local governments.

Although, Mississippi recently said slavery was bad, so kudos to their legislature for finally getting on board.