By Don C. Reed
February 9th, 2024. I looked in the mailbox and there it was , the official document: small but crucial.
I took the letter to the kitchen, placed it on the table, stuck my right index finger in the upper left-hand corner of the envelope — and ripped it open.
I had practiced both the physical procedure (be sure to sign the outside of the envelope) then filling in the dots beside the candidates and issues I supported.
Above all, my choice for President, Joseph Biden… where are you? There! I filled in the little circle, neatly, in dark blue ink.
I double-checked the list, licked the envelope, sealed it shut, and drove to my local Post office.
There was no line outside the post office, it being early in the day. I went inside, (also no line, same reason) handed the envelope to the nice Post Office lady. She turned it over (perhaps to be sure it was signed) tossed it lightly into a pile of similar envelopes, in a bin behind her, we wished each other a good day — and that was that.
Such a small action, yet incredibly important — who should lead America?
If we give power to former President Trump and the Republicans, every government program is endangered — he wants to cut the billionaires’ taxes again. His first term he removed $1.9 trillion dollars from the tax rolls. What would it mean, if he cut them again — an end to Social Security? Every government program is paid for by taxes. If we stop the taxes, that stops the program.
How about judges? Last time around, he put in so many conservative judges, (3 new ones in the Supreme Court alone) that women lost protection over their own reproductive rights: Roe v. Wade went down. What could be next?
Might birth control pills be made illegal?
And what about the treatment of immigrants? Aside from Native Americans, we are all of us immigrants or descendants of immigrants. Trump made them(us!) seem evil, like monsters. Of course, there must be some kind of limit on how many people we let across the border, but this should be politely decided, and gently — they are our neighbors, after all.
Trump just wants to split us up, to make us afraid and angry — and then give us someone to blame — like “it’s their fault, those people over there!”
And what about our people’s right to vote itself? That should be protected and made easy, as it is in California.
In some states, (Republican states) it is against the law for the government to mail out ballots, making it more difficult to vote. So much better is the California way; you register once, and after that, they mail you out a ballot every time!)
Other Republican states restrict voting by allowing fewer operating hours, or imposing unfair ID requirements (does a blind person need a driver’s license?); or limiting the number of “drop boxes” , or the number of places a person can get a driver’s license; or by requiring a birth certificate — all of which may seem easy to us, but they mean time off from work, hard-to-find voter information, (do you know where your birth certificate is?) or fees a poor person may not be able to afford.
Some states even deny the right to share food and water in a long voters’ line!
Does this affect a lot of people?
“As many as 11 percent of eligible voters do not have the kind of ID that is required by states with strict ID requirement; that percentage is even higher among seniors, minorities, people with disabilities, low-income voters, and students.” (in other words, Democrats! — DCR) (1)
The right to vote must be protected; it is the breath of democracy.
February 9th, 2024 — I voted this day, and I’m proud.
1. https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/ensure-every-american-can-vote/vote-suppression/voter-id