GUBU

     Next week it will all be over.  Although I do not like politics, I have come across a couple of things that have me quite perplexed.

     The first is the fact that members of congress have been privy to insider trading information.  How can this be right?  How can this be justified?  Is this what happens when one gets to Washington and begins to cater to high profiles who then pass on information about an up and coming stock that will probably take off like a rocket?  Is this why their net worth is so high?  I find this extremely unsettling and I would hope that others would too.  Maybe it is time to let our elected know that we really can get our nose out of our phones and pay attention.  But, maybe that is just a crazy thought and they know we will not take the time.

     The second thing is a video I watched about the voting machines.  Without going into a whole lot of technical jargon, that I would not understand anyway, I will put it into the best layman terms I can come up with.  The machine was given nine votes.  Seven of those were yes and the other two were nay.  There is a special card that is inserted into the machine to read and count the votes.  After the card was inserted, the machine printed the outcome.  Seven no votes and two yays.  One of the female ballot casters, who had volunteered for this, sat down and cried.  She was totally in shock and disbelief that this was even possible.  She said that when common people try to explain that these kind of things are really happening, they are labeled conspiracy theorist and mocked.  What she had witnessed with her own eyes, left her feeling ill.  I understood her pain.

     A friend, I have always considered family and who now lives in Ireland, shared with me what the good Irish do for their elections. He said votes in Ireland are counted in public, in front of politically interested people, the candidates and their staff.  He said it is a big deal to get involved and that it keeps citizens in contact with the democratic process.  Their government tried to force voting machines on the people some years ago, but the people resisted their introduction and the machines were eventually sent to recycling.  He said the government wasted millions of dollars, but in the end it had the best result.  I think this is sounding like an excellent idea for things on this side of the pond.

     He also shared with me that the Irish had a word they used when politics got out of hand.  GUBU, it stands for grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented and it just might become a new catch phrase here in the good ole' USA.

     So, to end on a lighter note, here is a new petition I thought might come in handy for the next election...."We the people, here, therefore and what the hell ever, do declare that from hither on, or this point forward from this date on, to infinity and beyond, have decided with sound mind and maybe some croutons, that all candidates for any election from this point hither on, can only state what their freaking plan is and, with out a doubt, nothing more. They cannot from now, or forfreakingever, say one nasty comment about their opponent.  Therefore from this point forward, to infinity and beyond, no order of dirt or otherwise unsightly crapola can be mentioned about or thrown in the direction of, said stated above opponent."

     Happy voting.