Madison had ballet tonight, returning after a bit of time off, something she greatly enjoys. There is this window that we can peek into - it's outside in a weird place, so you feel like a bit of a stalker out there peering over a bit of shrubbery into a room with tiny dancing girls in it. But occasionally, Daddy does one of those 'walk by' trips, peeking into the room to watch Madison dance. It's amazingly not on the way to anywhere, this walk, so of course I have to walk back by the window. But it's nice to see Madison focused, and dancing ballet for her teacher. She's a very good student.
Speaking of which, she is continuing her studies of government. Thus far, she's learned there are three levels of government, so Madison's studies are teaching her which branch of government takes care of the fire department (local), which branch of government takes care of the driver's licenses (state), and which branch of government gets paid a whole lot of money to basically prevent the other branches from doing too much (national). Yeah, that's not exactly the responsibility of national. But of course, that's what happens, right?
This is somewhat of an election year, and it seems to be mired in controversy, but what election year isn't? This year's theme is that of upheaval. Whereas we had 'hope and change' eight years ago, this year it seems to be more like, 'you didn't change, so here comes the wrecking ball.' Madison no doubt hears Mommy and Daddy's conversations on who they'll be voting for - the field has been narrowing dramatically already. Again, we see that it is Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina people that get to decide who is running in the election for President. Seriously, there were candidates in this election that we would have considered. But, because the people in Iowa thought this and the people in New Hampshire thought that, we don't get much of a say in Georgia. We lost a few candidates already. What sense does this make?
In fact, it appears as if the electoral choices have been already made (with trends and so forth). A lot of us in the country are scratching our heads, wondering what is going on this year? We'll still vote in the primary - ours is on March 1st, not far from now. We might even take Madison with us, so she can see the process again. And get a free sticker. If only they put Disney Princesses on those stickers, I suspect there'd be more people voting!
Anyway, this will be an interesting year for Madison to follow along with. She occasionally leans towards the one girl left in the contest, as she's a girl. This seems to be solid reasoning for a lot of other voters as well. She's a girl, so why not?
But don't make fun of that reasoning too much. The reasoning for voting for the other candidate is just as solid: he has little to no experience in politics. Now I would argue that neither did the current President, and look how that turned out. Regardless, one or the other might turn out to be a great President. We'll see how that turns out, of course. As we see it, it wouldn't take too much effort to put in a better performance than the last eight years.
Regardless of the apparent futility in our vote in the primary, we'll go out and do our civic duty, and vote for whoever is left. Or… whoever is right.
Speaking of which, she is continuing her studies of government. Thus far, she's learned there are three levels of government, so Madison's studies are teaching her which branch of government takes care of the fire department (local), which branch of government takes care of the driver's licenses (state), and which branch of government gets paid a whole lot of money to basically prevent the other branches from doing too much (national). Yeah, that's not exactly the responsibility of national. But of course, that's what happens, right?
This is somewhat of an election year, and it seems to be mired in controversy, but what election year isn't? This year's theme is that of upheaval. Whereas we had 'hope and change' eight years ago, this year it seems to be more like, 'you didn't change, so here comes the wrecking ball.' Madison no doubt hears Mommy and Daddy's conversations on who they'll be voting for - the field has been narrowing dramatically already. Again, we see that it is Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina people that get to decide who is running in the election for President. Seriously, there were candidates in this election that we would have considered. But, because the people in Iowa thought this and the people in New Hampshire thought that, we don't get much of a say in Georgia. We lost a few candidates already. What sense does this make?
In fact, it appears as if the electoral choices have been already made (with trends and so forth). A lot of us in the country are scratching our heads, wondering what is going on this year? We'll still vote in the primary - ours is on March 1st, not far from now. We might even take Madison with us, so she can see the process again. And get a free sticker. If only they put Disney Princesses on those stickers, I suspect there'd be more people voting!
Anyway, this will be an interesting year for Madison to follow along with. She occasionally leans towards the one girl left in the contest, as she's a girl. This seems to be solid reasoning for a lot of other voters as well. She's a girl, so why not?
But don't make fun of that reasoning too much. The reasoning for voting for the other candidate is just as solid: he has little to no experience in politics. Now I would argue that neither did the current President, and look how that turned out. Regardless, one or the other might turn out to be a great President. We'll see how that turns out, of course. As we see it, it wouldn't take too much effort to put in a better performance than the last eight years.
Regardless of the apparent futility in our vote in the primary, we'll go out and do our civic duty, and vote for whoever is left. Or… whoever is right.
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