A House Divided

There are just some things you shouldn't discuss with family and friends whose opinions differ … politics is one of them. We are a “house divided” here in Las Vegas. It seems political discussions heat up and disrupt an otherwise peaceful household environment. I doubt there has been a more contentious Presidential election in the recent past.

We sibs disagree on several major issues and subsequently our candidate choice and political philosophies. We've managed to co-exist peaceably by “agreeing to disagree” and keeping political discussions short. We have found, however, that we do agree on some points.

1. In a nation of over 320 million people, some of them pretty intelligent, it seems the two major political parties could have found two better-suited candidates to run for President.
2. Our nation is great, but has problems that need fixing. Despite its problems, we are still proud to be Americans.
3. We are disappointed … no, infuriated … that our Congress is so polarized, it is ineffective no matter who is the leader. If the Democrats have a good idea, the Republicans shoot it down. If the Republicans have a good idea, the Democrats shoot it down. No wonder nothing substantive gets done.
4. The right to vote is both a privilege and a responsibility. You have no right to complain if you don't vote.

We'll be out of town for Election Day, so we did our early voting at the local Galleria Mall that had several banks of voting machines set up. Though it was quite busy and there were lots of folks voting, there was no waiting.

We haven't voted in person in the USA for many years. We've voted absentee ballot from South America, New Zealand and Australia, ticking off the boxes and mailing in the ballot via local snail mail. So this was a change for us as we checked in, received “chip” cards, voted electronically and cast our votes.

We've done all we can do and now will wait to see if the rest of the country agrees with our choice or not. Unlike Donald Trump, we will not keep you in suspense. We'll accept the results and hopefully move forward. There's always 2020!