Political Popularity Smokescreen

I gotta give it to President Obama for motivating me to go against my why vote philosophy.  Actually, it was a combination of his 2004 campaign, my grandmother being a sharecropper, my parents growing up in the Civil Rights Era, and me even experiencing a relative form of bigotry that lead me to ignorantly (meaning not researching all of the information) vote for him.  But a part of me realizes I shouldn't have gone about it like that.  Looking back, I know I got caught up.  I mean, the events, the rappers, the Rock the Vote, the clothing, the history.  We're talking growing up in the capital of the Confederacy and possibly seeing a black president here.  And it was infectious and fun.  It was exciting and inspiring.  It was free-spirited but passionate all at once.  But the reality is the party ended quickly (as a small business administrator at the time, I have a not so happy experience with the Affordable Health Care Act).  And I should've just...paid more attention.

So we're here again!  Well, not really here.  There's no candidate that made hood dudes all over the country wanting dap up the president.  There's no slim, well-spoken brother that got all the professional ladies thinking...not so professional.  Chances are homemade hats or t-shirts bearing Hillary Clintons' image won't be sold at your local historic black neighborhood celebrations.  Can't expect any remixes featuring Kendrick Lamar about Bernie Sanders.  No frills, no fluff, no...nothing.  Now it's really and only about politics and last night's Republican Primary Debate was a reminder what politics really looks like.

It's not just the candidates that bring this notion about, though.  The [used to be] voters play a huge part in this.  On social media last night all I saw was how "out of touch", "backward thinking", "don't care about our issues", and so on that the GOP candidates were.  But I couldn't help but wonder what would be the reaction if then-Senator Obama said "God gives me unconditional love, I'm gonna give it to my family, my friends, and the people around me" like Ohio governor and Republican candidate John Kasich did.  Would we use the out of touch line there?  Or what if Clinton (Bill or Hillary) said that "I believe that every single human being is entitled to the protection of our laws whether they can vote or not", which was a statement from GOP hopeful Marco Rubio.  Is that backward?  Then I also thought about the fact that the incidents that birthed #BlackLivesMatter started under President Obama's watch...what if those killings happened under G.W. Bush?  Yeah, I know...it wasn't just that but it was the years of police brutality.  But for some reason, all those years coupled with the black on black murders didn't seem to generate the same level of interest.  I don't really like saying this, but I'm not sure if we're listening.

We believe President Obama hasn't lied...ever.  But without digging that deep we know that he has; especially considering his stance on gay marriage and dealing with Iran.  Yet in those instances we don't call those things lies, they are....whatever word we come up with.  That's not the point, though.  The point is this.

 Are.  We.  Listening.

Are. We. Researching.

Are. We. Really.  Involved.

Or did we just come for the party?  Today, I'm checking the voting records on everyone...elephant and donkey...will you?  Will you truly look at each candidate for what they've proven, how they talk, and what they believe?  Proverbs 10:9 says whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.  Are we checking the individual integrity or just making assumptions from what we've been told to believe about party affiliations?  In 1 Samuel 16:7, God told Samuel not to choose any of Jesse's presented sons; saying “do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”  Well, now because more than likely there's going to be a candidate that doesn't look like you or that you can't see yourself being with, how will you discover who to vote for?  Or will this be like every election before where you said voting doesn't change anything?

Not saying you didn't last time, but this time, choose wisely.

Peace