Thursday, June 23, 2011

need a photo id to vote?

How frustrating it is to hear people in the community say that it is somehow discriminatory to require a photo id to vote. How is it oppressive to ask someone to go to the BMV to prove their residence and birth in order to impact our government, impact our communities, and impact our taxes?

Why is this such an issue? Let me propose two reasons...

Reason 1: Some people want to commit voter fraud. If there are no photos required, then there is a possibility to vote as someone else or vote multiple times. In my experience, it took many many election cycles for the Board of Elections to remove my dead husband from the voter roles. Over and over I filled out the paperwork. I had identification. I had his death certificate. I had paperwork, and they still couldn't get it done.

Reason 2: Some of our leaders who claim to want to help people really just want to keep them in their "place". Think of it this way. If the democrat leaders really wanted people to have improved lives, they would suggest integration into society, not a furthering gap from what is necessary to survive in society. We need people to be literate, speak a common language, and all follow some basic citizenship standards. Think about it... if you have no photo id, you are not allowed to legally drive (although many do). You cannot get a library card. You cannot fly on a plane or leave the United States. You cannot write a check or open a bank account. You cannot cash a check, make a large purchase such as a house, or fill out a job application. If you cannot show a photo id, your job opportunities are relegated to "under the table" cash work that further deteriorates our society. What purpose does it serve to have people left in that state of disconnect? Look at who this group votes for. It is there that you find your answer.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The Shooting in Arizona

Mental illness knows no gender, no politics, no rhetoric. It just knows what the irrational brain knows. 

As people across the country, in an attempt to understand, start blaming certain public figures, blaming teachers who didn't ask for an evaluation, blaming parents who didn't do enough, let us at least stop to ponder that this shooter was ill. Do we really understand this kind of mental illness? Do we understand paranoia, delusions, and these strongly held irrational beliefs? 

It is a tragedy when someone is able to kill the innocent and fulfill their delusions. And it is also a tragedy that one can be mentally ill in this country, over 18 years old, and still have the "right" to live crazy. Perhaps the laws should change-- not the laws of free speech, not the gun laws, not the free press-- but the laws that allow an adult who is psychotic to remain that way, tying the hands of all who might change his trajectory.