Monthly Guest Post—Andrew Q. Gordon—Vote Like Your Life Depends On It

First let me say, this is political. I try not to do this, but there are times when I need to stand up and be who I am. If reading about my political views isn’t your cuppa, please click away now. I confess this post is being written last minute. I’ve been watching the political conventions and I wrote several drafts last week talking about how frightening Trump and his hate mongering is and how scared it makes me. But those posts got too deep into the weeds, too preachy (thought this might feel that way too) so I discarded them. We all know what’s happening without me recapping it for you.

Instead I want to issue a challenge, a call to action. I believe we stand at a dangerous crossroad. If we choose the wrong path, it will have serious and negative consequences. And I’m not one prone to dramatics. I didn’t vow to go to Canada if Bush, or McCain, or Romney won.  I didn’t like them and didn’t feel they would be good for me or my family (and Bush wasn’t. His anti-gay rhetoric made it much more difficult for Mike and I to adopt and set us back several years – which in turn probably means we won’t have a second child, though we very much wanted more than one.) But none of them left me scared shitless for the future. Trump does.

His incendiary vitriol emboldens racism and hate mongering. He’s made it cool to speak your mind. To ‘tell it like it is,’ even if that is racist, sexist, homophobic etc. PC is passe. I saw one woman the Republican Convention say that he says things she believes but was afraid to say. Imagine if he’s doing that everyday on the biggest stage, with the biggest bully pulpit from which to spew. Scary image, no?

If you listen to what the Republican’s said at their convention, there was no plans of action, no proposals, no initiative to move us forward. Nothing. Their focus isn’t to help, change or nurture, it is simply to keep power for the sake of keeping power. They’ve given the keys to the kingdom to a charismatic blow hard who is nothing more than an incredibly talented snake oil salesman. He offers nothing of substance, but instead talks in sound bytes. Always couching things in negative ways and boasting only HE can fix it. No one else.

To anyone who has studied history, those are chilling claims. Worse, he derides anyone who points out how dangerous his rhetoric is. Politicians (in either party) are party elitists, ‘the establishment.’ Historians and educators who talk about things in context are academic elitists who have ruined the country with political correctness. The media is the liberal mainstream or “Lamestream” media. They’re attacked and derided. Attack and discredit anyone who will point out you are a naked emperor and the masses will believe anything you say.

This year, maybe more than any in history and certainly in my lifetime, it is important to get involved. Start with voting. Next get all your friends and family who are opposed to Trump to vote. Volunteer and/or donate if you can. Do something you never did before to help defeat the bigotry and hate he’s spewing.

Comedian Samantha Bee, who used to be on The Daily Show and now has her own show – Full Frontal – did a piece where she ended by saying Trump doesn’t need to just lose, he needs to be defeated in a landslide. I agree. We need to put this genie back in the bottle, seal it up and toss it into the deepest part of the ocean (or into the fires of Mordor if we can find two hobbits brave enough to take it there.) To do that, everyone who cares needs to go vote and get involved. After he gets elected is will be too late to act.

Vote like your freedom and your life depends on it, I know mine does.

 
AQGLogo Full Size

Andrew Q. Gordon wrote his first story back when yellow legal pads, ball point pens were common and a Smith Corona correctable typewriter was considered high tech. Adapting with technology, he now takes his MacBook somewhere quiet when he wants to write.

He currently lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his partner of twenty-one years, their young daughter and dog. In addition to dodging some very self-important D.C. ‘insiders’, Andrew uses his commute to catch up on his reading. When not working or writing, he enjoys soccer, high fantasy, baseball and seeing how much coffee he can drink in a day.

Follow Andrew:

On his website: www.andrewqgordon.com,

On Facebook: www.facebook.com/andrewqugordon,

On Twitter: @andrewqgordon,

Or just email him: andrewqgordon@gmail.com

Books:

From Wayward Ink Publishing:

A Closed Door

From DSP Publications:

The Last Grand Master: (Champion of the Gods – Book 1)

The Eye and the Arm: (Champion of the Gods – Book 2) 

Kings of Lore and Legend: (Champion of the Gods – Book 3)

Purpose:

From Dreamspinner Press:

(Un)Masked

Self published:

Ashes of Life

8 Responses

  1. lanehayes
    lanehayes at |

    I agree one hundred percent and then some. Trump is a joke, but a frightening one if we don’t exercise our constitutional rights. Don’t worry, Andrew, I never miss an opportunity to vote and I definitely won’t miss this one!

    Reply
  2. Allison
    Allison at |

    I agree completely. He terrifies me and the thought of him as President makes me want to hide. I have never been anything but peripherally involved in a campaign before but I feel like I have to join this time because the consequences are too vast to comprehend.

    Reply
  3. andrewqgordon
    andrewqgordon at |

    Thanks Lane and Allison. As I said, I’m not usually a doom and gloom, I don’t always ‘tow the party line’ but this is beyond belief. He’s set civil discourse back 40 years and that’s the least of my problems with him.

    Reply
  4. ELF
    ELF at |

    Eloquently put, thank you for verbalizing what so many of us feel (and fear). I hope folks take time to adequately investigate things and shake off their apathy before it’s too late.

    Reply
  5. jenf27
    jenf27 at |

    Thank you for this post. I hope it gets a wide readership. There have been politicians I strongly disagreed with and/or disliked in the past, but Trump terrifies me. I will definitely be voting (but I always do) and will encourage others to do so…also supporting local and national politicians more this year than I ever have in the past.

    Reply
  6. lisa44837
    lisa44837 at |

    I’m so frightened by how many people around me I hear supporting this monster. Shades of holocaust keep banging at my brain. You can be damn sure I’ll be at the poll casting my vote for Ms. Clinton.

    Reply
  7. H.B.
    H.B. at |

    Thank you for the post. It’s terrifying to hear how many people support Trump and his ideals. Hilary doesn’t seem like the best choice either but compared to Trump she just seems the better of the two.

    Reply

Please take a minute to leave a comment it is so appreciated !