"We The People" - reflections on the presidential election of 2024

On this beautiful Sunday, I rather be going on a hike caught between the rays of the sun, taking in my vitamin D, rather than type all of this. But, my heart doesn't let me have relief from my mind without sharing with you what has taken seat in its chambers, so heavily. As a child who grew up under a former communist regime, I feel like shouting from the top of the mountains to the American public, "freedom isn't free" and yet nobody would hear me because most people only want to hear what sounds good and is easy on the ears. I'd be criticized left and right if I would be a politician, today, because I would tell you the truth as is, in shades more thick and raw than your ears would fancy. Why? Because the truth hurts and these days it more than hurts, it's actually scary. I mean, who wants to hear about rising corruption, violent crimes, wars, in other words a disaster, infiltrating our nation and threatening our peace in our schools, churches, public venues, communities, etc., even if this is what's been actually happening over the recent years. A beautiful fairytale is always the preferred choice. I know, because I am the author of a children's book in which a dream becomes true for those who are desperately hoping for protection, peace, and love. It's called "The Velvety Bandit of Whisker-Witty-Whoeville," a Christmas story which, if you read it, you would understand that, just like you, I want and hope for what is best for our nation, our people, and our entire world. I am no different in that, than I believe the majority. Even so, because I stand with the truth I am able to separate myself from politics and speak to you as an equal citizen, nothing more, nothing less, thus willing to share my heart and soul with you unfiltered, raw as it should be. For, it is the truth which sets us free, indeed, not lies. It is the truth which we must seek and understand, before we can be well informed. But knowing the truth seems often surreal in the world in which, it feels, lies prevail to corrupt even our government. Trump, when he said "the enemy from within" he was talking about corruption inside our country. Yet, he was nearly "crucified" for it, as if they want us to believe there is no such thing as corruption in this country. Is this "democracy," a space within which you are fearful to opinionate and be of a different opinion, seek, or speak truth? What is democracy?

Those of you who personally know me, know that I am not a fan of politics. However, as a citizen of the world I realize that even if I wanted nothing to do with politics, politics has something to do with me. That is because our lives are immensely impacted by politics, every single day. Think of policies such as laws and regulations, access to resources, international trade, human rights, taxes, etc. Today, I am not here to tell you who I voted for and who you should go out and vote for. That is everyone's personal, independent decision. Though I am not a fan of politics, I am a huge fan of independent thinking, common sense, realism, peace, and personal freedom of choice. But I am not here to give you what some politicians have, something I call "emotional fluff," in order to manipulate you into one direction or another because I don't need your vote. I don't see you and you don't see me. I don't know your struggles, neither do you know mine. But, my sincere belief is, that what they should be seeing and more than seeing, actually addressing, is not you or me, but the gruesome problems we face today in not just our country alone but in the world. These problems are bigger than you, me, or a group at a rally. When someone tells you a story, you need to ask yourself if you choose to believe it because it sounds nice or if its true and realistic. Truth and reality aren't often nice to hear or deal with. If you've paid attention, just in the last few years of what we have witnessed as a nation, the truth and reality aren't a beautiful fairytale to tell. We face difficult times, very difficult, and we need someone strong who can handle major issues that our current government hasn't done much about rather it feels like things have gotten worse than they've ever been before. First, I want to start with just that. Before you choose anything, you need to have a basic understanding of the what, the why, and the potential consequences for the future. And you need to be realistic. Some of us will say "I don't have to choose any side" which by all means since that would be the easiest thing to do, you're free to do that too if you prefer. Because of the Constitution and the provisions of liberty in it, you can stay neutral. But staying neutral is like saying "I don't have a voice" or "I am afraid to give my voice" and we shouldn't feel like that, not in this country. And when you look at what is happening in our country, you should be at the least shaken, if not appalled, and wonder what is our government up to. What are the situations we are faced with today as a result of what seems like true negligence, to so many of us, from people which seem to be so good at using the word "democracy." I sit back and cannot help feel disbelief because this, our nation as it is today, doesn't feel like a democracy, at times. Anyone can say anything they want, the evidence speaks for itself. Note, here on my page, there's no hatred allowed. I have a sincere love for humanity and basic human rights. My open honesty is an example of what the Constitution provides for all of us and that is freedom of independent thinking and freedom of speech. And I will, as I respect every single one of you who reads this, no matter which side you are on, be candid with you and give you my honest opinion. Freedom of independent thought should never be taken lightly. Never, ever, substitute your own thinking for someone else's. You must think for yourself, listen, hear, to both sides, and make decisions based on your truest reasoning. And this reasoning should be married to common sense, logic, and truth. Truly, I say onto you, good reason is married to all of these three. And, solutions, require good reasoning too.

In our country, individualism is valued, so, because of this it may seem that we live in a bubble at times. And, yet, most of us want the same things: safety, economic stability, financial prosperity and to live in peace. Today, we are far from securing any of that, if we look at all the problems we are dealing with. I am not going to give you a fairytale which, to my grave disappointment, it's been one of the tactics I've seen in this election used by some politicians to win votes. What it's sad to me to see is the lack of understanding in the public, that this isn't a battle between Republican vs. Democrat, as that would be such a minute and impetuous way of thinking. This is about something far bigger, than that. If someone preaches democracy, they have to demonstrate via actions that they have provided the benefits which only a democracy can secure for the public. You cannot preach something you do not practice. And public unrest isn't a benefit but, in part, a byproduct of fear management. Within a democracy, politicians must carefully manage fear in society. In addition, double standards don't work in politics as they don't work anywhere else either. I've heard, during this election, being said that "a woman should not be told what to do with her body." I agree and I respect that. I am a woman. And I would not want anyone to make any decision over my body, what goes in it or what goes out of it. The problem though is that according to some this seems to refer primarily to the "abortion" topic. If this was about, in contrast, taking or not the Covid vaccine, the same woman would be at the bare minimum harshly criticized and in many circumstances denied her personal freedom of choice. So, in other words, what they are saying is, you should have freedom as it relates to whether you want abortion, taking a living fetus out of you before a baby is born, but you don't have the right to a decision about what kind of experimental new "drug" is injected in your blood stream. This is not freedom of choice. In addition, at a more impactful level, it would be worth speaking not of women's rights as it relates to one topic only. This is actually about human rights because women's rights falls under the larger umbrella of rights called human rights. Going back to fear, if you know anything about totalitarian governments, you'd know a lot about fear. Fear is horrible. If you don't believe me, go study up. What most upsets me, of what I've seen lately, is the extreme accusations which revolved around words such as "Hitler" and "fascist" which have no place in this election. That is not only disrespectful in my eyes, to the many Jews living in the USA today, but utterly disturbing. It's easy to understand that when most people hear that, they will feel fear and fear will cause a reaction. Why? Because fear confuses people, brings doubt in people, and ultimately it rules people. Accusations as such, are extremely irresponsible, at a time which is quite sensitive for people who are already dealing with enough as it is. It's just not wise. Fear also causes confusion, and confusion causes chaos and division. If you are confused, you soon will not be able to distinguish between fact or fiction, which then leads to chaos. Once fear rules, you will choose that which sounds convincing not necessarily the truth. We must exercise our freedom as independent thinkers and question everything we are being told, then decide.

In the last years, we have had a rise of violent crime all across the country, not just at the border but everywhere. It seems like it's been getting out of control, because, well, it has and it seems like the government has done little to not much about it. We have major issues that range from rise in violent crime, immigration which lacks proper checks and balances, wars, a fragile economy, inflation, which are all very big issues. It's a dirty job to clean because it's a mess now. But, only someone bold enough to tell you the truth, not to scare you, but to tell you the solution for what seems scary times, can deal with this mess. We need to hear what someone will actually do about it, not in abstract terms, but actual terms. And we don't need more fear injected in our population. If you ever read any history books, in particular on totalitarian politics, you've maybe heard that fear is an instrument. But think not of fear alone but of how fear is used. Power can be used in different ways. For example, is fear used truly to protect people from Covid, or is there some other reason? Is fear used to encourage wars to ignite or is it used to stop wars? How do we manage fear today, when it's so obvious that we as people are more fearful than hopeful during the wild times we face today? Does your daughter or son deserve to go to high school scared every day? We don't need more fear, we have enough to deal with as is. We need to stop the killings, the wars, not just because of inflation which is killing us but because they are an atrocity. But, how do you do that? Have you ever heard of anyone sitting at the table with Satan successfully convincing him that he is a bad boy and that he just needs to stop? I haven't. You cannot reason with evil. So, how do you defeat it? These are the issues we face, serious ones. It's not just about groceries going up, it's everything is going up. And it's not just here by the way. So many people's lives are simply distraught all over the world. This is not the time and place for extreme accusations but for solid changes that will influence good policy and ensure the security, peace, and hope for the future we all so desperately desire. It's not a fairytale, no. It's real life. And real life is sometimes hard but fear won't ever solve our problems. Remember this from me that fear divides us, love unites us, love of our country, love of life.

The other thing which shocked me, in this election, was watching the mocking of the Catholic church. It shows disrespect towards the very foundation of our nation, as a whole, a lack of great discernment during such sensitive times. I have a lot of respect for all religions of the world, Christian or not. This country, however, was founded on moral principles which honor and respect the notion of God in people's lives. I expect of the future president of the United States of America who shows up in front of a crowd and shouts "God bless America" to show respect to all those who have a religious belief, regardless of if Catholic or not. It's ok to disagree, any day and time, with someone's religious beliefs, when you chat with your friends and loved ones at a cup of coffee on a Sunday morning. But, in a presidential election, to see the Catholic church being made fun of and degraded, let's just say, it's not impressive. They made fun of Trump for serving fries at McDonald's, a company which is an icon of America's economic prosperity and growth. It was delightful to see Trump there because he proved that one, he loves this country, and, two, that he desires economic prosperity for Americans, which is at the heart of our nation's core values and ideals, a vision for the future to uphold. The vision of prosperity and success is essential to most of us, because it's a window of hope for those who work hard and want a chance at a good life.

I would have a lot more to say, but I will stop here as politics as I mentioned isn't my favorite thing to talk about. However, what I've spoken here of, I hope, is not so much about politics but about how what we think and how we think can shape our decisions. We, the People, have choices to make during this election, difficult choices, so we must listen and hear carefully to both sides. Some of you may vote in the last few minutes, due to not being sure which side to side with. Please remember, this isn't a debate about whether you are Republican or Democrat, we are all in this mess together as people of the same nation, but a debate on what your belief systems are. If ever in doubt, I always go back to the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution. This document is the greatest written blueprint of the foundation of our country we love and live in today. If ever unsure, ask yourself, which candidate will do all this for you? It's a big job, the biggest job there is. Ask yourself, who has the capacity to truly fight for all of these things as presented below for you. Who is concerned with everything we deal with today, in a genuine and realistic manner, that you would hand over your vote for if you do? These could be some of the questions you ask yourself. It's your Constitutional right, to have a voice. If you are fearful you'll make a mistake, it's natural to feel so. I can understand that. I felt the same way. But I listened long enough, hard enough, until I was fully convinced. We cannot forget, we as a world are one big family and if we all fought the evil in this world, together, maybe the good in this world could prevail but we have to fight hard. And, because I truly am a believer and God isn't just an abstract concept in my life, I will state as my final words on this fine Sunday afternoon, with hope running in my veins,

God bless America, our nation's people and future, and our entire world

With love, always love, written for you

Carmen A. Cisnadean

Author. Artist. Poetess.