Numbers don't lie and I am sick and tired of politicians and media mouthpieces saying that "the American people have spoken" as if some vast majority of the voting public agreed that the Donald should lead us into the Promised Land. A mere 26% of the voters in America supported him. (see the math below) That is no mandate. That is no cry for radical change. That is barely a quarter of the nation that wants something different.
     Remember those numbers as we move forward. There are more of us that do not want to watch the last 8 years dismantled. There are millions of us Boomers who are willing to get back in the trenches to fight any rollback of Medicare and Social Security. There is room to reach out to those who feel disconnected from the success most of the bluest states have enjoyed.
     Most importantly, there is an astounding 41.6% of the populace that did NOT vote. Were they put off by what so many thought were two bad choices or are they so disenchanted that they feel it doesn't matter who is in power? Did they not receive an adequate education of what it means to be a citizen? Do we need a more vigorous curriculum to teach future generations what it means to be part of a civic society and democracy works best when it is participated in? Have we all forgotten that it is a government OF the people, BY the people, FOR the people?
     Of that 26%, a tiny, but very vocal, minority, are blatant white nationalist racists and should not be given any airtime as it lends legitimacy to their backward viewpoints. Yes, they are free to voice their hatred but they should not be given a place at the political table as if they hold a legitimate viewpoint. We kept Stein and Johnson out of the debates and essentially off the airwaves because they never reached the 5% they needed, why would we give airtime to a minuscule, virulent minority? I don't see speakers from the Communist Party or Anarchists of America on any of the talk shows so why do I see these cavemen with their misguided ideas about race laughing about the Heil Hitler sign and being given an opportunity to rationalize their thinking on national TV? They should be shouted down and drowned out with indignation every time they rear their ugly racist heads because America has no place for that kind of ignorant bigotry.
     Numbers as of 11/27/2016: Here's the Math:
231,556,622 eligible voters / 58.4% voted: 134,765,650 / 41.6% did not: 97,000,000
Stein and Johnson got a combined 5,249,432 (4.1%) which leaves 129,516, 218
last count has Hillary at 64,637,563 (50%) and Trump with 62,409,389 (48%) leaving 2,449,266 outstanding which are mostly from solid blue states which would imply that Hillarys numbers will still go up.
SO, take away the 4.1% from Stein and Johnson from the original 58.4% that voted and you get 54.3%. Hillary: 50% of 54.3 = 27.15% / Trump: 48% of 54.3 = 26%
Trump was elected by 26% of the eligible voting public. Barely a quarter.

You can believe what you want, but you can't tell me what to believe.

http://deadstate.org/mike-pence-believes-the-earth-is-6000-years-old-and-he-wants-to-teach-that-to-your-kids/

this is an article about Mike Pence. I think it is important to do our due diligence and understand what the people who are taking power believe in as those beliefs will influence their policies. I started with this article and then did more research and have found that he is, in fact, a true believer in 'intelligent design' which is a semantic term created during the Bush administration to replace 'creationism'. It made it sound more scientific and therefore they could try and make us teach it in public schools. It never got off the ground but Pence is a true believer. He is a VERY conservative Christian and from many interviews and speeches I have heard and read, he takes the bible literally. He also does not believe in evolution. If he wants people to learn of these theories in their church, so be it, but keep it out of public schools. We teach Science in school, not religion.

"A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment. Such fact-supported theories are not "guesses" but reliable accounts of the real world."

I have no problem with someone believing what they want as that is one of the basic rights guaranteed in our Constitution. 

 "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;..."

There is a clear precedent for the separation of church and state and we need to keep a vigilant eye on any legislation that brings the church, specifically Mike Pence's ultra-conservative, orthodox Christian kind, into public schools.

I have decided that Facebook is not the place to have political discussions so I have revived an old blog I started 6 years ago. This is where I will rant and rave and express my political views without having to worry about trolls.