Grandma Green says: Thoughts about politics

As I write this, there are three days before the election, Nov. 3. I’m sure that I’m among many who will be glad when the election is over. Please know that I am writing this from a nonpartisan perspective.

Politics, politicians: Look at how things have changed over the years.

When John F. Kennedy was campaigning to be president in 1960, his religion was a point of contention. He was Catholic, and the rhetoric was that the Pope would be involved in American politics. JFK was elected the 35th president, the youngest at 43, and the first Catholic. 

Our First Amendment established freedom of religion. When Ronald Reagan was campaigning to be president in 1980, being a divorced man was a point of contention. He was elected our 40th president.

Looking at our primary election, the lack of turnout was a real eye-opener. The older voters had the highest percentage of voters participating; the younger voters were the lowest. This is scary. We certainly can’t afford to lose our younger generation.

Consider all the signs, television ads, social media urging you to vote for one person or another. Who do you trust? Anything can be stated, truth or lies, due to freedom of speech. Basically, you just have to go with your instincts and hope it all works out for the best.

Talking with some young people, they came up with some interesting questions and remarks.

When the government has a shutdown and all federal employees go without their paychecks, why do the Senate and House continue to receive theirs?

Should there be term limits for Congress, the Senate and even the Supreme Court?

Individuals spend millions of dollars to get a certain party to a political position, like Elon Musk pouring half a billion dollars into the Texas senatorial race. He supports Republican Ken Paxton. Musk moved his business to Texas – do you think he had a motive? 

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. This applies to both Republicans and Democrats. Could this be the reason that voters, both young and old, are so disillusioned and choosing not to vote?

And think of this: Could some of those millions of dollars be better spent finding a cure for ALS, cancer or Parkinson’s disease or helping to pay down the national debt, which we are leaving to our future generations? Stop spending millions on frivolous things. Get the USA back on track and respected by the world.

My mother, years ago, told me something that really made sense; once the major elections are over, political affiliation should be disregarded. Our representatives should all come together for the betterment of not only America but the world.

I leave you with hope.

Joan "Grandma" Green is a regular contributing columnist for the Columbia Basin Herald. She has been a Moses Lake resident for more than 50 years.