The political IS personal and the personal IS political

Remember, if you are receiving this, you have NOT asked me to remove your name from the email list. At any time going forward, you may let me know if you do not want to receive any more of these emails. I have gotten a lot of wonderful responses - some from friends/family with whom I do not always agree and some from those with whom I do usually agree. There are so many topics in our political world, that I am sure we will continue to agree on some things and challenge each other on those other items. Either way let’s stay friends and work together on our common ground and leave our disagreements alone. This way, I think, we will be as individuals and as a country better for it!

My goal is to be a conscious American citizen. While I was disappointed in the recent election results, I do accept that we have a different president taking office in January, than I had imagined. He has promised a number of things that challenge our US Constitution, agreements with other nations in the world, and the core of who we are as a nation and a people. He is the president-elect – on January 20th, 2017, he will be inaugurated as our 45th President.

There is so much fiction swirling in the press, TV, internet, Facebook, our various email feeds, etc. etc. etc. I will strive to only pass on factual items. I ask that you do the same with any responses to me. I use SNOPES and POLITIFACT. Here is a link to another way to check information. When I sent the first email, I thought I’d be covering the topics below:
Personal: Protect and Maintain - Social Security (AARP) and Medicare (AARP)
Family: Protect and Maintain - Pro-Choice (Planned Parenthood / NARAL) and Affordable Care Act (House & Senate)
Community: Fight Discrimination (Anti-Defamation League/NAACP) and Support immigration for all religions (Anti-Defamation League)
Country: Maintain the Freedoms and Privileges accorded us from the Constitution of the USA (focus on the Bill of Rights) (ACLU)
World: Follow rules of the Geneva Conventions with respect to opponents (United Nations)

I have since determined that this list is too long, too broad, too ambitious. I may be retired but I don’t have to explore everything across the spectrum. So, I am primarily focusing on the US Constitution. It has gotten us this far (228 years) it can take us out 4 more years. Specifically, I am going to focus on the Bill of Rights (first 10 amendments to the constitution).

The frequency of any item (or email for that matter) will depend on what I find or what interests me. As I find things, I will send them on – no particular order. Feel free to send me information related to the 1st Amendment that you have found of interest. Don’t forget to verify it’s truthiness (to steal a term from Stephen Colbert).

“Sometimes a people lose their right to remain silent when pressured to remain silent.”
― Criss Jami, Killosophy