oldblessedwordpresscom

I’m making it clear from the start that this post contains complaints. Please, I ask that you hold your nose or turn away if you don’t care for complaints about politics. We’re amid our mid-term elections in the United States, when national congressional seats, some state political offices and local offices are subject to election. Traditionally, this is the time when political tides are subject to turn, gains made by one political party two years ago just might be lost. The electorate has had a couple of years to ponder what it did twenty-four months ago, and it just might want to fix things. I’ve written about our mid-term elections before: Make your mark – oldblessedwordpresscom; life has taught me that there’s always something to say about politics.

I live in the red state of Arkansas. For anyone reading this, who resides outside of the North American area, someone has assigned the colors red and blue to describe the predominant political leanings of each state. Simply put red is used to designate those states that vote Republican; they have state legislatures that are predominately Republican, locally elected officials who are reflective of the same and so on. These states voted for forty-five (Trump) in 2020. Yes, I’m sure you noticed the hint of bias there. Since this is a blog, where I express my opinion, that’s okay. In contrast, blue states vote predominantly Democratic and are more progressive in their thinking; they voted for Biden in 2020.

My how things change. When I was much younger states that voted Democratic are today’s red and those that voted Republican are today’s blue. Confusing, don’t worry politics wasn’t meant to make sense anyway. Remember those colored maps the teacher used to use in school, where the states and global land masses were colored. They showed the states of the United States in bright vibrant colors. The first time I took a plane ride over the Unites states, I found myself missing those colors. I would like to think of my state being something other than red politically, maybe a light brown would look much better. If I remember from my elementary school art class, purple is what you get when you mix blue and red watercolors. Purple would suggest, to me anyway, that some thinking is occurring, and that the electorate is doing something other than drinking the Kool aide being served by the politicians.

Arkansas has been given an opportunity to elect a very bright young man to its governorship. He’s well educated, with a proven track record of public service; he’s a thinker, who’s capable of serving all the people of our state fairly; and he comes into the political arena from the Christian faith tradition that Arkansans purport to be important to them. He’s thinking is blue. His opponent has spent time buying television ads, not based in facts, that appeal to the emotions of the red colored electorate in Arkansas. She often refers to forty-five with a sense of endearment and respect and President Biden with terms that denote something other than the same. She even credits him with the increasing inflation that’s affecting the entire globe. She doesn’t mention her opponent very much in any of her ads. I would think she feels she doesn’t have to, since Arkansas is a red state, and she knows how to speak red with the best of them.

A little purple would be nice right about now.

I’m old and blessed…hope you will be too.