Election 2016...Do the Right Thing!

My fellow Americans, for better or worse, we will be voting for a new president this year. If you follow the "news" on social media then it's hard to find any candidate worth voting for. According to all the "experts" on Facebook, there is nothing good about any of them and all kinds of good about all of them. It just depends on the meme of the moment. Let's look at a whole different view of this matter before you decide that you are moving out of the greatest country on Earth depending on the election outcome.

Have you ever stopped looking at all the rhetoric on Facebook and Twitter and tried to look at this mess without influence? Has it occurred to you that it makes no difference who is the President of the United States?

History Lesson #1 - When states leaders gathered together in 1787 to script the United States Constitution, their goal was simple. They wanted to create a government that was fair but would be limited in its power. Thus they created the three branches of governments; legislative, judicial and executive. No one piece can do all. For example, the President can negotiate a treaty but the Senate must ratify it with a 2/3 vote. Another example is Congress introduces bills to become law, but the President can veto the bill stopping it. However, Congress can, with enough votes and support, overturn a veto. The point is, there is a process.

That is why it is so ridiculous to fall into the trap of believing that any candidate is going to nullify the Second Amendment or "come take your guns". It's not that simple. It's not going to happen. As bad as you think Congress is (and believe it they are that bad), it just seems unrealistic that they would allow something like that to happen. It's unrealistic to think the votes are there. Recall when President Obama joked and said that he cannot just come take our guns because he was bound by the law of the land? He was right and he knows it.

Another popular issue this election is Socialism. "Bernie Sanders is a Socialist"! Maybe he is. "Bernie Sanders will raise taxes $23 Trillion"! Really? Let's be clear on this issue, the president does not have the power to raise or lower taxes on his own authority. He can try and influence Congress to create a bill to do so and he can veto a tax bill that he does not agree with. But Bernie cannot, as president, raise taxes. Take the Affordable Care Act, for example. Here is a good example of the president using his influence to get this bill passed through Congress. President Obama used a lot of influence to push it through and it worked. Of course, Nancy Pelosi announced that they "had to pass it to see what was in it". That last part is when yours truly came to the conclusion that Congress no longer worked for the constituents. More on that later. What would be nice, if a president used his influence to get bills passed that would lower corporate taxes so that companies can flourish here in the United States and hire more people. What would be nice, if a president used his influence to get bills passed that did something to solve hunger and homelessness here in the United States. What would be nice, if a president used his influence to get bills passed that would save our dying oceans.

My Fellow Americans, let me shift the conversation away from the presidency for a little because it is of the opinion of this author that the real problem is with Congress and some other parts of the system.

History Lesson #2 - Congress consists of two chambers; the Senate and the House of Representatives. Legislation cannot be enacted without the consent of both chambers. Legislation is a law enacted by a governing body. So in layman's terms, laws cannot be passed without the mutual agreement of both houses of Congress.

With that being clarified, now look at the problems that we are facing today; poverty, crime, hunger, homelessness, unemployment, high corporate taxes, etc. No one is saying that some of this is not the fault of the president or others in his administration. There is enough argument on both sides of the table to fancy a discussion on it. However, the president did not single-handedly raise corporate tax, cause hunger, make companies fail thus ruining economies around the country. Who is in charge of making laws? Who raises and lowers taxes? Who introduces crime bills? The answer is Congress. Who influences Congress? The president...and others. Wait, others? Yes. Have you thought about the corporations and lobbies that influence Congress? Some money here and some promises there and you have some legislation being introduced. Someone once asked me what I would do with the money if I ever won the lottery. I told him about all the great things that I would do to free myself from debt, help my children, buy a nice home. He said that he would "buy a Congressperson and make some changes". Think about how true that statement is; you can buy yourself a Congressperson. That is all a lobby does or special interest groups; they are buying legislation. If you remove that money from Washington, you may actually remove the corruption and get some real work done for the betterment of Americans.

I could go on for hours and words but I'd probably begin to bore you. All I really want is for you to open your mind and think on this a little. Everyone is looking to memes and fly-by-night Internet "news" agencies to tell them who to vote for as president. The real issue is who are you voting for in Congress and is that person after your best interests? Because that is the person that matters. What does not count is whether Hillary Clinton is a liar, Bernie Sanders is a Communist, Donald Trump is a fake or that Marco Rubio has no experience. In the words of Hillary Rodham Clinton, "What difference does it make". Absolutely none.

Benghazi: Unsolved Mystery

Here in the United States of America, people are murdered every day. That is a sad reality. Law enforcement agencies are constantly working on leads and developments, talking to witnesses, canvassing the crime scenes, collecting and analyzing evidence all in an effort to bring the suspected murderers to justice.

Benghazi Case File:

On the evening of 11 September 2012, the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya was attacked by Islamic militants. As a result of this attack, A United States Ambassador Christopher Stevens and United States Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith were both murdered. Several hours later on the same evening, another compound approximately one mile from the murders, another attack ensued and United States CIA Contractors Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were both also murdered. These are the core facts regarding events in Benghazi, Libya on the night of 11 September 2012.

The Benghazi "Scandal", as it is so called, has become a political pissing match between the Republican-controlled Congress and the Democrats. In three years and more than $4.5 million, there really has been no resolution to this issue not only politically, but also no resolution period. Now if we strip all the politics, the left and the right away from this whole Benghazi thing then we start to see this a little bit differently. Once we look at it without political lines, you might then feel like you have some questions of your own that you want answered.

Refer back to the core facts above; this is murder. This is capital murder with a lot of implications. Forget everything that you've read in the newspaper, magazines and (God help us) Social Media. Look at this without politics and look at it with your instincts. Four people were murdered that night. Four AMERICANS on sovereign AMERICAN soil. Now ask yourself these questions:

• What law enforcement agencies are investigating these crimes?
• Was the Preliminary Survey performed?
• Was a narrative of the scene conducted by Crime Scene specialists?
• What evidence has been collected?
• Who are the witnesses that were questioned?
• What area(s) have been canvassed?
• Who are the suspects being investigated?

When you eliminate the political aspect of this crime, you are left with murders that have to be solved. The families of these men deserve justice and closure. Have any of the politicians thought about that? Why do we not hear how the criminal investigation is going? Is there even a criminal investigation going on? We should have all applicable agencies on this matter every day until the perpetrators are brought to justice. That is the core of this matter. It is what matters to me as an American when I look at this and think about the wasted money and resources to make this everything else than what it is.

To re-introduce some politics back into it then yes, there are questions that need to be addressed. Why were 600+ requests for help not satisfied? How on earth and more importantly why would you ignore so many requests for help? Why would we hesitate for a second to send aid to our representatives in their time of need? It is the job of Congress to get to the bottom of this and it is no time for partisan politics. Forget about your party and get to the facts and the heart of this matter. It is law enforcement's job to find the murderers and it is Congress's job to find the people responsible for making the mistakes in our government. It sounds quite simple doesn't it?

Like anything else, if you strip the politics away from the issue then we can really see what is or isn't important. We begin to learn how the political machine and the media create these false realities. In some cases, it is a real head scratcher trying to figure out what the reasons are. In this case, four Americans are dead. I think it is time we focus in on that.