Opinion: Getting a year older

Next week I will be celebrating the anniversary of my 29th birthday. In my six-plus decades, I have learned many things. I wish I knew as much now as I did when I was 14 years old. I knew everything back then. This being a grownup looked a lot different in the brochure. Can I get a refund on my unfulfilled expectations? Whom do I see about that?

My mom made a huge deal about celebrating her children’s birthdays. My husband’s family, not so much. Given some thought, the concept is mind-blowing. I don’t expect the level of celebration my mother provided but knowing some people are glad I was born is a great joy.

Technology can be intimidating. A smart phone allows the entire World Wide Web to ride around in my pocket.

Facebook will announce my birthday and my friends on the Internet will send me their best wishes. Virtual flowers, chocolate bon-bons and adult libations will mark the day.

If I had a list of birthday wishes after world peace and a cure for diseases, I would wish for an end to the pointless and destructive shenanigans in Washington D.C.

All my life I thought I was a Democrat. At the ripe ol’ age of five, my mother, QuoVada, my brother Brian and I went house to house campaigning for JFK. When the resident answered the door, Brian played a song flute and I sang a version of “Shoo fly don’t bother me … cause I’m gonna vote for Kennedy!”

Our home was in mourning three years later when a hail of bullets killed Camelot. That day Nov. 22, 1963, an announcement over the James Monroe Elementary School’s public address system informed the students of the president’s shooting and then a short time later his death. I was in third grade. Lois Romine was our teacher, but we had a substitute teacher that fall as Mrs. Romine was out with a broken leg. These small details, the minutiae of everyday life, are branded in my memory.

The rumor going around school at recess stated that with the death of JFK it meant that Richard Nixon would become president and we would have to go to school on Saturdays.

If an unknown assailant could kill someone as important as the president would any of us ever be safe again? That supported my feeling the world was a dark and scary place.

I always relied on the notion that I was a Democrat the same way one would count on water being wet. My Republican friends knew that I was not going to take a walk on what I believed to be the dark side. It would seem that the current political climate is concentrated on a need to declaw and neuter the president. Leading the charge is speaker Nancy Pelosi. Her agenda is quite clear — get President Donald Trump.

Never mind that the citizens of the USA elected him. I know he paints an enormous target on his back, and on his front for that matter. Nevertheless, I do believe he is trying to fix some of the things wrong in this country.

The country has changed to the point where it is near impossible to get anything done. The skinny old white guys, regardless of their gender, have decided they don’t want their apple cart disturbed and will go to any length necessary to maintain the status quo.

The POTUS is doing the best he can, given the constraints of the office. He dares to say the things those politically correct drones are thinking. I admire the way he threw his yearly salary back in their faces giving him the freedom to do what he pleases.

The Democratic Party has no one to blame but itself. In 2016, they thought they owed Mrs. Clinton a shot at the big chair. The country disagreed and now the party is comprised of sore losers.

There should be a term limit on senators and congresspeople. Presidents are limited to two, four-year terms. Some of the representatives have been in office for way too many years. Since the Senate and House would need to enact this law, I wouldn’t hold my breath to see a bill of this nature ever. A nationwide ballot measure might get the job done.

Seriously, if a representative can’t accomplish what they need to do in eight years they are incapable of enacting change.

Remember that the next time you cast your vote. If the rest of the country can toss these people out of office may be, we can all help fix what is amiss in America.

Long days and pleasant nights, have a good weekend.

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Readers may contact Tami Jo Nix by emailing tamijonix@gmail.com or following @TamiJoNix on Twitter.