End of Summer, Looking to the Fall

School starts for me on Sunday - summer is over.

We have open house Sunday afternoon and then I'm back to work on Monday.  Doesn't it seem to get earlier every year?

I'm spending this week getting ready to go back to work, hitting those doctor appointments I put off during the school year (and have put off all summer), doing some back to school shopping, and finishing a few books that were on my summer reading list.

Going back to work will be good; it's always overwhelmingly busy those first few weeks but to be honest, the political news cycle has me a little disgusted and burned out right now.  The hate speech, hypocrisy and vitriol (from both sides!) has me more than a little sick and the state of things in this country right now, frankly, has me more than a little frightened.

Emotions are high right now with so much on the line in November.

And for the life of me I can NOT figure out why the polls are even close.  You mean to tell me that half of the country is prepared to turn us over to European style socialism?  That half of the country thinks that Fast and Furious was okay?  That half of the country thinks that this record unemployment was really all George Bush's fault?  Half of the country thinks that big government can just spend us out of the crisis we are in?  That cutting defense and raising taxes is the answer?

Or are there just that many uninformed people out there?  As K. Carl Smith said in Runaway Slave, voter apathy comes in two forms.  Those who don't vote and those who don't care how they vote.

Those people better start caring.  They better pay attention.

You can't vote for Obama just because you think he's "cool" or "hip."

Four more years of Obama's policies will kill this country as we know it; this is the real deal, people.  This is not a drill.  It's time to do your research and pay attention.  Do not rely on the media (or blogs!) to tell you what to do.  Read.  Research.  Look at the issues in an historical context and figure out where you want this country to go.  Look at the future as well as the past.  Read the Constitution.  If you haven't looked at it since your middle school civics class, it's time to read it again.

There's too much on the line.

Meanwhile, I'm going back to my reading list.

I'm still here.  Never quit.

Run!  Run Harder!