Carole Simpson

Inauguration Jubilation

Jan 22, 2021 | 2020 Election, Democrats, Elections, Feminism, Government, Something. To. Say., Women | 0 comments

Inauguration Jubilation

Hello Everybody:

      I have something to say about the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.  Now I know once again how it feels, to be happy. I haven’t been happy for four years.

    Inauguration Day, it was wonderful to see the US Capitol festooned with flags and banners, to hear the heralding music from the US Marine band, to be moved to tears by the voices of Lady Gaga, J-Lo and the amazing young Amanda Gorman. Seeing the former presidents chatting with each other.

     Then the moment I was eagerly awaiting, maybe waiting my whole life for, seeing Kamala Harris raising her hand and repeating the oath to become vice president. She shattered the thickest glass ceiling in the land. It’s been in place since the founding of our country, 245 years ago. Holding the second most powerful office in the land, she isn’t only female, she’s black and South Asian.

     I was happy to see the decent, experienced Joe Biden swear to defend the Constitution and then give an inaugural address assuring the nation that all would be done that could be done to end the pandemic.

      I could almost overlook the masks on all the guests, and almost ignore the presence of 25,000 troops guarding Washington. But I couldn’t forget the violent, hateful American traitors who tried to destroy our democracy.

       Finally, the best thing to happen inauguration day was the departure of Donald Trump. He’s gone. He’s gone. He won’t have us to kick around anymore. Good riddance. I hope I don’t have to talk about him again any time soon. I wanna stay happy.

Till next time.

Top 10 List of 2020’s Good Things

Dec 31, 2020 | 2020 Election, Black Lives Matter, Coronavirus, Family, Journalism, Something. To. Say. | 0 comments

Top 10 List of 2020’s Good Things

Hello Everybody. I have something to say about the demise of the year 2020. It was awful and you know what was awful about it. But I gave it another think and managed to eke out some positive results. So, without further ado, My Top Ten List of the good that came out of 2020.

BIDEN

  1. We elected Joe Biden as our new president. And Kamala Harris, a woman of color is going to be vice president.

 

TRUMP

  1. We won’t have to see Donald Trump’s orange face and crazy yellow hair. We won’t have to hear his narcissistic ravings or read his crazy tweets.

 

VACCINE

  1. We saw scientists and researchers spend only 9 months in their labs to invent several vaccines to prevent us from getting the Covid-19 coronavirus.

 

          FAMILY

  1. Because many of us were locked down, we spent more time with our families. Parents liked that. Kids liked that. They got to know each other better.

 

NEIGHBORLINESS

  1. And we saw selflessness. Neighbors helping neighbors. Young folks getting groceries for old folks. People cooking and delivering meals to families where the parents have lost their jobs.

 

PRESS

  1. We saw some of the best investigative journalism ever practiced at one time in our history. Reporters proved to many that they aren’t the enemy of the people, but the protectors of our democracy.

 

TECHNOLOGY

  1. With technology, we learned you can do a lot of things virtually. Doctors’ appointments, conferences, meetings. And that technology like Zoom is being used to teach our kids.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

  1. We didn’t go to movie theaters, so the movies came to us. Yes, we could watch big blockbuster films in our homes through streaming services.

 

COOKING

  1.   We re-discovered the joy of cooking. But now, with nothing to do, nowhere to go, we learned that it’s tough to beat a good home cooked meal.

 

         BODIES GOT A BREAK

  1. We gave our bodies a break by not wearing restricting ties, brassieres and Spanx in favor of sweatpants and lounging stuff.

 

It goes without saying that it was positive, what doctors and nurses and first responders did to help us during the pandemic. It’s good, that people now realize how much they do for us.

 

   Now we welcome 2021. As we do every year, we pray that the new year will make up for the year before. So, we’ll try this again. Happy New Year.

2020 Election Dilemma

Nov 11, 2020 | 2020 Election, Politics, Something. To. Say., Trump | 0 comments

2020 Election Dilemma

Hello, Everybody:

I have something to say about the Presidential Election.

I have personally vilified Donald Trump for his actions, words and deeds, ever since I began this video blog more than a year ago. To me, he was one of the worst things, one of the worst people to ever happen to the United States.

Needless to say, I was overjoyed when Joe Biden was declared president-elect.

Trump may be able to take some comfort in the fact that the race was close, very close.  But that’s what has me stumped. In this election, voter turnout was the highest it has ever been. 75 million votes for Biden, more than 70 million for Trump. How is that possible? Almost half the votes going to Trump?  While everybody I know was celebrating the Biden win—there must have been nearly as many people angry and sad about Trump’s loss.

Who are these people who voted for a president who lied, cheated, was mean and hateful, and incompetent and was INCOMPETENT? Were Trump voters fine with how he handled the pandemic? Please.

The president-elect has one heckuva a job in front of him, bringing the American people together.  All I can say is, “Good luck, Joe. You’re gonna need it.”

See you next time.

Pandemic Fatigue

Oct 31, 2020 | 2020 Election, Coronavirus, Mental Health, Something. To. Say. | 0 comments

Pandemic Fatigue

Hello Everybody. I have something to say about pandemic fatigue. 

I didn’t know that’s what it was. All I know is that a couple of weeks ago, my psyche went into a dark place. I was so sad.  I felt little joy in watching the news or a scary movie on Netflix. I started sinking into a pit of self-pity and depression.

Carole, I said to myself, “Get yourself together.” “But I can’t,” I said to my other self. “Everything is so sad.” The virus is soaring again; there’s sickness and death. People are out of work and hungry. Businesses are folding. And some folks are still refusing to wear masks. Thank you, Donald Trump.

But then I was watching the news and I saw all these people in long lines in different states, waiting to vote early. They had chairs, and food and drink. Thousands and thousands of people waiting for as long as 10 hours to cast their ballots. Last I heard nearly 50 million votes have been cast with less than a couple of weeks to Election.

I was like, “WOW.” I became happy. The American people were energized. Are energized. They are making sacrifices to vote; they finally realize that every vote counts. Those of you who haven’t voted, make sure you do. Cuz, after November 3rd, I feel there may be light on the other side of our tunnels, both pandemic and political.

Until next time.

WARNING

Sep 26, 2020 | 2020 Election, Crazy Town, Government, Racism, Republicans, Something. To. Say., Trump | 0 comments

WARNING

No friendly hello this time, my fellow Americans. This is a 5-alarm fire. It’s Defcon 5.  It’s code red. It’s time to scream:  WTF?

       If you haven’t watched the news in the past few days, then you don’t know that Donald Trump is planning to hurl this country into the biggest constitutional crisis the US has ever seen. He would destroy our democracy to avoid losing the election to Joe Biden. He’s so sick and power-hungry that he wants to install himself as the supreme leader for life. An American dictator. To him, rules do not apply.

        So, what is he up to? He’s saying the Democrats are trying to rig the election with mail in ballots. If Biden wins, he will say the election was stolen from him.  He indicates he may not leave office. He’ll just remain president. Never in the 244 years of our history has a president dared to pull such a stunt. Trump can’t do that. The people decide with their votes who will be president.

      Why all the alarms I was setting off? Because some historians say this could lead to America’s Second civil war. The country is so divided. Some of Trump’s supporters are gun-totin’ white nationalists who have been itching for years for a race war. Oh, and would Russian President Putin invade to help his old pal, Trump? And all of this during racial tensions and a pandemic.

       What can you do? On November 3rd, you have got to vote, you and everybody you know. You have got to let your political leaders know that you will vote against them if they don’t denounce Trump’s shenanigans. Folks this is deadly serious. It’s just about as bad as it can get.

See you again.

 

 

 

Time for a Black Female Veep

Jul 10, 2020 | 2020 Election, Being Black, Black Lives Matter, Elections, Feminism, Government, Politics, Something. To. Say.

Time for a Black Female Veep

Hello Everybody. I have something to say about vice presidential candidates. Is it time now for a black woman to be chosen to run? You’re damned right it is.

 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden announced that he will choose a woman as his running mate. But given today’s tense racial climate, many are urging Biden to make the woman he chooses, a black one. 

Lucky for Biden, he has a rich array of smart and experienced black women to choose from:  Look at them. Senator Kamala Harris, former National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms, Stacy Abrams, who ran for governor of Georgia, and Val Demings, a former police chief and now Florida Congresswoman. Impressive women. No Sarah Palin in this group.

Senator Amy Klobuchar, who lost her bid for president and probably wanted that vice-presidential spot, has gone on record saying Biden should pick a woman of color. Black women voters have been among Biden’s strongest supporters and nothing would make them happier than to have one of their own on the presidential ballot in November.

 Biden’s decision will be made soon. Will he, or won’t he? More and more people say he should.

 Until next time.

Old White Men

Feb 27, 2020 | 2020 Election, Democrats, Elections, Something. To. Say.

Old White Men

Hello everybody. I have something to say about the majority of candidates for president. They are old, white men. I can say this because I’m an old black woman.

I watched the Democratic debate in South Carolina and looked at the array of candidates and they were mostly men, who were old, with white or gray hair and wrinkled white skin.

You had 78-year-old Bernie Sanders; Joe Biden and Michael Bloomberg are both 77, Tom Steyer, a mere 62. Pete Buttigieg looked like a young boy, though he doesn’t talk like one, he looks like one at age 38. On the Republican side, Donald Trump wants a second term and he will be 74 in June. The race seems to be all about the old, white men. Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar are now, pretty much the also-rans. Most pundits don’t think either woman has a snowball’s chance in hell of becoming the Democratic nominee or beating Donald Trump.

So, the country has taken a big step backwards. No women or people of color are in the presidential mix. It may as well be 1960… or 1791 when the prerequisite for becoming president was being an old, white man…and being rich didn’t hurt, not one bit. I hate to say it, but “Goodbye, Ladies.”

 See you next time.

Bloomberg Botches It

Feb 22, 2020 | 2020 Election, Something. To. Say.

Bloomberg Botches It

Hello Everybody:        

        I have something to say about Michael Bloomberg. He made his first appearance in a presidential debate in Las Vegas. And that debate was a humdinger… the most explosive and entertaining I have ever seen. Talk about reality television.

        They say Bloomberg had been prepared ahead of time for the questions he might get and answers to give. But you could not tell that. He stumbled, he stuttered, he searched for words, but they weren’t sufficient. He was reduced to non-answers and non-reactions. We saw his resting bitch face. Not a good look. Not a good performance. Not a good night.

      His Democratic rivals rolled all over him. Didn’t he know he would be asked about charges of racism for stop and frisk and charges of sexism from women? Mike, come on. This was his chance to show America that he was more than a multi, multi billionaire.

       It has been reported that the black vote has been shifting away from Joe Biden and toward Michael Bloomberg. But after his debate performance, Bloomberg is going to have to do more than spend his millions, if he is to become the great “black” hope and the great white hope, too.

Until next time.

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