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.

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.

Too Old To Be President?

Oct 11, 2019 | 2020 Election, Ageism, Democrats, Elections, Politics, Something. To. Say. | 0 comments

Too Old To Be President?

 Hello Everybody. I have something to say about old presidential candidates.

     “Age ain’t nothing but a number,” is a song popularized by the late singer, Aaliyah.” The phrase has particular relevance today when voters are beginning to focus on the ages of the frontrunning candidates for President. It hadn’t been talked about too much, until Bernie Sanders suffered a heart attack on the campaign trail.  His image as a robust, energetic 78-year-old was shattered in 24 hours. He’s the oldest candidate. Joe Biden is 76, Elizabeth Warren is 70. And Donald Trump is 73. Never before have so many septuagenarians run for president.

        I think ageism is likely to become a factor for each of them, because we in America think old people aren’t physically or mentally capable of being president. But do you have any idea of how many sick younger men were president and had serious health problems? 

         Franklin Delano Roosevelt came down with polio at age 39 that left him paralyzed in both legs, but he hid his condition from the public.

       Dwight Eisenhower, while he was in office, suffered a heart attack, a stroke and Crohn’s Disease.

      John F. Kennedy was only 43, but he kept secret his Addison’s disease, chronic back pain and addiction to painkillers.

        (Photo) Nobody knew Ronald Reagan was unhealthy, but he had bad arthritis, and while occupying the White House he had surgery for skin cancer, prostate cancer and colon cancer. And he was shot in the chest.  He also began showing signs of Alzheimer’s at the end of his second term.

      Young or old, people have health challenges, but should that rule them out for America’s top job? Don’t we care about intelligence, open-mindedness, compassion, and honesty in candidates? I think we do. Age ain’t nothing but a number.

Until next time.