We all die at some point, what else is there than to try and make the World a better place than how we found it?

I didn't go to law school or take public administration in college.  Never ran a business or been in any real management position.  Don't have much of a wardrobe or have a lot of money.  Not originally from West Texas and don't know the whole region intimately.  Very limited public speaking experience.  Don't sleep that well.  Don't have a personal vehicle to travel to meet people.  No one had specifically said they believed this a good idea.

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So, you may be asking- Are you stupid? Attention seeking? Out for money somehow?

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Quick answers: 

1) Maybe I'm not supposed to say a joke about myself being stupid anymore?  I'll put that in the issues tab. ;)

2) I certainly am seeking attention for a couple of ideas that I don't think are widely discussed enough.

3) Nah, I'm fine.  The $174k salary for members of Congress is almost 10 times that of someone working minimum wage- that seems insane to me. I live a modest life, I'm fine with minimum wage or less for a salary.

 

OK... A certain number of people reading this just want to know- Democrat or Republican?  So, not to waste anyone's time, I've almost always voted for Democrats; not always... but mostly.  And my tendency to vote against Republicans has grown stronger because of the almost complete backing they have given to Donald Trump in word and deed.

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I'll get into that in a second, and I know I've probably already lost a large number of voters in this district by saying that.  That's fine, but before you go, if you have a minute-

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I grew up in Southwest Nebraska.  High school graduating class of 12 people. Many of the people I grew up with and people I've worked with over the years probably have many of your views.  I owe a lot to the people I grew up with and many of you.

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I remember one night my senior year in high school, I was coming back pretty late from a homecoming activity.  The country roads were muddy and I slid into the ditch by the side of the road.  My parents were in Denver, I believe, because my father had cancer and was needing treatment.  I walked to the nearest farmhouse- maybe a mile back up the road- (very few people had cell phones in 1994).  I don't remember all the specifics after that, but I ended up staying with my high school business teacher that night and going into school the next day with him and got help the next day pulling the truck out of the ditch.

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People living in rural areas know these types of things happen all the time.  But I've also had innumerable acts of kindness from people when I've lived in more urban areas.

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If you're still reading along, maybe you're thinking, OK, who cares?  Or yes, there are nice people many places, who cares?  If you're online a lot, maybe you've read articles or Facebook posts that started out the same way.  That ended with someone saying something like- How could you (Trump voter) vote for someone like that (Trump).

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No answer is the same, of course- everyone is different.  Maybe you're thinking, 'I don't like a lot of what he says or does, but he's better than those people.  Maybe by this time you're thinking, we're talking about Jodey Arrington, not Donald Trump.  Maybe you're like, 'This is boring, I'm going back to watching YouTube videos.'

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First, for the 'this is boring' people- I get it. Politics sucks, is often boring, and you may or may not end up voting.  I certainly can't offer you the show that someone like Donald Trump can, or AOC or any other larger than life politician.  I most certainly would be a boring politician mostly interested in analyzing legislation with my staff and spending time listening to constituents and anyone who wants to talk.  And you get a huge staff.  I think Jodey has 18-20 staff people.  Why do none of them ever answer my Tweets? ;)

 

Second, Jodey Arrington isn't Donald Trump.  He's not as outwardly demeaning or insulting to others most of the time.  But I'll be damned if I've ever seen him criticize the former President for any words or actions.  Maybe I've missed it, he probably has at some point.

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Anyway, for many of you, that's a positve, not a negative.  I could certainly spam this page about why I find that problematic,  but that will become apparent if you end up reading the issue sections. And that's true for the people that find those people (Dems, liberals, socialists, whatever) the 'worst of the two evils'.

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Anyway, there are lots of different ways to go from here.  If you're still reading, there's a lot more in the other sections that you can look at if you'd like, or if I've droned on too long already for you, peace...