Cyber Bullying from Behind the Social Media Curtain

I notice posts on young people's FB pages that I would consider to fall into this category.  It appears to be way too easy to say nasty, mean and cruel things to people when those people don't have a face that is right in front of you.

Now granted there are plenty of bullies who use personal, blatant and in your face tactics without the use of social media but this medium seems to have almost made the bullies feel justified in what they are doing with all the "Like" tags and comments that may support their nastiness.

I was very happy to see the female news anchor yesterday let this particular bully have it but I think in his Republican-demented brain he refused to hear what she was saying and continued to stand by his bullying message even after the whole debacle went national.  Can you say dense?

And do you suppose he would have written a similar message to a male news anchor with a similar body shape?  Do you suppose he's Mormon and expects all women to be Barbie?

It would be really nice if others would pick up on this message and stop these abhorrent practices but only time will tell.

The Best of the Worst

In so many cases these days, it seems we are forced to vote for the best of the worst candidates.  We were talking about the mayoral race last weekend and that was what it boiled down to, neither of the candidates represented what we really wanted so we simply have to decide which would be the worst choice, as in take Portland backwards, and vote against him (yes, both candidates are men which is indeed unfortunate).

I'm hearing more and more about the need to allow more parties, for instance the Independent, the Libertarian and the Green parties to name a few, into our mainstream politics and I have to wonder if that might not help to alleviate the constant stalemates we see in Congress and in many state legislatures.

We've got to figure something out because with just the two represented, we are getting nowhere fast and it just isn't good for the country today or in the future.  Too many programs and people are suffering while Washington, D.C. languishes in their hatred of the other party and absolute refusal to compromise.

If Obama wins but we don't elect a House as well as a Senate Democratic majority, I would have to expect four more years of the same opposition, inactivity and indecision.  I know the President is frustrated with this and has tried to bend on some things but the Republican leadership has been blatant in their refusal to support any program or bill the President or the Democrats back, just because.

This isn't the only election where this has happened but unfortunately the polarization has become much more obvious and absolute.  Something fundamentally has to change, I hope it happens soon.  And no, that doesn't mean electing a Republican president and Congress; going backwards at this point in time is just what we don't need .