We've been going through all of this for, what seems like, an eternity and thankfully the end is near. Frankly, I can't wait! Everywhere you turn people are discussing it and arguing about it. They yell at one another with righteous indignation claiming that their position is the prevailing opinion and they berate anyone who disagrees with them for their imbecilic misguidedness. If you ask me, the end can't come soon enough!

COVID took over our day-to-day like a rabid banshee with a hang nail. Our initial reaction was to, well… react! We shut down our businesses and learned new ways to be productive at work. In many ways we retooled our businesses, hunkered down with our families and pledged to "ride it out!" When it comes to COVID I think that we are only about to see a new wave of craziness now that our neighbor to the East, El Paso, Texas, made the national news with their 500 percent increase in one-day case reporting. But wait, this article is not about COVID! Today I want to talk about our General Election that is 2 weeks away from being "over!"

If you ask most of my classmates between 1st through 5th grade at Bayard Elementary, they would confirm that I wanted to be the President of the United States when I "grew up!" I could tell you almost anything you wanted to know about the office of President of the United States. To say that I was interested in politics and the election cycle was an understatement! I am, and always will be, a student of the democratic process. I understand that it's important for divergent opinions to coexist, especially in a country with freedoms and rights, such as our wonderful republic.

2020 has been an election cycle like no other and each day it gets more and more contentious. Every 4 years we are given the opportunity to participate in the election process. We are asked to learn about the issues and develop an opinion as to who we believe will be the best person to run our government. Our duty is to question the manner in which the person, who wants to sit at the Resolute Desk, plans to balance the budget, protect our citizens, uphold the Constitution of the United States and ally with other nations to make our world safer from tyranny.

The job of electing our leaders, in my opinion, is one of the toughest jobs out there. The Art of Democracy is a dynamic pursuit that we must take very seriously. We must learn about the issues that the candidates are supporting and fully understand the platform on which they will base their administration. It is important to educate oneself on the important issues that affect our lives each, and every, day. One of the toughest challenges you will face each election cycle is to cut through the crud and block out the hyperbole that flows like molten lava from an active volcano. Remember that the first thing a candidate must do is to transform himself/herself into a cunning pitch man. He/She must speak in hyperbole because the "soundbite" is typically the only thing an un-educated constituent will remember. Your job is to cut through all of that B.S. and elect a President who will stand in a bubble and represent us on the world stage and reiterate why The UNITED States of America is the greatest nation on the planet. You don't have to like the person who sits in the Oval Office! Everybody who has inhabited that space has been a person with flaws. The President of the United States holds the most difficult job in the world.

As a player in the Art of Democracy we must cast our vote and FULLY support whoever wins. The common thread of everybody who has run for any political office in the latest election cycle is that they are patriots! They stood up and gathered support for their campaign. They accepted the challenge of sharing their opinion in the public square and they have accepted the vitriol that, sadly, goes along with the politics of our time. You may not agree with their politics and you may not like them as a person but, remember, they are only doing what they think is best for The United States of America!

After the election we must do everything we can to help OUR President succeed. Good, bad or indifferent, the President of the United States represents us every day. When the POTUS succeeds the whole USA succeeds.

I'd like to wave a magic wand and MAKE everyone gather together and sing "Kumbaya" after election Day, but I can't control everyone. I can only control my house and me! As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord and we will support the United States of America. Anything less than that is un-patriotic.