A Democracy’s Strength is Derived From Each of Us
My wife just got a text message from my father-in-law. He arrived in Denver just a few minutes ago and he is piling into a rental car and heading toward Greeley, Colorado.
An early ski holiday?
Not quite.
Here’s the deal, my father-in-law - “grandpa” to my boys and Mendez to everybody else - is an attorney with a vibrant practice in Dallas. He’s taking a few days off from his day job to do some good for the old red, white, and blue.
Al Mendez is a good and decent man. The whole time I have known him he has been quick with a smile and a joke, effusive with his praise, supportive of his kids and grandkids, and way too generous in terms of picking up the check at dinner.
Earlier in the election season he liked Hilary Clinton. But these days he is a straight up supporter of Barack Obama. So much so that he’s heading to Colorado to serve as a Democratic poll watcher.
The beauty of the system is that the system is us. What we do defines the system.
The problem, though, is that different folks have different views as to what is right and what is wrong. Think back a few decades when African Americans were beaten when they tried to register to vote or debased at the polling place with ridiculous (and simply illegal) tasks like telling the registrar how many bubbles were in a bar of soap or grains of rice in a bag of rice. Guess what, there simply was no right answer.
What’s going on these days? Oh my, the list is long. What appears to be at the heart of today’s efforts by the Republican Party is to suppress or contain the number of voters because a massive turnout is not in their favor. As a result you have an effort by the national GOP to remove 200,000 voters in Ohio for things as simple as a misspelled name. They were rebuffed by the Supreme Court.
In Indiana Republicans sued and lost to prevent early voting in Gary, an industrial area with great support for Obama. In Colorado the secretary of state was required by an appeals court to reinstate 37,000 voters he illegally kicked out of the ranks of those able to vote. And in college towns in Colorado and across the nation kids were incorrectly told that they were not able to register to vote where they go to school.
And then there’s the case of fliers distributed in Democratic hotbeds in Virginia telling Obama supporters that the massive voter turnout had forced election officials to schedule Democratic voters to cast ballots on Wednesday, November 5th. Again, straight bunk.
Back to the matter at hand, Mendez is making his way to Greeley, Colorado to make sure that properly registered folks who want to cast a ballot are able to do so. And in so doing he is making all the difference in the world.
To a large extent, volunteerism is the backbone of this country. Whether it’s joining the military or going into the Peace Corps, filling sandbags with the Red Cross or making a financial donation to a cause you support. It is standing up and filling the breach, so to speak. Thinking back to my Catholic upbringing on Chicago’s southside it is the idea of “whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren that you do unto me.”
In other words, I am my brother and sister’s keeper. Another way to put it is that the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. So it is imperative that we do what we can to ensure that this system that is our system works effectively for all of us. From Wall Street to Main Street.
And so Mendez is putting up the “gone fishin’” sign at his office and making his way to a place he hasn’t visited before to make sure people he’s never met before are able to enjoy the rare gift that is so special in the United States, the gift of casting their vote for the candidate they support.
I would say congratulations to Mendez. But instead I am compelled to humbly tell him thanks! Nicole and I are so proud because this type of selflessness is exactly what we want our boys to see and to emulate as they mature and come to make their own decisions.
And the next time you are in Chicago Nicole and I are treating at Gibson’s.
Excuse me now as I come down off my soapbox and get back to making phone calls to swing states like Indiana, Missouri, Virginia, and Ohio urging folks to get out and vote for the change we believe in here in Chicago.
For those interested in some of what is going on with respect to this year’s election, check out this video:
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
[...] · The Economy · Tom McCarey · Uncategorized … tom mccarey’s listings … View post Add your [...]
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onA Democracy's Strength is Derived From Each One's Actions | The …Here’s a quick excerptThe Real Estate Lounge Chicago … a comfortable place to come regularly to gain insight regarding the Chicago real estate market with top Chicago real estate pro Tom McCarey. Home · Chicago Real Estate Professional Tom McCarey … [...]
[...] A Nike commercial from a few years back asked “Where do you want to go today?” As I await tomorrow’s momentous presidential election I want big and small things, but much of what I want distills… Read more [...]