Peoples’ statements and written words to me are always amazing and fascinating, sometimes sad and depressing. There’s so much to take in coming from all directions. What’s true? What’s a lie? What do we believe? Do we take it all in?
mc-opinion
Yesterday, I couldn’t help but shed a tear or two as a small, private ceremony was held at the Southern Nevada State Veterans Home to thank veterans for their service.
It is incredulous that a confused, frail 36-year United States senator and two-term vice president (who began his political career during Nixon’s first term) with an anemic political record, who rarely ventured more than 75 miles from his basement after 9 a.m., garnered almost 75 million votes.
This year’s election seemed to underscore the strange nature of 2020.
There has been much discussion recently about the removal of the city manager and city attorney by a 4-1 vote of the City Council. Statements have been made about the ability of the council to make such a decision. This is certainly not the first time such replacements have been done by a council. The following wording of the city charter is from the powers section of the charter pertaining to the positions the council has the authority to appoint or remove.
Last week, City Council members terminated the employment contracts for City Manager Al Noyola and City Attorney Steve Morris.
If you don’t believe mail-in ballots are a problem, think again. My wife and I became permanent Boulder City residents when we moved from California five years ago. We own property here and have Nevada driver’s licenses. We have no connection to California whatsoever and haven’t for five years.
The first ballot I cast in a presidential election was in 1972 — Nixon versus McGovern. I also served as an election judge, which is what they were called in Illinois. In Nevada, the term is poll worker (also known as election board officer). Times were different then — no computers, no voting machines, only paper ballots in my precinct.
Sunday marked the start of the 80th annual observance of National Newspaper Week.
To say I was taken aback by the first presidential debate would be a severe understatement. While all three debaters left much to be desired, I was stunned that pollster Frank Luntz, who watched with a cadre of unsure voters, tweeted, “This debate has actually convinced some undecided voters to not vote at all.”
From the very beginning of our country, voting for those who will govern us has been an intrinsic principle.
As we enter into the fall season, the number of new COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations in Clark County has been decreasing gradually over the past few weeks. Gov. Steve Sisolak has issued new guidelines as a result that allow the few businesses still closed in Boulder City to reopen. The governor is closely following the advice from health experts when issuing the guidelines. Our city government is then following the guidelines to slow the spread of the virus.
I’m not asking “who” you are voting for. I’m asking “what” you voting for. When we cast our ballots this November, we won’t be casting our votes for an individual, even though it seems like it. We will be casting our votes for an ideal, a concept of democracy for our nation’s republic.
Folks don’t like to face problems. They’re much easier to ignore. Everyone chooses. Face problems and find a solution or have them blow up in your face. Or, maybe you’ll get lucky and the problems vanish. Or, you carry them around and suffer the consequences day by day, usually for far too long.