AuburnChick's Adventures

Politicking, as defined by Dictionary.com, is the “activity undertaken for political reasons or ends, as campaigning for votes before an election, making speeches, etc., or otherwise promoting oneself or one’s policies.”

Want to know what I think about it?

Now, you know that I stay away from blogging about politics and such.  I don’t feel that I can intelligently argue my side, and really, this blog is about sharing my life’s experiences…not which candidate I’m supporting or which party I’m affiliated with.

With that in mind, this post is a vent that involves politics.

Yesterday, Rooster, who is twenty years old, received a politically-themed letter in the mail.  It was from the National Education Association (NEA) and the Florida Education Association (FEA).

Rooster is an affable young man, so he actually read the letter.

Me?

I would have torn it in two and placed it in the recycle bin.

He showed me the closing paragraph of the letter, a sarcastic smile on his face…

My shocked response, when I read this, could have been heard three houses down.

We laughed about it…at first.

Then, I got mad.

In fact, the more I thought about it, the madder I got.

Here’s the deal.

Yes, I am a teacher.

I don’t know how my name got added to these two organization’s mailing lists.  It could have been when I became a teacher, or it could have been when I joined my local teacher’s union…something that’s almost a must-do these days.

Either way, I haven’t minded receiving the education-minded magazines that arrive periodically from both organizations.  The articles help me grow as a professional.

The letter that arrived in the mail today, though, is an entirely different matter.

Just because I am on an organization’s mailing list does not mean that the organization has the right to use my name to endorse a candidate.

How does the organization know where I stand ideologically?  How fair is it to assume that I support everything a candidate represents without at least ASKING FOR MY OPINION?

How do you know if a doctor is pro-life or not?  Would it be fair to assume that a doctor supports the use of marijuana for medicinal use just because the doctor is a medical professional?  Does the AMA send out letters with individual doctors’ names on them to promote whichever candidate the organization is supporting that election year?

Is it fair to assume that every person who lives in Alabama supports the NRA and whatever candidates that organization endorses…just because those people live in a southern state where hunting is akin to a national pastime?

I’m not going to tell you, the NEA, or the FEA who I am supporting because, quite honestly, it’s nobody’s business but my own and the voting booth where I cast my vote.

This letter is crap, and I’m going to do what I need to do to get off of their mailing lists.  There’s no telling what else they’ll use my name for.

As far as politics goes, while I am extremely grateful that I live in a country where I can freely choose my leaders, I am sickened by the liberties taken in an effort to get people into various political offices.  The amount of money and other resources wasted, including crap pieces like the letter Rooster received, is shameful and disgusting, and I am so over it.

I’ve already voted, just so you know.  I can’t wait for the rest of the country to be finished on Election Day as well so all of the presumptuous politicking through commercials and phone calls will finally stop.

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