Remain Calm.

I voted for Bernie Sanders, during the primaries in March.
Then, I voted for Hillary Clinton during the election in November.
And had I voted again, I would not change my decision (please, hang in with me until the end, here).

Nonetheless, Republican nominee Donald Trump won the United States presidency last night. And we need to talk about that, because since his victory, there have been articles of doomsday, withdrawal from American ideals, and the always-present "I'm moving to Canada" people (The proper response to this is to roll your eyes).

This election was not the garden variety election by any standard. It was fueled by controversy, anger, and frustration. However, the defeatist viewpoint that the populous has taken in regard to it is not only the wrong way to handle such a thing, but is border lining un-Democratic.

Let's remember, this is not the first controversial election within viewable history. In 2000, Bush v. Gore was a landmark case of heated rivalry and questionable outcomes. Banners of corruption, and rigging, and vile accusations spewed from the mouths of people on both sides of the election. But when all was said and done, what did Gore say to Bush? "Partisan feeling must yield to patriotism. I'm with you, Mr. President, and God bless you."

God bless you.

That was not an easy loss for Gore, who won the popular vote, mind you. The reason he conceded though is something which this election, this population, needs a desperate reminder of. We are not a nation of Democrats and Republicans. We are not divided, and separated, cowering in fear from the future. We are one nation, and one body. The election is over, and anger won't drive that market any further. The way the American life survives is by looking to the future with optimism, not to the past with bitter nihilism.

This sounds like romantic rhetoric, "feel-good-ism" writing. But it's not.

Let me remind you that the American dream was in peril following 9/11, and the American people rallied around Bush. The end results were, arguably, disastrous, but we proved that coming together as one people made momentum a reality. The same ambitious machine which sent us hurling into horrendous war could be used to make great progress, so long as we let it.

However, accepting acidic divide among the American population over partisanship is what gives progress time to move backwards, a freight train in full reverse.

To all Democrats angry about the election, I understand. I do. But remember that anger doesn't solve problems, hatred doesn't fuel progress, and stubbornness is the path of the wicked.

So what am I calling for?

Lay down your arms.

Obviously, a militia to take down Trump tower has not beed assembled (at time of publication). However, in small ways, my fellow citizens are making great mistakes in slinging hate speech, and laughing at their rivals, or staring back in loathing.

This country has been through many generations of bad leaders (not to say, explicitly, Donald Trump will be, so no angry comment typing yet). We have! Lyndon B. Johnson use to pull his Johnson out to answer the question "Why are we in Vietnam?" Ever so eloquently adding, "This is why." Andrew Jackson slaughtered Native Americans, was personally responsible for the Trail of Tears, and when elected, threw a frat party on the White House lawn. We've had slaveholders, racists, sexists, bigots, imperialists, just about anything you could name, sitting in the big chair on Capitol Hill. There is a reason they have never been the engravings of America's tombstone. There's a reason Bill Pullman can stand on the back of a truck with a megaphone and scream, "We will not go quietly into the night." (What's more American that Independence Day?)

We are the voice of the American reputation. Our actions, our protests, our post-election blog ramblings, these are the things that make the American voice.

If you have problems with Trump's policies as they're attempted to be enacted, you have a voice. You can work toward fixing those policies, and the American culture will congratulate you for expressing your democratic voice. You are not alone in that fight.

But Donald Trump will be president of the United States, no matter how angry you are. It is time to stop being angry, and start being productive. Accept the outcome, and make the best of the situation, as an American citizen, The only thing that trumps the American spirit is the human mind. And we have an ever-existent opportunity to put that tool to use in our government, to make good, righteous changes as necessary, to speak to the world what we have to say, and listen as it speaks back. However first, we must move on from Election Day.

I voted for Bernie.
I voted for Hillary.
Donald Trump will be my president.

And to him I say, I'm with you Mr. President. God bless you.

What Do I Have To Say About Orlando? (Yeah, I'm angry, dammit!) Republicans, Democrats, You're Both Wrong. Now, Shut Up, Sit Down, And Let Me Tell You Why. [And yes this IS an opinion piece, bite me!]

There are times, when in the wake of tragedy, that I find myself without words. I can't say why, I haven't quite found the words for that either. All I can say for certain is that some moments were crafted to only breed silence, and, for me at least, the Orlando shooting certainly created one of these void moments.

Naturally, there were those that did not share my complication.

There were some (Generally, those with the natural inclination to never cease reminding us of America's ability to be, "great again," and those who dream of a world where Bernie Sanders challenges the Democratic nomination into Hillary Clinton's presidency) who I would argue had too much to say, even.

It was these very people who accelerated me far beyond the stage of silence, into a sullen bitterness on the matter. Thus, this manuscript. Consider it the manifesto of my disdain for the political process, which has become a systematic method for officials to push gut-wrenching, heart-jerking issues toward the back aisle while they find a way to appease their establishment. If I could spat over the internet, I would spat.

So, here we are. We have once again knocked on the "Muslims are evil" door. We need to have a talk about Islam.

It's no secret that the global cause of terrorism is of predominantly Islamic nature. I'm afraid denying that will not help resolve this issue any more than blaming the Islamic faith for it will. Correct, I also will not blame Islam for these attacks.

I blame a large part of this misguided hatred toward Muslim culture, in truth, to the simple misunderstanding of what Islam says, is, and believes. The Quran is the primary religious text of the Islamic faith, and is (in layman's terms) the third portion of the Biblical trilogy. Now, the Quran itself is, in truth, divided into two very distinct books: the Mecca and Medina portions. The Mecca Quran preaches tolerance, love for all mankind, spirituality, and pureness of the soul, and was written by Muhammad (or rather a scribe, as Muhammad was illiterate) while in Mecca. However, once Muhammad and his followers arrived in Medina, they were met with much harsher conditions. These conditions lead to starvation and attacks from Jewish tribes in return for the Muslim caravan raids.

Throughout his time in Medina, the teachings of Muhammad became increasingly violent, as Muhammad no longer had the wealth and support of Mecca.

So, for any person to say the Quran is a book of peace would be lying, in part, at least. Yet, the vast majority of Muslim followers would never consider something like murder, or rape, or the hatred which we've painted their faith with. Why is this?

Quite simply, it is widely accepted to only follow the peaceful teachings of Muhammad. Religions are not blocks of stone, forever unchanging. They are crafted with time, and to point to a single verse, or a lone radical, and try to uniform such violence to an entire population of decent, even spiritual, people is morally inept.

The Christian Right should understand this theme better than any group. *Cough*

Anyone who blasphemes God’s name must be stoned to death by the whole community of [believers]. (Leviticus 24:16)

Cursed be he who does God’s work remissly, cursed he who holds back his sword from blood. (Jerimiah 48:10)

If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him. Your hand shall be the first raised to slay him; the rest of the people shall join in with you. (Deuteronomy 13:7-12)

But if [a girl wasn't a virgin on her wedding night] and evidence of the girl's virginity is not found, they shall bring the girl to the entrance of her father’s house and there her townsman shall stone her to death, because she committed a crime against God’s people by her unchasteness in her father's house. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst. (Deuteronomy 22:20-21)

Everyone who would not seek God was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. (2 Chronicles 15:12-13)

A [holy man’s] daughter who loses her honor by committing fornication and thereby dishonors her father also, shall be burned to death. (Leviticus 21:9)

Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. (Numbers 31:17-18)

If a man commits adultery with another man's wife, both the man and the woman must be put to death. (Leviticus 20:10)

Then I heard God say to the other men, "Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity! Kill them all – old and young, girls and women and little children.” (Ezekiel 9:5)

Make ready to slaughter [the infidel’s] sons for the guilt of their fathers; Lest they rise and posses the earth, and fill the breadth of the world with tyrants. (Isaiah 14:21)

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. (Matthew 10:34-35)

Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the [holy man] who represents God must be put to death. Such evil must be purged. (Deuteronomy 17: 12)

I will fill your mountains with the dead. Your hills, your valleys, and your streams will be filled with people slaughtered by the sword. I will make you desolate forever. Your cities will never be rebuilt. Then you will know that I am God. (Ezekiel 35:7-9)

*Cough*

Now, I will be the last to say religion is evil, but this is only to say that we can all surely be more understanding about having parts to forget in our Holy texts. Yes? So I submit to you, if Christianity is not a faith of hatred, neither is Islam under the same logistical mindset.

If you insist to me that there are radical Islamics, and not radical Christians, then I would ask that you remember only a half century from today the Ku Klux Klan's prominence was a constant variable in the southern United States, as well as the IRA in Britain, the LRA in Uganda, the Maronites of Lebanon, and the NLFT of India. (And don't get me started on those #NeverIslam boneheads.)

Quite frankly, I'm growing unendingly bored with the anti-Muslim tirades of a Presidential candidate who inherently feeds off bad press. If this was an issue of Muslim immigrants, then perhaps border tightening would be a conversation to be had, in relation to the Orlando shooting. But the fact of the matter is that all our recent massacres, Orlando, San Bernardino, Ft. Hood, can all be traced back to a theme of homegrown terrorism.

What this means, quite simply, is that this problem cannot be fixed through the same yarbled up jabber Donald Trump spouts to gain media focus, or the repetitive left-wing pandering from the establishment candidate Hillary Clinton.

That's correct, my liberal friends, this problem will not be fixed with gun control.

The logic seems sound enough, right? A man has a gun, and in the United States you can buy guns easily, therefore the man had the gun because it is easy to buy guns in the United States. A+B=C. Right? Right? Except it is, of course, not that simple. The fact is, this man had connections with the Islamic State, an international terrorist organization with the sole intention of disrupting the foundation of western culture. There is no reality where the Islamic State or any person subjected to their ideologies will let a background check, or even a full-scale ban on weapons, stand between them and their target.

Islamophobia and gun control are two very simplified answers to a very complicated problem, and they are both dead wrong.

And I submit that in this time of horrid crisis, a strong nation of people, a well-fastened community of free individuals, would band together against a clearly common enemy.

Instead, the right pandered to the same political dialogue against Barack Obama's lack of reference to ISIL as "radical Islam," and the left stormed out of a moment of silence because of a vote of gun laws! Honestly, these people's mothers need to slam their heads together like a Loony Toons episode. It is the same circular flow of political banter and overcomplicated jargon to try and keep it over their constituent's heads.

Well, it isn't over any of your heads.

The real issue is that fifty people died, but that is less important to your average congressman than their re-election bid (which has a 97% turn over rate, so who wants anything to change, anyways?). But this isn't a "let's have a political revolution" speech. No, no, this issue requires a great deal of pragmatism.

So, here is my advice to the people; make as much noise as you possibly can. Go out and create, and build, and let your voice be heard. Why, you may ask? Well, rhetorical voice that I've spawned to add concrete to my argument, I will tell you why.

The fact of the matter is, the ruling voices will prevail in these arguments. The reason arguments that the majority of people tend to disagree with end up with the most attention is not solely because they're entertaining, but also because they are louder. The Democratic style of rule has always been a projection of the mass's viewpoints atop political dialogue. The issue, though, lies in that people no longer want to make their voices heard, and instead, that responsibility is left to those who care less for this country's being and future, and more for their own gain.

That is why it is every person's responsibility to create all that they can at every possible turn. You should be building with one hand, and learning with another at all times.

Now, again, that sounds very idealistic, but in truth it isn't. Because the issue of mass violence is an issue of people, and only the people can decide how it is to be solved. If you sit behind the monitory of a computer, and muffle under your breath words of distaste at policy decisions, but remain quietly comfortable behind that digital wall, as opposed to becoming a variable in the political chaos, (and yes, it's a disgusting heap of chaos) then you are doing no more than any smug political head with their thumbs up their rectums.

I urge you to try to make a difference, dearest reader, because at the core of this muddled up masterpiece of a country, we have the controlling variable of responsibility. Living in a free land, each person is born with the culpability of running it, and to do so we must act and create and build. There is no other way to overcome any issue which frequents America's home TVs.

It cannot start on Capitol Hill, it cannot start in New York, or at any News Headquarters, it has to start in the home of the American citizen.

The nature of the issue is the reason both the Right and the Left have it's answer completely wrong. Banning guns will not fix it, more guns will not fix it, because the affair is rooted in the workings of people. And the minds of people are not black or white, but an unwaveringly consistent grey. The only way to fix this very grey issue is through the minds of those precise people.

Thank you,
Love Chris.

"There are plenty of good reasons for fighting, but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too." -Kurt Vonnegut

Bernie Sanders: The Thorn Republicans Can't Get Rid Of

There is no doubt that the wave of extreme ideologies, which took this campaign by storm, was predicted to last mere weeks at most. However, across the spectrum, the outside candidates have long outlived any expectation of them. Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson, and Bernie Sanders were all considered to be political strike-outs, and to be outcast by the voters before long. Instead, however, a new brand of populism and political dialogue has opened up.

Bernie Sanders, the Democratic Socialist, generated an unprecedented wave of momentum from a blend of newly-dawning Millennial voters and older generations who, in some cases, have produced pure radio silence over the years out of jadedness.

His populist, collective-betterment message reverberated throughout the hearts of a Democratic population bringing an unexpected challenge to the establishment Bush v. Clinton race many were expecting.

Clinton has maintained a rather strong lead against Sanders as of now. However, there is no doubt that Sanders has proven a force to be reckoned with for Hillary Clinton.

Senator Sanders has maintained his campaign promise to refuse all potential Super PAC contributions, and stand by the grassroots strategy. Using this strategy, Bernie raised a total of 33 million dollars in the fourth quarter of 2015. Of his fundraising, 97% of all contributions have come from small, individual donations.

Only recently, his campaign launched his "Real Change" commercial, which served as a powerful appeal to the emotions of his supporters.



With this race rapidly accelerating into more competitive territory, there is no doubt Senator Sanders will be a strong opponent for Hillary Clinton as well as all his Republican counterparts. It is still hard to be certain where Bernie fits into this story, but his role is undeniable nonetheless.

"Socialism never took root in America because the poor there see themselves not as an exploited proletariat, but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires."- John Steinbeck