Guest post by DJ Mermaid: An “Under the Sea” guide to the 2016 presidential election

April 2, 2016 • Posted in guest blog, politics, Uncategorized by

DJ Mermaid weighs in on the candidates.

by DJ Mermaid

2015

You have listened to CNN, read the newspaper and watched state primary coverage. You might want to hear someone else’s opinion, though. That is where I come in.

Being 9 — almost 10 — I can’t vote in any election. I do, however, have the right to say what I think about the politicians running for the presidency. I am trying to think of a good and bad thing about every candidate. I ask that you do not re-tweet this post — if you disagree with my views please say so politely in a comment here.

Since my name is DJ Mermaid all the candidates will be living things in the ocean. I am going to start with the Republican side:

  • Donald Trump — Mr. Great White Shark. I seriously don’t agree with his views on anything. I believe that his policy to send out Mexican or Latino- Americans that are illegal lacks any logic if he wants to get re-elected or run again in 2020 (even though illegal people can’t vote now, when they get their citizenship they can).Same with deporting Muslims that want to settle a home in America. I don’t believe there is any logic in this action. Why? By kicking these people out, he is losing a MAJOR percent of votes. This is not logical or rational. He doesn’t know if they are good or bad but he still isn’t giving other people a chance to be Americans. DUMB!Trump though is the only one funding his campaign with his own millions of dollars. Sometimes I wonder if logic has been stamped out of us?

    Trump doesn’t have anything about people with disabilities on his website because he thinks anyone that’s different is strange.

    • Ted Cruz — Sir Stingray. I think that Ted Cruz is a shining example of a Republican candidate. Why? Like Donald Trump (see above). (Cruz also wants to kick out illegal (he can only kick out illegal ones, he doesn’t have the right to do it otherwise) immigrants. A piece of DJM wisdom right here: never kick people out unless you are positive they are illegal. Ted Cruz does not have anything on his websites about people with disabilities or how he could help them.
    • John Kasich — Sir Barnacle. This is maybe the most logical choice for the nomination. Why? Kasich doesn’t have such a fiery personality but still wants to do things like a Republican. He wants to balance the budget and eliminate taxes. He doesn’t seem to want to deport people right away. I don’t see anything addressing people with disabilities on his website and that is a concern.

     

    The Democratic party might have a different view of things, so I am going to cover them next:

    • Hillary Clinton — Madame Superb Starfish. I love this candidate and her views on everything from disability rights and upholding the Same Sex Marriage laws to defeating ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and conquering global terrorism.She also has a history of helping people with disabilities and thinks we have equal rights no matter what our challenges are. She wants to create more job opportunities for people with disabilities and other minority groups. I stand by that view 100% with my head up high. I also agree with her views on same sex marriage. Let’s make America more equal!! Hillary also has a plan for defeating ISIS but it’s not through building a wall. HER plan is to secure government accounts so that ISIS can’t start an online war.I believe though that getting money from Wall Street is not the answer to funding a campaign. I am going to leave Hills to figure that one out!
    • Bernie Sanders — Great Old Sea Turtle. Bernie really wants to make college education free which I think is O.K. because I want to get into Berkeley in California and having taxes pay for my education might help. I worry, though, that because we live in a Capitalism society, that education will devalue. Great Old Sea Turtle wants to increase educational and work opportunities for people with disabilities. He also wants to expand social security for people with disabilities.

    I encourage you to look at the issues and decide which candidate is best for you

    -DJ Mermaid

Mary Rayis On April 3, 2016 at 9:59 am

Dear DJ Mermaid,

Thank you for your thoughtful comments on the candidates. You actually researched their ideas and positions instead of relying on TV sound bites and rumors on the internet. I wish you could vote. You are a lot more mature, thoughtful, and sensible than many of the adults who will be voting in this election.

P.S. I loved your sea imagery for the candidates.

bethfinke On April 3, 2016 at 2:32 pm

Mary, I agree! Also wanted you to know that DJM came up with that undersea creature idea all on her own –she’s one clever mermaid.

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DJ Mermaid On April 5, 2016 at 11:01 am

Thanks so much for the compliments !

Judy MacLeod On April 3, 2016 at 10:16 am

I too would feel more comfortable this election season if I thought others (twice your age or more!) were doing even half the investigative work you did to form your opinions. You made your post even more engaging by cleverly creating an undersea story to tell. I look forward to more of your stories!

bethfinke On April 3, 2016 at 2:56 pm

My fave was likening Bernie Sanders to an old sea turtle….

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DJ Mermaid On April 5, 2016 at 11:04 am

Thanks Judy , I am glad you liked my references!

Robert Ringwald On April 4, 2016 at 7:20 pm

Dear Ms. Mermaid, I enjoyed your blog about the political candidates. The following are my reply, comments back to you:

You wrote:

if you disagree with my views please say so politely in a comment here.

Re: Donald Trump:

Politicians should not make decisions on whether they will get elected. They should be making decisions on whether it is best for the American people. Unfortunately most politicians do make decisions which will help them get re-elected. That is a real problem.

Let me point out that Mr. Trump has never said anything about deporting Muslims. What he said was that America should stop letting Muslims into our country until our government figures out how to separate the good ones from terrorists. And you can be reasonably sure that terrorists are taking advantage and sneaking into America disguised as refugees. Don’t you think it is rather silly to let thousands of people into our country while not knowing their background, not knowing whether they are good people, or people who want to blow up Americans with bombs just like they are doing in the middle East?

Think about it for a minute. If your doorbell rang, you answered it and someone who you didn’t know said that they wanted to come in. Would you let them in – No questions asked? You wouldn’t know if they were a good guy or a murderer.

Whether our President wants to admit it or not, the terrorists are at war with us. They want to take over America and the whole world. They want to kill all Americans. They say this constantly.

If your doorbell rang and there were 10 people on your doorstep who wanted to come into your house and you were pretty sure that one of them wanted to blow up your house and kill your family, would you still let them in?

Just because Trump doesn’t have anything on his web site about people with disabilities, doesn’t necessarily mean he thinks people who are different are strange. You really don’t know what he thinks about people with disabilities. Why don’t you write him a letter and ask him why he doesn’t have anything about people with disabilities on his web site. You might find out the real reason why. I would be interested to hear what he says also.

Re: Ted Cruz — Sir Stingray.

Why don’t you write him and ask the same question?

Why would you say that Cruz is a Republican because he wants to kick people out? I know plenty of Republicans who do not want to kick people out. I also know Democrats who want to kick people out.

John Kasich — Sir Barnacle.

Ms. Mermaid, don’t you think that balancing the budget is a pretty good idea? Currently the budget is not balanced. In fact, America is Billions of dollars in debt and every day we go more and more in debt. The interest payments alone that we owe are staggering.

Remember, this is not all of our President’s fault. Our do-nothing politicians in Congress are also at fault.

Just think about your household, your mom and Dad. They cannot spend more money than they bring in, and cannot continue to do so for very long before their house, car and everything are taken away to pay for the money that they owe. What makes our politicians think that they can continue to raise the debt ceiling with no consequences?

And . . . . John Kasich never said he wanted to eliminate taxes. He said he wants to lower taxes. Of course all of the politicians say the same thing. That is one thing that most of the American people want to hear. And in order to get elected, politicians must say what the American people want to hear.

Bernie Sanders of course must want to raise taxes. Otherwise, he could never afford to do all the things he says he wants to do. The money has to come from somewhere.

Re: Hillary Clinton — Madame Superb Starfish.

Do not get taken in by politicians who promise everything. They usually do not do what they say they will.

Remember that when a politician is running for an election, he/she has advisors who are experts in getting politicians elected or re-elected. They tell the politicians what the American people want to hear. So that is what the politician says whether he/she really believes it or not.

They also have speech writers that write their speeches for them. The speech writers write what they think that the American people want to hear, not necessarily what the politician really thinks down deep in their heart. Sometimes if a politician really said what they think, they would not get re-elected. Getting elected is the main goal of just about every politician. Even to the point of not being sincere, or even lying.

Take anything that a politician says with a grain of salt. It is better to closely look at their record. See what they have done. If they have been in congress, look at the bills they have sponsored. Look at how they have voted.

If they are a governor or have been a Governor, examine what kind of a job they have done for their State.

From what I can tell, John Kasich has done a very good job as Governor in Ohio. Have you examined his record? My cousins live in Ohio and think he is a very good Governor and has done a very good job.

Bernie Sanders — Great Old Sea Turtle.

Why should education devalue just because we live in a Capitalism society?

Remember, to do all the things that you say Bernie Sanders wants to do, it takes more taxes. We are already paying a tremendous amount of taxes. And the politicians are wasting a tremendous amount of our tax money. They fund projects in this country that do no good. They just do it to get votes.

They also send billions of dollars which we have paid in taxes, to foreign countries when we have people right here in this country who are starving. Often the money our politicians send to other countries end up in the bank accounts of those country’s politicians. The poor people in those countries never benefit from all that money.

Ms. Mermaid, Thanks for listening and keep up the writing.

-Bob Ringwald -30-

DJ Mermaid On April 5, 2016 at 11:15 am

Thanks for your opinions ! We could always use more information. Let me just point out that 2 of the presidential candidates have info on their websites about people with disabilities and how they would help them and the other 3 did not. So, that leaves me to believe that disability rights not as an important issue to them. The Great White Shark has publicly mocked reporters with physical disabilities – Charles Krauthammer & Serge Kovalski – and I don’t think that is right. I do appreciate that you responded politely to my guest blog post.

Bob Ringwald On April 6, 2016 at 4:58 pm

Dear Ms. Mermaid,

In answer to my reply to you, you wrote:

“The Great White Shark has publicly mocked reporters with physical disabilities – Charles Krauthammer & Serge Kovalski – and I don’t think that is right.”

If Donald Trump publically mocked someone with a disability, because of the disability, then of course that is wrong. If you have proof of him doing so, please send it to me.

However, if he has mocked someone for another reason and the person just happened to have a disability, then Donald Trump is treating the handicapped person as he would a non-handicapped person. Isn’t that the goal of the handicapped community, to be treated as an equal in the workplace?

Sincerely, Bob Ringwald

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