I do lots of things for my community. Some things are for my home community, the tiny town I live in. Some things are for my larger state community. Some things are for my country. But I give back, because so many people have given to me over the years. It’s the right thing to do.
I just posted this to FaceBook:
So I don’t want to get into politics. I’m happy to *talk* politics, OFFLINE, but I’m not interested in online debates. However…
Whatever side of the fence you’re on, if you are lacking ID for voting, whether that means voting today, or voting if the SAVE act is passed, then please attend to that now. I truly believe, if even half of the 8 million reported people who protested last weekend had *bothered* to offer their neighbors a hand, everyone would already have the necessary ID and it would be a moot point.
Since I believe in action over words, I am putting this out here now:
If you don’t have the ID you need, please reach out to me. I’m no guru, but I know how to work through paperwork and red tape, and I will happily help you fill out forms and go to appointments (online or off) to get your necessary ID. If I can’t do it, I will do the work to figure out who CAN do it, and I’ll make sure you get your ID. I am putting my money where my mouth is – PLEASE reach out for help if you can’t get your ID yourself. I’ll walk you through the process!
That stuff is stuff you ought to have no matter what, because if an emergency ever happened (tornado, flood, lava flow, zombies, etc) and you were separated from your family, you might need that ID to be reunited. If you had to leave the country for some reason, ditto. Not to mention, if you drive a car, buy alcohol or cigarettes, vote, or do a number of other things that require ID, you should have it on hand.
Please pass this around, and consider doing this yourself. The more people helping out, the less people who will have a problem come voting time. And again, whatever side of the fence you’re on, I WANT YOU TO VOTE. It’s not a privilege. It’s a duty.
I encourage everyone to do this, on all sides of this political divide. Why? Because as a conservative, it’s quite literally our patriotic duty. I’m sure at least some of the liberal kids out there have no idea how to do all this stuff, because their parents fell down on the job. That’s fine; I can be mom for them, if need be. As someone who leans more liberal than many of you, I believe that if you complain about something, you ought to offer a possible solution or three rather than just whinging. Therefore, if you’re a leftist and bitching that people might be disenfranchised, then you should help out the people you purport to be worried about.
That last one is the important one, by the way. If someone refuses to help people, you can then decry them as the idiot they are. They’re worried about people who might not get to vote, so if they refuse to help those people, then they’re in violation of their own internal rules. I will and do hold people to their own standards.
Well said.
It will be fascinating to see if you get any negative comments.
There are two negative threads (and because of those, I had comments turned off, tho deleted nothing). Honestly, even the leftiest lefties thought those two guys were being overly rude, because I was very non-political and have many reasons outside of voting to get ID. I also didn’t place any restrictions on it. I don’t care who you’re voting for… just vote. The overwhelming majority of people (about 200 so far, actually) have either said positive things, thanked me, or given the original post a thumb’s up. It’s also inspired a couple of other people to throw their hats in the ring to help out, too. I know at least one of those ladies is Liberal, but she agreed there are many reasons to get ID and no one should be barred or dissuaded from doing so. 🙂
Well said, good Lady. I will offer my services for a ride to the polls, to my neighbors, before election day, if they need one
I have a current Texas state-issued photo driver’s license (with the star), original (50+ yo) Social Security card, original birth certificate, a current US passport, the US passport card, as well, and my Texas concealed carry card with my photo, which is linked to the driver’s license.
YES, some of it was a hassle, as Texas is verifying all driver’s license information as you acquire a Texas license when you move to Texas from out of state, and as they come up for renewal. Texas is now verifying vehicle registration information as well.
“If you don’t have the ID you need, please reach out to me.”
And, I will bet every dollar in my wallet that you get no one. Not a single person will reach out and ask for your assistance, because pretty much every human adult in the USA has a photo ID satisfactory for voting. I did something similar about 10 years ago, and got no responses. I even offered to pay the $10 fee to get a State ID.
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I cannot imagine why anyone would have any grief about requiring proof of identity to vote. At the bare minimum, it establishes proof of residency. In what world should someone be able to vote in a district (Congressional or State) they do not live in? So… what better way to ensure a valid vote than proof of residence, otherwise known as ID.
I’m actually helping one lady already. She was abandoned as a child and Friends of the family brought her up. There was no formal adoption and she didn’t have any paperwork. At least none that she’s aware of. I was able to get her the name and number of the people she needs to talk to in Massachusetts, and she actually will probably be getting her ID in a couple of weeks. She just didn’t know what questions to ask and who to contact. And that’s the biggest problem.
If the left would just stop being angry all the time and actually start helping people, the problem would go away. Of course that’s not what they want, but that’s besides the point. Most of the people I know on the right would absolutely step up and help anyone who asked them for help. But those in the middle and those on the left don’t actually know that the people on the right are willing to help. And I understand that more than perhaps most of you.
I’m happy to help. Most of these people just need a direction. Are there people complaining? Of course there are. And they’re going to get shut down by admin and I’m okay with that. But what I’m doing is exposing the people who aren’t willing to work toward an answer, and more so, those who are actively attempting to stop someone else from coming up with an answer. That’s something that we on the right should be doing more often. Often. It’s passive, it doesn’t hurt anyone, and in fact it helps people. And so that’s what I’m doing. I’m actually quite pleased that I got to actually help someone today. I look to have two or three other people next week and maybe more, and I think that’s great. I want everyone to have their ID, regardless of whether they need it to vote, and I want everyone to vote.
That is outstanding, and thank you for doing that. I am surprised, really surprised.
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Just for kicks, I checked into getting a replacement birth certificate. (I do have mine, but just as an experiment.) Contact the city clerk’s office, fill out a form, pay a fee. It is that simple. People who have no problem working the internet to consult Dr. Google, or find out what brand of appliance is the most reliable, seem to be confused by searching for the custodian of their records. Weird.
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Keep up the good work.
Thanks. 🙂 I admit, I was a little surprised. I figured I’d get an even mix of happy faces and angry ones, but the vast majority of people on both sides of the aisle have been positive about my offer. The problem that some people run into is when they’re living in a state far away from where they were born, and don’t have enough of their original paperwork to begin the search. It’s simple, but it isn’t easy, if you understand my meaning. It’s a bit of red tape even for easy ones, and a lot for others. Closed adoptions are the worst, apparently, but luckily the clerk in a nearby town, who does some of this for a living, offered to help with anyone who had a closed adoption because she has the experience (and is bonded and can get info I can’t).
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What’s actually happened is that we closed down the comments because two people were causing issues (a decision I made with the admins of the group). The information is all there, plus the offers from people other than me to help, and I added my email because everyone and their grandmother has my very public author email anyhow. 🙂 So now there are three of us doing this. When we’re done with our home town, we’ll offer in other local towns. As I said, most of this is very simple.
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Just a note… you make the comment that Dr Google is easy for most people “until this”… but I have heard Chris say the same thing about instructions for any number of things, and I’ve been unable to find the right stuff on occasion. Even without a predisposition to “not thinking” as many on the left have, it can be tricky unless you’re living in the state you were born in and have at least one of the main documents already. At best, it’s a hassle and requires a couple of hours of your personal time, and that’s frustrating.
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The biggest issue I see is that many people are blatantly stating they shouldn’t HAVE to do this to vote. I chose to get around that by pointing out that you have to do it to get a passport, and if you want to travel, you need a passport… therefore there’s many reasons unconnected to voting to get your ID. I’ve also said quite plainly, you can still protest and be angry about it, but prepare just in case. If the SAVE act passes, it’s not going to be a big surprise all of a sudden come voting time. Being prepared in advance is prudent. Or in another view, Julia Howe and Lucy Stone didn’t fight the good fight for we women, getting arrested, molested, spit on, and all around treated horribly… just so we could whine about being forced to go get our IDs.