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Tears for President 2016

  Politics...politics...politics. It. Is. Everywhere. And I am tired. So very tired. I have read people deleting others on Facebook, unfollowing friends, I have even gone so far as to delete Facebook off of my phone's main screen because it is so infuriating. Alas, I have a habit and put my apps icon back where it goes.
  And it all started when we all got super interested, as we do closer to a presidential election, in the next POTUS. Since I was young, I couldn't wait till I turned 18. I wanted more than anything to cast my vote and support women's suffrage. My mother, extremely political, taught my brother, extremely political, who taught me to BE extremely political. Politics has been ingrained in my nature. Honestly, I didn't have much of a choice seeing who my brother was. And I followed the political field closely as possible.
  When Andy died, I continued my civic duty, voting every election possible, with fervor. However, as I have gotten older my media consumption has dwindled and my political knowledge has waned. Granted, I am still informed and I will never go to the booth without foreknowledge of my vote.
  Last week, I attended a talk at my home parish about Catholic voting. The priest who was presenting is a very smart and informed man...on both sides of all issues. He asked who already knew who they were voting for; some raised their hands. He asked for the undecided; some raised their hands. Mine stayed down on both.
  Since the inception of my Catholic faith, I have tried to understand where I belong. Raised Republican...I no longer quite align, and even more so see myself distant from the candidate that is gracing my party's platform. For how can I find morals in the immoral? I can't.
  5 minutes till the end of his talk he asked this, "Don't raise your hand, but how many of you won't be voting?" My mental hand shot up, and the tears started rolling down my face. I have never been so sad to admit that I could not nor would I vote this coming election. It breaks my heart, and I was coming to him, unbeknownst to me, for solidarity. And in his words,  "At the end of the day, vote your conscience." I found what I needed.
  I don't fit in this election. Honestly, after him reading this... I got it:
  1. I’m against abortion, and they call me a Republican
  2. I want greater justice for immigrants, and they call me a Democrat
  3. I stand against “Gay” “Marriage,” and they call me a Republican
  4. I work for affordable housing, and stand with unemployed in DC, and they call me a Democrat
  5. I talk of subsidiarity and they say: “Republican, for sure.”
  6. I mention the common good, and solidarity and they say, “Not only a Democrat, but a Socialist for sure.”
  7. Embryonic Stem cell research should end, “See, he’s Republican!”
  8. Not a supporter of the death penalty, standing with the Bishops and the Popes against it…”Ah, told you! He’s really a Democrat!…Dye in the wool and Yellow Dog to boot!”
  I don't fit in. I'm Catholic. I'm voting my conscience this November. All I ask, is that you do too. Whether for her or for him, make sure the decision is one you can sleep with. 

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