No.Nonsense.

I’ve made it no secret that my last vote for president I did begrudgingly, voting on policy for a man I have come to loathe. I did it as a protest against the party that gaslit us for four years about the declining cognitive wellbeing of the previous president- which I never bought into- and then throwing out a feckless and incompetent substitute who had accomplished absolutely nothing in four years as vice president. So I went into the voting booth and held my nose while I made my choice.

I rationalized that my policy positions outweighed the man’s character. He could be a complete tool but as long he as he fell on the side of the same things I supported then it was okay because I was getting what I wanted. I could overlook his words and his personality. I could ignore his actions.

Unlike the evangelicals who have propped up the theory that our current president was an imperfect but God-sanctioned leader, I always saw him for what he was- a deeply flawed man with a sharp tongue and an abrasive personality. And it still didn’t matter.

But as I was talking to a friend the other night, I realized how much I had changed. I acknowledged that some of my policy positions had tempered, especially on social issues even while my political positions had not. But the change in me was greater than that transition.

Somewhere along the way, I had stopped caring that character mattered.

When I started voting many years ago, I held to the idea that I would not vote for a candidate who didn’t have an upright character. It didn’t matter if I agreed with the candidate on every single policy, if he or she was not a good person with a strong moral compass, he/she was not getting my vote. As the years rolled on, I began voting for the “lesser of two evils”. And then one day I threw all character out of the window and voted strictly on a “what is he going to do for me” platform.

And I did it again, and again, and again.

And I can’t do it any longer.

I believe that voting is the greatest freedom we have and our most somber responsibility. I will never choose to not step into the booth. I will always make a selection. But I will never again separate my principles from the action. I will never again overlook a person’s words and actions for the sake of a policy. I will never again sacrifice what I feel is right. If they want my vote they will have to earn it. I’m no longer giving it away for free.

I pray that others will stand with me and remove the blinders they’ve worn. We need to hold our leaders accountable. And if they depart from what is right, we need to send them to the unemployment line. Only then will we be able to reclaim some of our dignity.