Month: November 2020

Two things that are never free are freedom and puppies.

It is simple to put forth a message that ‘freedom isn’t free.’ The notion is a motto that people will literally wear and readily recite (even if their speaking the slogan is not precisely in line with the actual message’s spirit).

People will salute those who fought and died for the belief of free people and free nations’ founding.

Now about those free puppies. We all will smile and coo at the sight of cute little furballs until you find yourself owning one of those cute little furballs for yourselves. Especially if the puppy is a ‘gift’ you don’t initially pay for.

You will pay for the puppy in: shots, spaying or neutering, training, toys, food, destroyed slippers and lost sleep as you are forced to get up earlier and stay up later for walks.

And if you get the free puppy for ‘the family,’ well, yeah…

The effort to maintain freedom is always warranted. The effort to maintain puppies is not always warranted.

A record number of people cast a ballot in the US Presidential Election in 2020. Despite this, the real number of participants came down to about two-thirds of eligible voters who went through making their vote count for either a viable candidate, an unviable third-party candidate, or a write-in toss away name that represents the damnation of major candidates and the process.

This played out in the county I live and vote in, but additional data about the inactive third is what captured my attention. Of the third of people who did not vote in my county, two-thirds were registered and could vote, and one third were not registered on November 3rd.

In my city, two years ago, we had a three-way race for mayor. On election day, I voted for the guy who came in third and missed out on the runoff. I didn’t vote in the runoff, pulled the ‘my one vote won’t make a statistical difference’ card since the guy I initially backed wasn’t in it anyway. In turn, I give little grief to the current mayor, beyond calling basic balls and strikes and calling out any significant lack of common sense since I did not participate in the full process.

There are plenty of reasons for not getting registered to vote. There are plenty of things that could have gotten in the way for registered voters to not apply for an absentee ballot or not get in line for early or election day voting.

But if these people want to complain about the outcome or give grief to the programs provided by the winner, I want them all just to shut up.

Your point to enter the process was at the ballot box. If you were barred from the ballot box, speak out about that. If you were not barred from the ballot box, your voice, as far as I’m concerned, is what is invalid.

Agree or disagree? Let me know at jclevelandpayne@gmail.com.

Dave Chappelle hosted last night’s ‘Saturday Night Live.’ Like four years ago, it was the first show after the US Presidential Election, and a very funny man who often represents a defacto conscience of the people had the chance to give his funny and extremely real thoughts on the situation.

In his monologue from last night, he noted a reality of comedy and life: he can speak the truth about anything he wants, as long as there is a punchline to go along with it.

When I was younger, I thought I wanted to be a stand-up comedian and was always told not to pursue it because my sense of humor was so dry.

What I came to realize much later is that I didn’t want to be a stand-up comedian. I wanted two things: command over audiences and the ability to speak raw truth to those who need to hear it.

That is the gift that Dave Chappelle has. And the gift he gives to us whenever he is booked for a gig.

Do you think I have the chops to give stand-up comedy a go? Let me know at jclevelandpayne@gmail.com.

As I recorded my end-of-the-week news wrap-up podcast, the news networks called the 2020 US Presidential Election for Joe Biden.

It should have impacted the recording since the cut off of news was the previous day, but it did change how I ad to approach the recording.

This is not a unique situation. Since the only time I have to record is Saturday afternoon but the best time to prepare the data is Friday morning, there are plenty of news stories that happen with the day between that can pop up as even more important at the moment, even if the point of the podcast is to offer up a snapshot of what has already transpired.

It can be hard to play to your original game plan when new data is presented.

Votes are still being tabulated for the Presidential Election or 2020. To the eventual winner, suffering through the pain of the unknown outcome will be worth it.

Suffering through the pain of showing up day after day hoping that this day is the day I strike it big? Is that worth it?

If I do strike it big, it is obvious. If I never do (and I have not), it’s about still being in love with the journey to success, even if the destination seems improbable.

So I’ll keep showing up.