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As Others See Us

As Others See Us: Nyack on Romney

by Heather Nyack

The US election is a distant memory. Although the many hostile and ridiculous things that supporters and pundits said on mass and social media may seem like tiny potholes viewed in a rear view mirror, they had a lasting impact on the way we view politicians, the media and our neighbors, too. But now that it’s finally over, you might be wondering why it still matters what Nyack thinks about Mitt Romney.

Heather Nyack is a grandmother in British Columbia who blogs at GoldFishBrain. “A lot of my Canadian friends follow American politics,” she says. “We really cannot help it with the way it comes into our media. It also has a major impact on us in a way that Britain’s does not.” A retired Service Canada employee, she previously worked helping people fill out their Canada Pension, Employment Insurance paperwork before suffering a serious injury after slipping in a bathtub slip.  “I blog now as I try to come to terms with a permanent brain injury,” she says.

On the day before the 2012 U.S. presidential election, Heather Nyack blogged about how that event looked to our neighbors to the north. It’s a fitting addition to the NyackNewsAndViews occasional series As Others See Us, giving us insight into how what we do amongst ourselves impacts the rest of the world in ways we rarely consider.

Are we done yet?

That is my first thought. I cannot wait for this election to be done with. And I am not even an American. It has a bit comical, and a bit scary to watch it from the sidelines. I do not recall being this terrified of any election result before, in any other country.

First off, I should say what my personal philosophy towards politics in general is. I believe that most parties should get time in office, on a rotational basis, as they each focus on a different side of the economy and social structure that is needed. We need big business just as much as we need education, health care, military strength, natural resource development, and environmental protection. No one party has ever, or probably will ever meet all of the needs of every part of the nation. So at times, it is better for one party to be in power, and do what they do best, and at other times it is better for another party to be in power and do their special thing. It is up to the people to decide which person up for election is the one who is best suited to bring about what is needed for the nation at that time.

All political parties change over time. In the US, the Democrats and Republicans are not what they were two or three generations ago, and likely will evolve again as time goes by. The same goes with Canadian parties. The Liberals and the NDP have gone through very big changes. Some parties have totally disappeared, while others have merged, renamed, or reformulated themselves.

What has really puzzled me this whole race is this: Is Romney really the best that the Republican party has to offer. Really? Really? Could you not find someone better than him? It is almost like the party decided to give the election to Obama by finding the most unsuitable person for the job. Just like with Sarah Palin. He constantly belittles women and those who are middle or lower class. Which will be the majority of the people he is trying to win votes from. I have no respect for the man. Absolutely none.

I am wholeheartedly an Obama supporter, but even if I were not, there is no way I could support this fellow (assuming I actually somehow ended up having a vote). As it is, if Romney gains power, I really fear for the future of the US in many ways, and particularly the way that impact will ripple out to the rest of the world. Romney has a very unstable grasp of a lot of political issues in the middle east. He seems to speak before thinking, which will get the US in a lot of trouble with the more volatile Middle Eastern Countries, and possibly even others, like North Korea, and Russia. He seems hellbent on causing trouble with China. The economic issue he mention in the debate I think is just the tip of the iceberg. I could see further aggressive action in his plan later on. I just do not trust him. And this is not even mentioning his stance on women which is taking the women’s movement back at least 50 years.

Republicans. If you want someone in office in 2016 take note. Get someone who actually has some competence to do the job. You dropped the ball with Sarah Palin. Then you brought on this guy. Get with the program! Do some major investigating of what is important to your voters. Then maybe you can get the votes to follow. And don’t put someone even stupider up next time. The world just cannot handle a crazier election than this one. — from Revolving Politics, posted on 11/5/2012

Heather Nyack says that although she has never been to Nyack, NY, her sister in law, the internationally known harpist Deborah Nyack, once visited here while attending the Rochester School of Music.  Their family name is East Indian and they can trace their roots back to relatives who once lived in Grenada and Pakistan. You can follow Heather Nyack’s GoldFishBrain blog about coping with memory loss as a result of a serious brain injury at IHaveGivenYouAGift.blogspot.com.

As Others See Us is an occasional feature that publishes what writers outside of Nyack say about the people and places in the Lower Hudson Valley.




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