I have had so much on my mind lately that I decided to make this article a collage of concerns and observations. You may not give a damn about all of them, but perhaps one will hit home!
What Has Changed?
After helping elect many people over the past 10 years, I keep asking: What has really changed?
We still need dependable buses, dockable bikes and affordable transportation. Too many politicians seem to stand with big developers rather than common people.
We vote because we believe government can improve lives. Yet ordinary citizens are often left waiting while those with money and influence move to the front of the line.
Orlando’s Cashless Parking
My 83-year-old neighbor is sharp, financially secure and still drives downtown. But he owns a flip phone and has no desire to buy a smartphone or download an app simply to park.
Does that mean he should no longer be able to go downtown?
Some residents may not qualify for traditional cards and must pay fees for prepaid ones simply to park.
Technology should be a bridge, not a locked gate. It should make life easier without shutting out seniors, low-income residents or people without smartphones.
The same applies to businesses requiring an app for a basic discount. When did cash stop being good enough to buy a $5 Domino’s pizza or park a car?
Losing Ourselves to AI
Artificial intelligence addiction is not coming. It has already arrived.
I have never posted an AI-generated picture of myself, and I hope I never do. I see people using AI photographs as profile pictures and promotional images.
To my fellow entertainers: You do realize that eventually you still have to show up in person?
AI can be useful. But when a polished digital version replaces the real person, we lose something important. A flawless image cannot laugh with an audience, shake a hand or make a human connection.
We are living through a consequential moment. Humanity is reaching a tipping point between learning for ourselves and relying on prompts to produce what we need.
Google and the internet have existed for decades, but children born today may never know a world without AI. We are only beginning to understand where it may lead. What will that mean for our independence, judgment and collective self-preservation?
American Fatigue
Have you noticed how many people seem to be in a funk lately?
Gas, food and housing have become increasingly unaffordable. People are tired — overwhelmed by bills, political conflict and the feeling that nobody is listening.
I call it “American fatigue.”
Donald Trump has used tactics familiar to leaders who want to appear king-like: keep people struggling, exhausted and distracted. Wear them down until they stop paying attention, stop believing their voices matter and eventually stop voting.
We cannot let that happen.
Exhaustion can become a political weapon. When people are surviving paycheck to paycheck, they have little energy left to challenge those in power.
Please hang in there. Pay attention. Speak out. Rise up. Most importantly, vote.
To Democrats and Independents
Democrats and Independents, this part is for you. Republicans may disagree on details, but when elections arrive, they unite — and they win.
Democrats do not always do the same.
This is a state of emergency. Democrats must win back both houses of Congress and ultimately the presidency. That means accepting that every major goal cannot be achieved on day one.
Free college and universal healthcare may not happen immediately. They can never happen unless Democrats first win elections and govern effectively.
Progress is rarely one dramatic leap. More often, it is a staircase, and winning elections is the first step.
Protecting Rights
The priority must be restoring erased history and protecting the rights of common people of every color.
The LGBTQ+ community has been attacked, and those attacks have been disturbingly successful. Transgender service members should be reinstated and receive the back pay and benefits they were denied.
These are not abstract arguments. They affect real people, families and lives. Civil rights mean little if they disappear whenever defending them becomes politically inconvenient.
Do Not Abandon the Middle
Democrats cannot move so far to the left — or any extreme — that they stop speaking to ordinary working people.
The party must appeal to voters in the Midwest, the South and everywhere in between, including those realizing they were misled by a con man.
Speak to their bills, jobs, families, fears and hopes. Do not lecture from a distance. Meet people where they are and remind them that dignity, fairness and economic security are not radical ideas.
Winning requires principle, but also persuasion.
Normal Leadership
Most of all, I want a normal president — someone who will do the job without appearing on television or my phone every day.
I want steady, competent leadership instead of constant political theater. Government should not feel like a never-ending reality show. A president should lead the country, not consume our attention.
Keep the spirit. Stay hopeful. Stay engaged. But soon, we must do more than complain. We have to organize, speak louder and rise up.
Martin “Leigh Shannon” Fugate is a local business owner, actor, comedian and entertainer. A strong advocate for getting out the vote and creating political change, he is a past candidate for local political office.
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