Today most of America learned of 18-year-old Saira Blair, a Republican who on Tuesday won election for West Virginia state legislature. She won by 33 percent, taking down a 44-year-old Democrat to represent a northern sliver of the Mountain State. Say what you will of an 18-year-old taking state office, but her feat is impressive.

What’s not impressive is her rhetoric.

“It’s time that we stop treating our citizens like terrorists and terrorists like citizens,” she writes on her website, demonstrating her endorsement of the second amendment. An image next to this shows her shooting a rifle. She is endorsed by the National Rifle Association.

Blair is pro-life. She is also pro-religion — or to be more specific — pro-one-religion.

“We make mistakes,” she writes, “but our government must recognize the importance and wisdom of God’s Ten Commandments for our nation to thrive.” An image next to this shows the Ten Commandments. On her political campaign website.

Blair is against gay marriage. She cites the 54-year marriage of her grandfather and grandmother as proof that marriage should remain the union of a man and woman.

She also believes that people on public assistance should be tested for drugs randomly. So remember, if you make mistakes leading to collecting welfare, the government may drug test you, and all bets are off if you covet your neighbor’s wife.

This person won a seat of power in state government. This person has the ability to help turn bills into laws. Whether 18 or 58, this person is one of the many people whose beliefs stunt growth not just in America, but across the world, by spreading narrow messages of fear that facilitate a faction of people that embraces traditional ethos for fear of losing the twisted culture it has constructed.

And we let her win. I let her win.

Today, President Obama addressed those who failed to vote in Tuesday’s election.

“To the two-thirds of voters who chose not to participate yesterday, I hear you too,” Obama said.

Well I didn’t hear you, and I’m sorry. And I didn’t hear Republican lawmakers, and I’m sorry about that, too. Instead, I’ve been living a dream, sleepwalking every day without thinking about racism, sexism, gender equality, job growth, lack of job growth, gun violence, gun control, women’s rights, Latino rights, immigration, education, Common Core and Obamacare. I have ignored these things because these things don’t directly affect me. I’m a 30-year-old newly married white man living without children in Westchester County, New York. I make a good paycheck every two weeks, and my wife and I can afford a nice restaurant meal every Friday night. I have spent the last 10 years of my life afraid of sticking my neck into the fray, of standing up for others, of caring about others, and of taking real action about things I say concern me.

Truthfully it sucks that my gay friends still couldn’t get married in nearly half our nation, let alone one state. It sucks that women are still being controlled by laws carried out by men, who have absolutely no concept of womanhood. It sucks that still large portions of our society think an impregnated rape victim must birth her child without exception. It sucks that two-thirds of children in poverty live in cities, and that while 10 percent of American whites are in poverty, more than twice the percentage of blacks and Latinos are in poverty. It sucks that overzealous police officers exist. It sucks that some people who follow the Bible — which includes in the Gospel of Mark the phrase “Love thy neighbor” — also carry weapons to protect themselves from other humans. It sucks that we live in a state of necessary protection, driven by fear, and partially fueled by an institutionalized racism that absolutely exists in this country. It sucks that the term “Illegals” exists. It sucks that some men have adopted Men’s Rights because they can’t comprehend that maybe women do face challenges greater than theirs, including — and yes, this is scary — being constantly berated by men while walking in public places. And it sure sucks that many Americans can’t receive free health care, and that there are people who believe health care is not an entitlement of humanity.

We are not a nation that embraces simple humanity. We are, in fact, a nation that claws against the basic nature of humanity. Fear and pride define our persona. And I have absolutely demonstrated those characteristics in my terrible, foolish decision not to vote.

To not vote means to hide your beliefs. It means not recognizing that even by voting for an eventual loser — a potential nobody in the populous — that you demand to be heard. That you are worth something. And every year that you don’t vote, and every year that passes without thinking about it, you lose more of your identity. You’re a ghost in the societal machine until you have no features at all, and then, you’re a bystander of the world, pumped up of hubris like it’s helium. You crow about whatever it is, but it’s nothing at all and you float without being seen.