Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Vote! Or not.
By The Erudite Redneck
Vote today! Or not. Whatever suits your fancy. Freedom means being free to say your piece, or to keep quiet.
It's OK to be ambivalent, confused or torn. I have been torn over the presidential election, at gut level, for months. Neither candidate deserves to be elected.
What I really want is for the White House to go one way and the Senate to go another. It's always dangerous to have both houses of Congress and the White House in the hands of the same party -- whichever party.
And party's matter, a lot, despite some people's arguments to the contrary. If you're not sure of your candidate, but you are pretty sure of your party in general, then vote for your party.
If you simply do not know what to do in a certain race, then do us all a favor and do nothing: Don't vote in that race.
Want to make a protest vote but have no desire to jeopardize a legitimate candidate? Call friends and kin in other states and see if they will trade votes with you!
A friend in Colorado, where the race is tight, has two friends who want to vote for a third-party candidate as a protest, but don't want to see the president lose Colorado, which seems a real possibility. My friend is trying to find a couple of people in Texas, where the president will win hands-down, who will vote for the third-party candidate to register those two votes, allowing the people in Colorado to throw their actual support behind the president.
And, feel free to pick and choose. I plan to leave one of the nine state questions on the ballot unchecked. I am ambivalent. So I'm not voting on that question.
To pretend to know how to vote, by voting blindly or flipping a coin, would be intellectually dishonest.
So, vote! Or not.
Personal aside: I saw in the news where both Osama Bin Laden and some official in the Chinese government let it be known the past few days that they didn't want to see Bush re-elected. If something tips the balance to the president today, that'll be it. Do foreign powers not realize the quickest way to get this country to go against them is to tell Americans where to head in at?*
-----
*"Where to head in at" -- colloquial for, "what to do" or "where to go" or "how to think." Cowboys, when penning cattle, "show" them "where to head in at," as in what gate to go through. In other words, to try to boss somebody.
END
Vote today! Or not. Whatever suits your fancy. Freedom means being free to say your piece, or to keep quiet.
It's OK to be ambivalent, confused or torn. I have been torn over the presidential election, at gut level, for months. Neither candidate deserves to be elected.
What I really want is for the White House to go one way and the Senate to go another. It's always dangerous to have both houses of Congress and the White House in the hands of the same party -- whichever party.
And party's matter, a lot, despite some people's arguments to the contrary. If you're not sure of your candidate, but you are pretty sure of your party in general, then vote for your party.
If you simply do not know what to do in a certain race, then do us all a favor and do nothing: Don't vote in that race.
Want to make a protest vote but have no desire to jeopardize a legitimate candidate? Call friends and kin in other states and see if they will trade votes with you!
A friend in Colorado, where the race is tight, has two friends who want to vote for a third-party candidate as a protest, but don't want to see the president lose Colorado, which seems a real possibility. My friend is trying to find a couple of people in Texas, where the president will win hands-down, who will vote for the third-party candidate to register those two votes, allowing the people in Colorado to throw their actual support behind the president.
And, feel free to pick and choose. I plan to leave one of the nine state questions on the ballot unchecked. I am ambivalent. So I'm not voting on that question.
To pretend to know how to vote, by voting blindly or flipping a coin, would be intellectually dishonest.
So, vote! Or not.
Personal aside: I saw in the news where both Osama Bin Laden and some official in the Chinese government let it be known the past few days that they didn't want to see Bush re-elected. If something tips the balance to the president today, that'll be it. Do foreign powers not realize the quickest way to get this country to go against them is to tell Americans where to head in at?*
-----
*"Where to head in at" -- colloquial for, "what to do" or "where to go" or "how to think." Cowboys, when penning cattle, "show" them "where to head in at," as in what gate to go through. In other words, to try to boss somebody.
END
Comments:
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I know what you mean ER. My head said I would should wear black pants today but my heart said khaki. I stayed home in order to avoid making the choice. I might get fired but at least I didn't force myself to make a choice.
# posted by 
: 11:34 PM
: 11:34 PM
If anybody else gave a rip whether you wore black or khaki, or anything at all, that might be remotely close to a comparable choice and decision -- or if your decision to wear black or khaki, or nothing, affected those around you, besides those who might be forced to look away from your misdressed or bare backside.
But it's not. So, try again to be cute. Better yet: As I said, do us all a favor and don't.
But it's not. So, try again to be cute. Better yet: As I said, do us all a favor and don't.
ER once again you have spoken my heart. It is so
hard to know for certain what to do. I almost did
not vote. Which would have been a 1st. I have
always been very proud to be from a country that
I was able to vote. I heard last night of a lady
that was 103 yrs old. She has voted in every elect
since given the right in the 1920's. She even
said she was going to drink lots of coffee and
sit up to see what happened. Good job.
hard to know for certain what to do. I almost did
not vote. Which would have been a 1st. I have
always been very proud to be from a country that
I was able to vote. I heard last night of a lady
that was 103 yrs old. She has voted in every elect
since given the right in the 1920's. She even
said she was going to drink lots of coffee and
sit up to see what happened. Good job.
ER reminds of the man whose wife left him years ago but he still refuses to date another woman. I find this admirable, in a sad sort of way.
# posted by : 9:41 AM
: 9:41 AM
Anonymous, I find you strangely disturbing. You remind me of a beautiful, but poisonous bug. Pretty to look at, but full of venom. I admire the restraint ER shows in ignoring you, for the most part.
Anonymous keeps reaching for appropriate similes and metaphors -- and missing. Here's one that fits:
This election, I felt like a man who can't swim caught on a beach during a storm surge. Desperate to keep from drowning, I'm faced with only two choices: Try to drink as much water as I can, or use my hands to try to push the water back into the ocean.
Or, I felt like a man who, having fallen off a tall cliff, is faced with the choice of flapping his arms and trying to fly, or rolling up into a ball in hopes of bouncing.
In other words: I never said it was unwise not to make a hard choice. My point was this: There was no real choice in this election, for me. Voting either way was going to make me want to puke, for very different but very important personal reasons.
My other point was this: There is no honor in voting blindly for the sake of voting. None.
This election, I felt like a man who can't swim caught on a beach during a storm surge. Desperate to keep from drowning, I'm faced with only two choices: Try to drink as much water as I can, or use my hands to try to push the water back into the ocean.
Or, I felt like a man who, having fallen off a tall cliff, is faced with the choice of flapping his arms and trying to fly, or rolling up into a ball in hopes of bouncing.
In other words: I never said it was unwise not to make a hard choice. My point was this: There was no real choice in this election, for me. Voting either way was going to make me want to puke, for very different but very important personal reasons.
My other point was this: There is no honor in voting blindly for the sake of voting. None.
ER, I am with Trixie. It is not worth the
time, or effort to respond to that indiviual.
No matter what you said they would twist it
to some how give them the upper hand. We all
know you and know you are not the person they
are discribing......
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time, or effort to respond to that indiviual.
No matter what you said they would twist it
to some how give them the upper hand. We all
know you and know you are not the person they
are discribing......
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