"Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson US essayist & poet (1803 - 1882)

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

i vote, therefore i bitch

That's been my philosophy for every election, and with yesterday's primary vote and few municipal items to vote on, i still feel this way.

i'm a registered democrat, so i debated voting on the republican ticket, and foregoing voting for a democrat, to cast my vote for the republican i thought least likely could defeat a democrat. It was a few second delay in actually casting my vote.

i didn't, but with my one vote counting for about 5 yesterday, given the low turnout, i enjoyed the power of my one vote.

i love how it's easier to buy i "support our troops" magnet than it is to actually exercise your right to vote. i get a little upset with low voter turnout. Historically, i think back on the number of men, women, and minorities who have had to fight and die for this right we take for granted.

Being your typical male WASP, with a little native american thrown in, i've always tried to be aware that many groups of people haven't been able to vote.

Think on this...less then 100 years ago

Women could not vote...
Minorities were denied voting rights, and in some places i bet still are...
Wounded Knee massacre...O.K. not voting related, but still relative...

100 years ago may sound like a long time, but consider my grandfather, not great grandfather, was born in the 1870's and fought in the Spanish-American War. He died in the late 1940's, my mother was born in 1939. He was a stud, eh?

Henry Ford Museum has a wonderful new display called "...and Justice for All" which details the fight for justice, and really, just the fight to vote. This one little thing... the right to vote... perhaps the one truely american institution that, regardless of political affiliation, sets us apart from every other country.

Neal Peart wrote, and Geddy Lee sang "if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.." o.k. i know they're Canadian, eh, still relative

That's great, but low turnout is mostly apathy and i didn't see too many protestors encouraging people to not vote.

So anyway, i voted, i get to bitch. If you didn't you don't.

Sorry no running stuff here today. Yesterday was a rest day, and tonite i run 7 miles, after chasing the little white ball for a few miles.

thanks for reading

2 comments:

L*I*S*A said...

Bummer about Joe Schwartz...Mackinac Island will never be the same. ;)

Animal said...

Whereas the woman I voted for to run against a nasty incumbent in the November election actually WON! Sweet. Now to see if we can shoehorn her son-of-a-bitch opponent out of office in a few months...