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To
Vote or Not to Vote
Me? I'm voting for damn sure
My husband and I had a long
conversation the other evening.
The question being discussed was whether or not to vote in the upcoming
election.
The last ten years have been pretty brutal. I could probably go further
back than ten years,
but why beat a dead horse? After the 2006 midterms, and especially
after the 2008 election,
we had some hope. Not a euphoric amount. But there was real enthusiasm
in our house.
Maybe, we thought, bit by bit, legislation and government priorities
would become more
just and equitable for the majority of people and not just for the
special interests.
Perhaps there might even be a good dose of FDR-inspired populism thrown
into the mix.
Two years later the enthusiasm and hope has faded into nothing but
deeper cynicism as
day by day the bills mounted and prices rose and we watched as Wall
Street and Corporate
America carted away sacks of cash. We watched as working people were
kicked out of their
homes or ruined by student loans, health care and credit card debts. We
watched as the
military-industrial machine snatched up 50% of working folks’ taxes and
insurance and
pharmaceutical companies made backroom deals with our president. We
watched as
people lost their jobs and ran out of unemployment and the poverty
level rose. And Biden,
Gibbs, Obama and the Democratic establishment want us to stop whining,
buck up and
go vote – and please do so with the requisite amount of enthusiasm.
Sigh…
Part of me wants to sit out this election – not out of petulance, but
sort of in a strategic way.
Maybe if the Democratic party falls flat on its self-satisfied face,
this could be a good thing in
the long view. If they aren’t rewarded for their behavior, perhaps this
is what needs to be done
in order to allow for a more principled Democratic party in the future
(or a third party with more
substance to challenge the established order). As my husband says about
disagreeable and
unpleasant situations – “Sometimes you have to make a mess in order to
clean it up.
Throwing an election is never a
good idea, I don't care what Gore and Kerry say.
You MUST vote and you need to get your friends to vote (Unless they're
Repugs.)
I always vote
but my vote never counts
since I live in 19th Century Oklahoma.