The government is out to get me!
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Actually, more acurately, the government is out to IGNORE me!
I must confess to all of you that I have ignored my civic duty in my early years of my adulthood. I failed to vote when i turned 18. In fact, it wasn’t until i had returned from overseas and was faced with a major election that i even *tried* to vote. You gotta understand that I’m pretty opinionated about how the government is run but have a hard time believing that i, by my lonesome, can make a difference (mostly because of the electoral college, etc.). Also, mix in a bit of ignorance because it’s not a priority of mine to be informed on politics, and you get someone who has an UNINFORMED OPINION (but is very aware of it). Therefore i counted myself unworthy of voting.
Despite my self-depricating opinion, i tried to vote anyway. This was the Bush vs. Gore election in 2000. I had already registered so i thought i was all ready to go. For some reason, i check the status of my registration the day before elections. Lo and behold i was NOT registered even though i had an affidavit certifying my registration! Needless to say, i stayed home from the polls that day.
THIS year, i was for SURE going to vote! I can’t stand another 4 years of this monkey in the white house! (though apparently, i’m not going to have much of a choice about that...) I sent away for my absentee ballot with time to spare to get it in under the deadline. For a couple of weeks i was ok not receiving my ballot, but as the day of doom drew closer and closer, i began to worry a bit. I had hope up until that very day.
Ok, so it doesn’t make a big difference who i vote for anyway because Cali is pretty solid on voting Democrat. All i’m gonna say is how out of touch with the rest of the nation was I? How can the WHOLE middle part of America vote for Bush so solidly? THE WHOLE MIDDLE PART! I was shocked. Yes, out of touch. And this is why i will never move to that middle part that was colored solidly red on the lovely CNN map. Nope. Couldn’t pay me to live there.
Was that enough of a rant or what? MORE CAPS AND EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!
i was pretty clueless ‘bout the whole thing too, i didn’t even know i had to register the first time, so i just showed up at the polls and expected to be allowed to vote! =)
but, since CA and NY both seem to be deficient in getting you a ballot, i’m thinking that what you shoulda done was try for an absentee ballot to ohio. =)
Posted by kimi =) on 11/04 at 09:24 PMyou did know Kerry was taking sides with the RIAA and going to tax the internet, right? well i voted for bush, i was goign to for Badnarik (L), but everyone else on the planet seems to think there are only two parties. i say F the party system. cause we are always going to have to choose between a “giant douche” and a “Turd Sandwich” (quote from southpark)
maybe they should pass a law that all canadites have to have equal face time on TV, and cannot buy ad time. and they could only say what they stood for and planned to do in office. that would equal the playing field.
another reason i voted bush in was that kerry seemed to eager to just lay down and do what was most popular at the time. or what the crowd wanted, and that’s lame.
Posted by on 11/05 at 12:26 AMWell, speaking as someone who lives smack dab in the middle of that big red blob I can tell ya its a good life. Much less stress, no traffic, low crime.
While its true that this here middle part lacks a variety of entertainment choices it is also true that I never have to worry about someone “capping my ass” either. I find it a good trade off.
Posted by les on 11/05 at 06:37 AMLes,
What you just said makes me very angry. I think I may drive out to where you live and cap your a$$. See now you have to worry about getting capped, that may increase your paranoia some.I also voted bush cause; I don’t think Kerry is a better alterative. I should have voted Libertarian, which is my party, but with the Electoral College, it doesn’t matter. My vote doesn’t count. Vote or Die, why not Vote and Die, which did happen to an old man after voting. The Electoral College system is broken and should be fix. How else can we have a true democracy give a third party a chance? Last night, I saw the end of the Simpson’s episode where aliens took over Clinton and Bob Dole body’s. Homer exposed the aliens to the world. However, no one would vote third party so the aliens took over America. IRONY!
Have a good day all. J Les look for the blue car with my smiling face. Most likely I will have my paint gun, since I think that would hurt more than capping you’re a$$ with my red rider BB gun.
Posted by on 11/05 at 10:06 AMLoL! (Mark, you’re a true wacko, I miss you bro!)
I commented on the Camachooo site that I sent away for my absentee ballot MONTHS in advance. The guy at the consulate was rather surprised to have me turn up one day and ask for the sendaway form, hehe.
Speaking of busting caps, the world is more in danger of terrorism, so I agree with Kat about removing the guy from office. In fact, the deception about the Iraq war irked me so much that last year I registered as a Democrat for the first time to protest. I had previously (and proudly) had my registration card selected to “Declined to join a political party.”
I’m live outside of America in a country that pandered to the US because it would get financial bonuses for doing so. When I went into an amazing, new and *super rich class* shopping mall today, it struck me that this beautiful monumental achievement finally has granted Umeda its first good terrorist target. In Japan we’ve only had to worry about freak cults. Now due to the intense polarization of the Middle East and Koizumi & the LDP’s weakness for profits from American trade, we likely will have new worries of terrorism here for the first time.
Anyway, don’t you think it’s interesting that honest, hard-working but culturally isolated folks in the middle of America were worried about terrorism and felt safer with Bush, while NEW YORK (the only American city truly devastated by foreign terrorism) voted for Kerry? And that 70% of Washington DC’s conservatives also voted for Kerry? The fears the administration sent out (in alerts and warnings that a Kerry victory would cause more terrorism—not my words, Cheney’s) apparently did their work in terrifying people in the middle and south of the country. But NYC, DC and the more international areas of the country didn’t fall for it. Kudos.
And yes, because of my vote, Maryland stayed BLUE! (^_^)
End rant. Thanks Kat for not killing me for writing so much in a comment!
Posted by on 11/13 at 03:09 AMIt strikes me as odd that terrorism was the deciding issue in this past election. Only what, three thousand people dead in the past four years? A War on Automobile Accidents would do more for the American people than this deficit-inducing “War on Terror” is doing. Also, I agree that it’s interesting that the major population centers, all much more likely targets for attacks, voted against Bush.
As for Ryan’s comment about Kerry doing what’s popular, isn’t that the point of representative democracy? Is it somehow wrong for a Senator to actually represent his constituency? There are words that describe leaders that ignore the will of the people. Most of them were used to describe Saddam, also.
I agree that Kerry was probably the worst person the Democrats could have nominated for this election. The two-party system pretty much guarantees that any politician with broad, cross-party appeal will not get nominated (see McCain in 2000 and Dean in 2004). But for me the
The American people’s cavalier attitude toward war scares me the most. Questioning the reasons behind sending thousands of Americans and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis to their deaths can get you shouted down and called unpatriotic. If Iraq is truly part of the war on Islamic Fundamentalist Terror, why did we take down a secular government and replace it with a provisional constitution that explicitly lists Islam as the state religion and Islamic Law as a source of legislation?
Oops, this was supposed to be a comment on a rant, not a rant in and of itself. My apologies.
P.S. Most polling places allowed you to register when you voted this election. Sure, you would have had to wait in a longer line, but it never hurts to try to stop some of these ridiculous ballot initiatives. Seriously, Californians have never met a bond they didn’t like.Posted by on 11/13 at 12:42 PMYeah, those fucking fly-over States will vote against their best interests time and again and minorities (see under;"Presumed Democrats") will continue to get the registration shaft...The whole thing is so irritating.
I believe in God and morals, but I don’t recall being taught the Neo-Christian Conservative values of fear and hate.
“Above all things, have love amongst yourselves”
peace in the middle east, TarquinPosted by on 11/24 at 03:02 PMSo, uh, Tarquin, what God and what morals do you believe in that allow you to dismiss a whole section of the U.S. as “fucking fly-over” states? And what is a “neo-christian?” That simply means “new Christian.” Are you implying that most people out here are like Nazi’s? If so, your angry clearly out weighs judgement.
I live in the middle of those states and the majority of people are wonderful here. They are not Nazi’s or evil or stupid.
Why does living in a city magically give people the ability to chose a better President? Was Bill Clinton a good president? He took us through a couple wars as well and made a number of less than great decisions.
My opinion is that both red and blue are wacked out. Neither side has an answer, but everybody sure is angry about the other side.
This whole conversation really bothers me because everybody is making sweeping statements and generalizing. Nothing is backed up or supported. And then we wonder why we can’t seem to make intelligent decisions about government. sigh.
Les, from the fucking fly-over state of Nebraska, who is more sad than angry at this whole thing.
Posted by Les on 11/25 at 10:30 AMHmm, I wonder when Kat is going to bust a cap in this conversation and nuke it off the face of the internet forever. Sorry for adding to the fuss, Kat. Forgive me for this post, it may be a little long.
I can’t stand being generalized, though often I do the same of others. God is good in helping me to understand that people, no matter how much they may seem like caricatures, are not. In my own family there have been arguments and division about the election, between parties, ideologies, etc. It isn’t fun. I’m having to learn how to forgive and to leave it in God’s hands when the person on other side ridicules me or the candidate I support. Ridicule should never be necessary, and not only hurts the one receiving, but is painful in the soul of the one giving it (whether they know it or not). I’m starting to learn that looking down on the other side has the same effect inside me.
It was nice to read that Clinton was disturbed by the viciousness of zealotry among supporters of both sides, saying, “Am I the only person in America who thinks that both George Bush and John Kerry are good people trying to do their best for America?” And it was fun to see the Clinton & Bush families sitting together, laughing and joking with each other at the opening of the Clinton library in Little Rock. Sometimes if we only see people on the news I think we can forget that they are *real* people with real feelings and lives. I read an interview between Bill O’Reilly and Bono (of U2) where Bono talked of how he had made friends on both sides of the political party fence, and how he found that each person he talked to broke the stereotypes he’d had of them and were more than willing to help out (with Bono’s attempts to secure debt-relief for third world nations and various kinds of humanitarian relief for African nations).
I’m trying to go for healing between the divisions, but I can’t stop caring about what I’ve seen. I do weep because of the deception about Iraq, but at the same time I know that Bush and Christian conservatives in the ‘right’ are trying to do what they believe is best. Many parts of the Church in America need much prayer, because we are raised with blind spots that we cannot see, but that other nations (and even non-Christians abroad and at home) are able to see sometimes. I think we all have blind spots, and if we can see each others’ weaknesses, we have to address them in love. If others don’t respond, or if others ridicule, remember Him who endured spitting and did not hide His face from shame. How He could have condemned them then, but He didn’t! Why? I’ve asked Him many times, and each time I feel Him saying that it’s because He loves them. So the answer is His heart—not to stop caring about the things we can see, but to receive His heart which cares more for the persons we often count as foolish or our enemies.
Ok, sorry for the length, Kat & everybody. God bless you all in His agape, His hesed, His unfailing love from eternity for each of us that sees past our bitternesses and lays down His life for us even while His enemies. I can’t fathom it, but bless you with it in Him!
Posted by Ramone on 11/25 at 08:35 PMHey Les,
I was trying to be funny. Plus I’ve got family in Missouri and Nebraska. I am not a Democrat, I don’t begrudge anyone for being Christian - I am one. Hating Bush’s policies is part of my morality and I don’t confuse that with animosity towards the people that supported him. I don’t like his policies and I really, honestly, believe that people who support him, excepting the people who profit from him being in the White House, are being decieved. I didn’t think Clinton was so great, or Kerry either. I think that the majority of great minds who could run the country beautifully have focused their energy elsewhere, and are largely out of the political scene.
Lastly, I meant “New” Chritian in the sense that early Christians avoided politics, Jesus Christ included - “My Kingdom is no part of this earth” - and therefore didn’t get caught up in the retarded bickering and useless beauracracy of the whole mess. Real positive change is always coming from popular movements not through Senate Houses. (Hey, it’s an opinion - I leave it there for you to criticize and pick apart - political style)Posted by on 11/27 at 08:14 PMlol!
Hey Tarquin, I feel like a total ass! Thanks for such a good-natured response. Lesson learned… never respond to a comment late at night after a hard day!
It is retarded bickering isn’t it? Sigh. I just put up with so much of that this past weekend. I just want you to know it did my heart good to read your response.
Hey Kat, you have cool friends!
Posted by Les on 11/28 at 09:20 PM