VOTE!

[desh]

I just came back from voting.

There was one office for which no one was running. I wrote in myself. I figure it's a novel way to look for a job, if nothing else. We'll see if anything happens.

Never before have I voted in an election in which the ballot issue is the most important. Philadelphia's democratic machine has been running overtime lately, with a recent corruption trial, an even more recent resigning of a city councilman due to corruption charges, and just a general stench of pay-to-play (a fancy term for bribery, I suppose) all around the city. The ballot question in Philadelphia is a complicatedly-worded thing about reducing the possibility for future pay-to-play arrangements. Voting YES on that felt better than most candidates I've voted for in the past. (Excepting myself, of course.)

Go vote! I don't care where you live. If there are elections being held today, they're important. (Especially in New Jersey and Ohio, among other states.) Go, go, go!

Comments

[jdcohen.livejournal.com]

I don't see how you CAN get to any other issues without first going through election reform. Face it - politicians (like Tom DeLay) are still circumventing McCain-Feingold with campaign finance, partisanship and the extremists on both the left and the right are gaining because of skewed "safe districts", and campaigning on the issues is becoming a thing of the past. Election reform is needed NOW, before we do anything else. How can you expect us to, say, protect the right to an abortion, which 56% of Americans SUPPORT, if a majority of our representatives in Congress don't support it? How can a moderate voice prevail when they are drowned out by the screaming of the extremes and the ignorant? How can we be expected to make an intelligent choice when our own candidates tell us half-truths and lies? I'm sure there are tons of issues that are very important in the here and now (Katrina rebuilding, abortion, Social Security, taxes, deficits, etc.), but this isn't just "one of those issues democracies were designed to handle" - this IS our Democracy, Desh. I won't see us give up long term stability for short term gains.

Which is what pisses me off so much about Virginia, California, Ohio, and practically fucking everywhere. In VA, there's a lying fucktard Republican candidate who wants to plunge the state back into debt, and he's able to be as popular as he is because he's using underhanded attack tactics that, in my opinion, smack of libel. In California, the "Progressive" party is trying to kill a truly progressive measure, simply because it was put forth by an opponent they're trying to humiliate. In Ohio, they're one of the most corrupt state governments in history, yet they still retain control because they hold the monopoly on "values issues" (see the irony?). The very foundations of our Republic are rotting. It is our job to first shore up the foundation before we can address other projects.

[jdcohen.livejournal.com]

Yowza... I am a bit militant today. In my defense, it hasn't been all that good a day - but I apologize for taking out some of my pent up aggression in your blog comments. Thank you kindly for the opportunity to do a little venting!

--Jeff

[desh]

Any time. Vote for me, and I'll let you do it again!

[desh]

I completely agree with everything you say here, except for the fact that you seem to be implying that I disagree.

[jdcohen.livejournal.com]

Hehe, well, isn't my face fed. This:

"Suffice it to say, there are few political things I feel more strongly about than eliminating this partisan redistricting crap."

Is not the same as this:

"Suffice it to say, there are [a] few political things I feel more strongly about than eliminating this partisan redistricting crap."

I read the latter, rather than the former. Seeing red and all that. Carry on!

--Jeff