vote

Russell Beattie talks about how some people are trying to discourage others from heading to the polls:

First of all - no matter what state you live in, no matter if you have to crawl through glass on your hands and knees to get to the polling booths, you better vote this year. No excuses. I swear if I meet anyone after November 2nd this year who said they didn't vote for whatever reason I'll punch them in the face. Make sure you tell every one of your friends and family that you'll do the same.

Emphasis mine. Consider them told. This whole election is so depressing. I was thinking of posting a list of all the reports of dirty tricks I've already heard about, but the number was too daunting. Democracy is under attack in America, and I don't think it's going to fare well in this election. If it isn't disenfranchised voters, it's hacked electonic voting machines. I've taken November 2nd off from work this year. Instead I'm going to work at one of the polling places here in San Francisco. I'm not sure why, since I'm so disappointed in the state of democracy in America. I'm forcing myself to participate anyhow, so I'm advocating zero tolerance for non-voters.

Comments

[Thomas]

Amen to that, brother... The current state of affairs on the election front is truly depressing indeed. What's more depressing is probably the number of people in this country who are thrilled with the way things are going in this country and happy as clams to have 4 more years of Bushit.

On another front, any chance you're going to be reinstating your .jpg comment process on your site anytime soon? I always thought it was pretty beasty... (let's just say I'm not a huge fan of TypeKey.)

best,
t

[Thomas]

Amen to that, brother... The current state of affairs on the election front is truly depressing indeed. What's more depressing is probably the number of people in this country who are thrilled with the way things are going in this country and happy as clams to have 4 more years of Bushit.

On another front, any chance you're going to be reinstating your .jpg comment process on your site anytime soon? I always thought it was pretty beasty... (let's just say I'm not a huge fan of TypeKey.)

best,
t

[cheesebikini]

Well if Russell Beattie is looking for a fight he should come to Sproul Plaza, the main square on the UC Berkeley campus, to "interact" with the punks passing out flyers there nowadays trying to convince people not to vote. But they're not the corrupt-Republican type of anti-voting advocates, they're the pseudo-anarchist completely-fed-up-with-the-system sort.

[Paul]

I had held out hope that Kerry would win in spite of all of the GOP tactics, but Kerry just conceded this afternoon. You were right. I'm not sure how this downward spiral can be stopped either. The GOP has managed to hijack the election process and turn it into a game. It's amazing to think that Karl Rove convinced the majority of people in Ohio that high unemployment is *less* important than a stranger getting married to someone of the same sex.

The gerrymandering in Texas is equally disturbing. They managed to gain all those seats in congress by illegal re-districting and no one is trying to stop them. If that begins spread to other states, and I don't see why it wouldn't, the GOP will continue to drift right towards a more social conservative christian fundementalist platform. I don't know that I can remain in a country like that.

I think the dems need to admit defeat and regroup, stop pointing fingers at the GOP, and over the next 4 (or maybe 8) years redefine their party. Unfortunately, I'll be in my 40s at that point, or in Canada. :)