a great opportunity........
One of the most important liberties we share as American citizens is our voting voice. This is a chance for us to be heard as a "collective of people".... a chance for us to enact change within our own government if we choose fit. It's a privilege that a great deal of other countries do not share.....take most of Africa, for instance. And North Korea. So this should be a great lesson to us as citizens to preserve our voting rights by actually using them. How else will we be able to change what we see as wrong. Well, in a perfect world...... this system is perfection personified.
Our challenge is that we do not live in a perfect world. Our globe gets smaller by the minute, and the problems of the world get closer in proximity at each spin of the orb. Not only do we try to solve the problems in our own personal lives, we find ourselves embroiled in the problems of the planet as a whole. So lets hope each American citizen exercises their right, privilege and duty today. Vote, knowing the issues your candidate stands behind... making a difference for change where change is needed. And vote, knowing this system is still the best in the world... because it sure as hell is a lot better here than it is in a many other countries that never get to voice opinions about their government.
posted by Ellen at 4:00 PM
13 Comments:
Very good! I agree.
Have a great day!
We just got back from voting, want to see my sticker!!! I've never seen you swear before. :)
HI Ellen.
Good points.....why is it that most people don't realize what a privilege it truly is?
I wish t'hell I could vote :)
I'll be watching the results tonight on TV though.........
Take care....
I love your cartoon you posted! It is very true.
A good plug for Democracy! Of course, good candidates help alot! I helped vote in the country's only Governor of color Tuesday, Deval Patrick (D). He won because he's not only very likeable n even-tempered, but incredibly smart and a problem solver who graduated from Harvard.
If this guy can't make head-way on some of this state's issues, no one can!
We had a very high turn-out in
mA this year.
It stunk that at 2am at work I found out I had to be in Tues pm by 3, so I really got no sleep n was pretty grumpy just because I HAD TO vote (it wouldn't be right if I didn't!)
I hope your locality got a few new good ones in also-
lee ann~
Hope you had a great day as well... even though I am two days behind in responding. How can it be Thursday already?
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skye~
My sticker is the first thing I asked for when I left the voting booth. A cool little reward for a job well done, I say.
As for my potty mouth.... I keep it to the barest of minimums here. Not so in traffic, though.
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awareness~
Good question.... bad answers. I know several people that refuse to vote because they say their vote doesn't count. (Still baffled by that response myself).... and several others because it puts you in line for jury duty. They get jury lists from voter registration lists. I have been to jury duty MANY times over the past 20 years, and although I'm not a fan of driving downtown to the courthouse in the wee hours of the morning to miss traffic, I still feel I cannot give up my right to vote because of a minor inconvenience.
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myutopia~
I actually had a better cartoon that I tried to upload for several hours (to no avail), but settled on this one so I could get the post up. It was a picture of a poster of Uncle Sam holding up a sign that said: VOTE. Underneath Sam was a little disclaimer that read: this advertisement was endorsed by Uncle Sam. That was perfect.... if only it would have worked. Glad you liked this one though. It does give a broader range of the garbage you have to witness in order to come to an informed decision, doesn't it?
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snaggle~
Ah yes, does Massachesetts vote any other way than Democrat? I voted Democrat (and still do in a Republican state), when I lived in NE. I say it's because it's in my "Kennedy" blood. I grew up during a time that saw hope in a young President, and would have voted for Bobby had I been old enough back then. But the party isn't what it used to be. My brother, Karl, says that I should keep an eye on Mitt Romney. I already told him I have been. Let's hope they put up someone good for the Presidential race.
I'll keep my eyes and ears open about Mr. Patrick.... I hadn't heard about him before. It will be interesting to see how he shapes up the state.
We didn't get in anybody new. As mentioned, this is a Republican state, and we got Republicans back in again. I can't complain though, as our Governor is a pretty good joe. I actually do like him, and the decisions he's made. He did have a bit of a scandel that rocked his platform a little, but nothing serious to shake him off altogether. It was all over a land deal he made in the state of Florida, and some in Georgia as well.
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nelle~
Love the turnaround on the name. It's the same as mine!
I was a little surprised that Lieberman was voted in, and on an Independant ticket. I tend to be Independant, voting Democrat more times than not, with a Libertarian heart. Make sense? Probably not, but my roots are still very much New England when it comes to voting, lobster, and clam chowder.
I'm still waiting around to see if the Libertarians will do anything with their party.... as the Dems and Pubs seem to be having problems holding on to theirs.
Glad you stopped by to say hello, and looking forward to jumping over to your blog again. Hope all is well, sweetie!
Ok, here goes…
I’m actually writing this in MS Word because I already know it’s going to be too long to manage in the Blogger comment box. Ah yes, the miracle of cutting and pasting (not to be confused with cutting and running, but that’s a different topic altogether!).
I get tired of hearing about the inefficiencies of our system of government. Really, I do. Oh sure, there is bureaucratic logjam of monumental proportions, and there are many opportunities to manipulate it for personal gain (recent examples are abundant), and the bickering even among rational individuals can be enough to make one to pull one’s own hair out, HOWEVER…
As you said, it is still the best system of government ever devised for a population and geography as large as these United States of America - in the history of the world. Ya ya, I know. “What about the system in ________(fill in the blank of some small democracy)? Apples and Oranges. Everything about this country is on a scale that dwarfs anything prior. Russia hasn’t done it. Not China… or India. Nope, only the good ole USA has been able to guarantee so much for so many for so long.
It’s unprecedented.
So to those that argue about how wasteful or inefficient our government is I say this:
Solve the issues regarding waste. I don’t care who you are, there is always room to save whatever, but quit bitching unless you have a plan OR are willing to make some sacrifices yourself. Economy starts at home.
If you are one to argue about the general inefficiency of our system, I say this:
What is your means of measurement? I submit that this government is highly efficient for the key tasks it performs. What is your yardstick? Money? How do you measure civil liberty with dollars and cents? What price do you put on equality, stability… freedom? How can you measure opportunity? I submit again that when these intrinsic and priceless qualities are factored in, we are as efficient as anyone has ever been. Hands down.
We just witnessed again the peaceful, organized and publicly accepted transition of power. No one died. No blood was shed. And it is not the first time. Inefficient? It’s by design. Voting is more than just an exercise of liberty, it’s a legitimation of our government and whether you like its current manifestation or not, voting is a showing of public support for it.
One vote makes one hell of a difference.
Ok, rant over.
mike~
Once again, your comment says all I mean to say but on a better scale than my own. You managed to put light to the bigger issue that most non-voters never see: no matter what, one vote really can make a difference. A perfect example of that is the first election of Dubya and the Florida voters back in 2000.
For a country that is as vast as we are, and now filled with over 300 million people to govern, our system must be doing something right to have a peaceful transition when elections are counted and over. Again, I refer to Florida and the 2000 vote. When the state had to recount the ballots, we still remained a peaceful nation while we waited to see how many cards had punched chads as compared to hanging chads. No gun fighting in the streets, no hostile takeovers, no violence of any kind occurred.
Yes, we have many challanges, problems, and issues to deal with... but those can only be met and dealt with if we work together as a nation. How can we preach democracy to the world if we are not willing to back it up at home?
We are the example, because we are the largest nation of democracy to date. That is a big deal.
As for ranting.... feel free to anytime. You always manage to bring an angle to my posts that make me sit back and say, "Yeah... what Mike said!"
Hope you are having a good weekend!
~xo
amen .now that's it's all over , keep an eagle eye on those elected so they will not screw up ....too much !
Where'dja go, hon? You're not anywhere to be found!
Ellen;
Point well taken,
I will confess that this year will be the first time in 30+ years I DIDN'T vote. trust me it was not out of defience or lack of interest. Now that I reside in the Great Granite State my polling place has changed and since I was on Active Duty and did not file an abscent ballet, too bad for me.
Heres how it all went in the short run. First my guy won by a large margin. So my vote 'really' didnt count! (thats up for arguement) Secondly, I was following 2 other elections...Mass Gubinatorial and Conn Senate.
What an upset in Taxachusetts! No pun but the 'dark horse' won. I liked Patrick and wish him the best.Of course I have some reservations about what the party is doing there. So much will be seen in the upcoming months. It was a dirty campaign and I am pleased to see he held up to the competition. I truely think the public is exhasuted with dirty campaigns and today we have a more learned voting public.
And then there is Joe Lieberman. Joe made some naughty mistakes toward his constituates prior to the primary. The big question is, will he learn from it and grow. Alot of incumbants develop a sense of ownership toward a job that is not really in their owns hands to determine. Serving Government is a duty not entitlement. I am certian Richard Nixon could put a better spin on it than I since he had plenty of 'thinking' time in San Clemente once he positioned a Ford Pinto in The White House.
In any event it was very entertaining and now we can all get back to our normal broadcast. By the way, who is going to remove all those pesty campaigns signs off the roadways?
Kudos
love Karl
lee ann~
You too sweetie! I saw the pictures you took of the foliage, and realized that you had the same good looking trees we have. They were brilliant this year, weren't they? Only too bad the storm that blew through on Wednesday took most of the leaves down, huh? Oh well.... time to pick up a rake or mow them in.
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john~
Amen. Both parties have a lot of issues to take care of, and it will be interesting to see how the next two years go.
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saur~
Well, I can be found... and mostly either in front of an oven, or on the road delivering.... just not the blog lately. Busy season for me has already started.... with many turkeys to cook, and trays to create. I'm looking forward to Christmas Day.... just because I know it to be a day we take off no matter what.
I dropped by your blog and read the posts I've missed commenting on... and have to tell you that I thought your new stemware looked pretty nice. What a great idea to do something different for the day!
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karl~
Hello.... and I missed hearing from you. I know your life is equally as busy as mine, so I am grateful that you had a chance to comment. I will call you soon (when I get a free moment... cough, cough) so we can catch up.
By the way.... Auntie called, but we only had a few moments to talk. I will call her soon to catch up as well. She sends her love!
As for the campaign signs? I was thinking the same thing about those things a few days after the elections were over. Some lawns and businesses had multiple x multiple signage, and I wondered who was responsible for getting the sight pollution taken care of.
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