Why I Love Election Day

[Opsa]

Hooray! Tomorrow is election day. That means we can finally stop seeing all those rotten mug-slinger ads, and stop getting all those annoying campaign calls and just VOTE!

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I sometimes feel that there is a conspiracy to make democracy a hassle. 

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

We have our Mayoral run off election tomorrow as well.

I will be **sooo** happy to dismiss with the attack-ads.

But, if you've ever seen the South Park episode about elections and voting?  Yeah... that's my dilemma too-- my choices are the same as in that episode (which I will not say here-- it's kinda NSFW). 

... meh.

This time around, I'm simply voting for change-- any change in our local administration can only be an improvement.

[Opsa]

We have a gubernatorial election here, and two real goobers to choose from. Bleah. I'm voting against the tea-party republican candidate.

[pieces o nine]

At this point, the laptop has scooted itself mere inches from the tv, and I am watching the incoming across the board, results hoping that the tea party candidates are defeated in every single election...

[Opsa]

Looks like we narrowly missed voting in the loco tea party candidate here. *Whew!* He , of course, is still saying that his anti-Obamamcare message got through. Silly goose.

Every time I got a phone call from his party yesterday (and they were desperate- I got three, I think from him and none from my candidate) I would simply pick up the phone and say "You lose!" to the recording before hanging up. They didn't hear me, but it was fun, anyway.

[pieces o nine]

The one you got is no prince, but not overtly eeeeeevil like his opponent.

I was also watching Texas:
• apparently the residents are no longer content to rely upon prayer to fight drought:

voters statewide approved $2 billion to finance ambitious drought-fighting initiatives meant to help ensure Texas can meet the needs of its booming population and growing economy for the next 50 years

• the populace as a whole has not been cowed by anti-gay theocrats:

The off-year Election Day's other big winner, meanwhile, was openly gay Houston Mayor Annise Parker, who took a majority of the votes cast despite facing eight challengers to secure a third and final term leading America's fourth-largest city.

With its about 2.1 million residents, Houston remains the nation's largest city led by an openly gay person.

• not clear yet whether the naked attempt to disenfranchise women and minority voters will succeed in delivering only Tea Party-sponsored candidates to office.


~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~


On a related issue: what about Would-Be Leader of the Free World Rand Paul coming unglued under "haters" pointing out his long-term, flagrant plagiarism. Even worse denials, imho, than his dad's continuous protestations of shock! that a clear and persistent pattern of racism laced his speeches and writing.

[Griffin NoName]

• not clear yet whether the naked attempt to disenfranchise women and minority voters

What?

[pieces o nine]

You are aware of the brouhaha after the Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, with traditionally problematic Southern states immediately enacting draconian voting restrictions "to prevent voter fraud" intended to disenfranchise minority voters.

Texas distinguished itself by implementing voter ID laws which take advantage of traditional state regulations on how a woman is supposed to use married vs maiden names on various documents -- in effect using the regulations enforcing one set of rules to invalidate other forms of differently mandated (and required) IDs. Texas is also among Southern states attempting to circumvent federal regulations permitting students at out-of-state colleges or universities to vote where they attend classes.

Basically, these are the same (chicken hawk) people championing wars without end in the rest of the world, where US troops are mandated by god to go and "spread democracy" at gunpoint, if necessary, while methodically and calculatingly gutting voting in their own states. They are doing this because that is the only way that Tea Party Republicans can guarantee election wins in districts where they would lose to moderate Republican or Democratic candidates more appealing to majority populations of women, Blacks, Latinos, and Democrats. Some very hard-right candidates and their supporting machinery have attempted to block ballots cast by active duty military personnel. I am stunned that the feds are taking little notice of and action on this flagrant trampling of voting rights.

I bring up voting rights to outspoken, hard-line "2nd Amendment" types who bitch about "supporting all constitutional rights, not just the ones you like," asking whether they are disturbed by attempted "States Rights" curtailments of the 14th, 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th Amendments. They never are.

[Swatopluk]

A standard argument is that the US are a republic not a democracy, so universal suffrage is not a necessary (or even desired) condition.

[Griffin NoName]

You are aware of the brouhaha after the Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, with traditionally problematic Southern states immediately enacting draconian voting restrictions "to prevent voter fraud" intended to disenfranchise minority voters. .

No, I wasn't.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

A standard argument is that the US are a republic not a democracy, so universal suffrage is not a necessary (or even desired) condition.

A clearly plutocratic republic, I might add. 

[Aggie]

Pluto got removed from its position of distinction, can't we do the same for plutocrats?


_{not as long as we allow money to equal power, we can't}

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I don't think it's coincidental that Pluto rules the underworld and Mammon the surface... 

[Opsa]

We're really talking about Uranus here, aren't we?

_{Someone had to go there. Why is it always me?}