November 3, 2008

It's time.



I voted last week, as evidenced by my little "My vote counted" sticker. I joked a lot about how, when I voted for Obama in the most conservative voting county in Texas, I half expected the tornado sirens to go off, but the truth is that even here, there are a lot of Obama voters, judging from the yard signs and bumper stickers I've been seeing.

I don't think these are secret Democrats who have been tempted out of hiding. I suspect a lot of them are Republicans and Independents (like me, actually; it's been at least two election cycles since I've self-identified as a Democrat) who have seen an opportunity to do something different, before it's too late. I suspect there are a lot of people like myself who are afraid that if things keep going on the track they're going, this might be the last election where we actually choose a president rather than a local warlord. Parsing this election in terms of the fall of civilization too hyperbolic for you? Well, yeah, me too, probably, but still. As The Daily Show put it a few weeks ago, I sometimes think that Bush isn't just trying to become the worst president ever, but possibly the last.

Here's the thing, though. I have friends who are not only McCain supporters, but hard-core, right-wing, blood-red conservative Republicans. No, it's true. In fact, considering what a dick I can be about politics and religion, it's surprising how many of those friends I actually have. And I don't think they're deluded or suffering from a head injury. I think they're wrong, of course. But then, I suspect a lot of people think I'm wrong about a great many things. They stick around anyway, though, possibly for the same reason that some people watch auto racing from the safe seats in the back. What matters is that they are there. They remain my friends, and they care about their country.

You've probably heard a lot about how this is the most important election in this country since the Civil War, and that if you don't vote, the ghost of George Washington is going to show up in your bedroom late Wednesday night and poke you in the eye. I suspect that it's true, or mostly true, anyway. Well, maybe not the ghost part, as cool as that would be. But it does feel like we're at a point in our history where the high school textbooks of the future will start a new chapter.

Regardless of the outcome, regardless of your politics, and no matter how freaky you are about your position or how apathetic you might have become about the whole thing, go vote tomorrow. Go exercise maybe the one governing process the founding fathers gave you to participate in as a citizen that isn't completely fucked up now. Be a part of history, one way or the other.

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Edited to add: I just removed Google Ads from my site, due to the fact that California readers were being treated to a "Yes on Prop 8" ad on my site without my approval or even my knowledge. Thanks, Google. That was a pretty vile thing to do there. We're done, you and I.

Yay to the longtime reader who pointed it out to me in email. Boo to that same reader for asking why I'm opposed to gay marriage and in favor of writing discrimination into the constitution. ("I was very, very surprised and disappointed to discover that.") I mean, come on.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a great post. Politics aside (as I'm sure someone will no doubt read into who helped this happen), I am so proud that my (college student) son has already registered to vote since this is the first election for which he is an eligible voter. I hope this instills in him the importance of voting -- period. We may unintentionally have a new generation of voters who value this right more than ever before. It could be the silver lining in all this turmoil.

OrneryPest said...

Absolutely astute, your mention of "election in terms of the fall of civilization" which reminds me strongly of the choice, in 284 AD (or thereabouts, my knowledge of history is a bit rusty) of Diocletian for Roman Emperor, starry-eyed reformer, dedicated to ending the abysmal corruption of the previous several imperial administrations, but abysmally stupid and monumentally egotistical. What happened next, you can review from the notes you took in history class. I'm only hoping that whoever gets elected (not Haystack McGoon, I hope), can avoid the error of knowing that the new broom sweeps clean but forgetting that the old broom knows where the dirt's at.

Annie B. said...

Rob. . .
Last year, when Hannah turned 18, we went through the court system of Collin County to extend our guardianship. . .since at this point, it appears that she will not be able to live fully independently. Not an uncommon thing that special needs parents have to do. ANYWAY, I appreciated the fact that one of the issues that the presiding judge felt very strongly about is that every person, no matter how severe the disability or no matter how "incapacitated" they are (I hate that term, but it's the one they use), would still retain the right to vote. . .as it should be. I guess not all judges make an issue of it.
There are alot of things that she doesn't understand. . .but we have made sure she does understand the privilege AND the responsibility it is to vote. . .and we have worked to help her get all the facts.
I am very proud of the fact that she has her voter registration card and she can't wait to vote tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

I always take my daughter, now 12, to vote with
me although it would be more convenient to
vote by mail. I think she needs to know how the
physical process works too. Over the years only
one person has been outraged that I brought a
child with me and didn't vote "secretly." I had
to appeal to a supervisor that year to let her
come up to the shaky little plastic and cardboard
booth with me. There's very little as important
as showing kids how grownups vote and talking
with them, as they grow, about what voting does.

Anonymous said...

I hope to welcome you to a blue state when you hit Ohio on Thursday. In a blue country.

But I agree - my message has long been "as long as you're informed and knowledgeable, please vote."

wen said...

Thank you for getting rid of the Yes on 8 ads. To give you an idea of what I've been going through (as a married gay woman in CA), here are some videos of the scene 1 mile from my house. And I live in the Bay Area (Oakland), CA, that bastion of supposed liberal wackiness.

www.flickr.com/wenandtara

Look at the set of the hateful protests.

I appreciate that you got rid of the ads; the Yes people are sending out millions of false Democrat voting guides (they say in small print they're not really Dem material) urging Yes on 8, there's a flyer with Obama and Yes on 8 on it (he came out against this prop). It's hateful & horrid.

I've been standing on the street corner in the rain, in an attempt to convince people to let me remain married. May you never have to do the same.

Robert Hudson said...

Well, of course I got rid of the ads. I had no idea they were there or I would have done it a lot sooner. I'm really very pissed off at Google for letting that happen in the first place. Running political ads, unapproved and unseen? I never even saw them until I got a screen shot from someone in California. All I saw from this end was some lame weight loss ad.

Prop 8 is an abomination. You don't need to school me on that, trust me.

Anonymous said...

This is a great post (but I wouldn't expect anything else).

Unknown said...

I've been seeing quite a lot of comments on blogs/webcomics today saying that Google Ads popped up a Yes on Proposition 8 ad against the desire of the site owner. If I were you (and I recognise you have plenty of other battles to fight), I'd be tempted to drop them an email and point out that Google's motto is supposed to be "Don't be evil". There's clearly something not right when hateful ads turn up on sites nonconsensually.

bunnybea said...

It's not exactly Google promoting these ads for Prop 8. They have publicly announced they are No on Prop 8. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/our-position-on-californias-no-on-8.html

But someone had to pay forthose sponsored ads on Google. It makes me wonder what keywords are used to place the ads on different sites?

Robert Hudson said...

I'm not sure that makes me feel that much better. "We're not bigots, we'll just sell ads to anybody with cash."

Well, whatever. I'll just have to adjust my budget so that I can learn to live without the eight bucks a year or whatever what I was making from those ads.

Anonymous said...

I'll send you the 8 bucks. Thanks for removing the ads.

wen said...

hey rob,

alas, i hope you didn't read my comment as an attempt to school you in this stuff! i was wanting to voice my appreciation. you're one of the last folks i can imagine supporting that kind of crap. i was basically venting/preaching to the choir.

Jen said...

Well, I think I'm a few weeks late, but I like your 'I'm suprised the tornado sirens didn't go off' joke. At my school in East Texas, on election day, the principal came and spoke with us in the cafeteria about how sick he was of the election dividing the school. Now, after the election, many students have the 'Obama' song on their laptops and play it whenever they get the chance. Not sure how much I like that, but I think it's a neat sign of the times anyhow. :)

Anonymous said...

Hey wen!
There were some pretty hateful protests in CA from the NO ON PROP 8 people too.