HAIRSHIRT
Helping You Get the Most Out of Your Misery
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HAIRSHIRT Helping You Get the Most Out of Your Misery |
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Sunday, November 05, 2006Fuck the Vote
Two years ago, not all that long after I started writing this blog, we had ourselves an election. You may remember it. Stupid guy and stiff guy debating each other repeatedly? Faulty polling? Possible voter fraud? No? Not ringing any bells? Ah well.
Anyway, back then, I wrote all about it. I followed every single news story I could find and I thought about it nonstop. This year, not so much. And this morning, I find myself wondering just why the hell that is? Why is it that I'm more inspired to write about, say, bad smells than about the race between Rick Santorum and whoever the hell it is who's running against him. The obvious answer would be that this isn't a presidential race, it's just the midterms. Most Americans don't give a rat's nutsack about midterms. They only go to church on Christmas and Easter, they only watch baseball during the playoffs and they only vote when it's the big one. I'm not like that, though. I vote whenever I get the chance. (Okay, that's kind of a lie. I used to vote whenever I got the chance. Now I'm a registered member of the Green Party, so I can't vote in the Democratic primaries and the Green Primary always consists of one unopposed organic farmer whose major policy idea is getting wheat germ into public school cafeterias. But I'd vote in primaries if I could.) Maybe it has something to do with my outlook in general after the last year or maybe it has to do with the overwhelmingly negative campaign ads that I've been sick of fucking seeing for the past five months. (I truly hope that both Bob Menendez and Tom Keane, Jr. get herpes.) But whatever the reason, as truly interested as I am in seeing the Republicans lose control over one or both houses so that maybe--just maybe--George W. will get some of the legislative smackdown he so richly deserves, I just don't see a whole lot to write about. The major news stories in this election cycle have had fuck-all to do with government. A congressman who likes oiled-up pages. A senator with no sense of humor. An evangelist who likes meth-fueled butt sex. None of these stories has a damned thing to do with the mess our country's in and the ability of one party or the other to get us the fuck out of it. Where are the stories about how Bush is eroding our civil rights? Where are the stories about the death of American manufacturing and the unsustainability of a service-based economy? Where are the stories about the dire need for universal health care? They're out there, I suppose, if you look for them. But they get about 1/80 the coverage of a story about, say, Laura Bush going down on a schnauzer. (Not to say that that's happened. But just imagine.) I just can't help but think that, no matter what the hell happens with this election, we're not going to see the change that we need. Democrats will spend their time in ultimately pointless investigations of the Bush administration or puffing up their credentials for the 2008 elections. Bush will continue [insert synonym for "staying the course" here]. And we'll still be bogged down in Iraq and awash in domestic problems that can't get solved because our leaders are too busy jacking it to their own pictures. Having said all that... Make sure you get out and vote on Tuesday, folks.
Comments:
I just can't help but think that, no matter what the hell happens with this election, we're not going to see the change that we need. Democrats will spend their time in ultimately pointless investigations of the Bush administration or puffing up their credentials for the 2008 elections. Bush will continue [insert synonym for "staying the course" here]. And we'll still be bogged down in Iraq and awash in domestic problems that can't get solved because our leaders are too busy jacking it to their own pictures.
Old boy, I think you're coming around yet!
Send a message.
Vote for third parties. Libertarian is my preference, but Green is fine and dandy too. Or... write in "None Of The Above" (the poll workers will be annoyed, but still...) Whatever you do, don't just stay home... that's exactly what they want us to do.
# posted by
 : 8:36 AM
Lurker here -
Aside from being quite witty, this post captured my political sentiments exactly (well, almost - California has it's own set of jacknuts groveling for votes). I have enjoyed reading your blog since finding it via "A Little Pregnant". You really are a funny man. :-) Lara
# posted by
: 12:20 PM
RW--I've never thought that Dems had all the answers; it's just that Bush & Co. make the Dems look like a gaggle of King Solomons.
Post a Comment
Stephen--Voting Green is exactly what I intend to do. Fortunately, I live someplace where the Democratic nominees are pretty safe. So I can take my vote and use it to give a voice to a third party. The two-party system is fucked. Lara--Thanks for the kind words. I know this blog isn't always that relevent to folks coming from A Little Bit Pregnant, so I thank you for taking the time to look around.
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