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Welcome to the U.S.'s Quadrennial Primal Scream...
The thing is this:
People HATE to be lied to. You lie to them, you piss them off.
And an awful lot of people out there (at least half the country if you believe the polls) have figured out that the Bush Administration had lied to them about something. It may have been the march to Iraq. Or maybe it was the tax cuts. Or maybe it was something during the debates.
But the point is this: at least half the country figured out Bush was lying his ass off about something over the past four years.
There's only one thing that people hate MORE than being lied to.
It's when someone claims they didn't lie when you know damn well they did and when you call them on it, you're the one who's crazy. Or mean. Or hateful.
That's how you really piss people off. Piss them off enough that they're willing to stand in line for hours just to get the chance to deliver a good swift kick in the ass.
Yeah. I'm a-hoping for the bitchslap heard 'round the world sometime in the early a.m. I'll be glued to television and obsessing over Blue and Red states.
And although I know I won't get it: I want to see Bush crying like a girl on international television when he gives his concession speech.
However, I'll settle for just the concession speech, kthnx.
Anyway, I overslept this morning and didn't get to my polling place at the grammar school until 8:05 a.m. (EST). The line was--eeeeep--hella long and snaking out into the parking lot. You could see well-dressed singles and couples tromping to the end of the line looking grim and determined.
No one was checking their watch.
Anyway, I could see![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ponders_life's Sweetie way ahead of (he was at least in the gym) and when he looked my way I waved. He waved back, but the line was too long to talk.
So, as I got into the building, I was assured by the election commission lady that I was in the right line for my precinct and ward (It's called 7-1). I looked sadly at the (nonexistent) line for the neighboring ward (That would be called 7-2) and waited patiently.
So, I get to check in and see the line just to get your ballot in the box. [insert slight hysterical scream at length] The school's PTO was doing the smart thing and running a breakfast-y bake sale to the tired and hungry voters.
Anyway, when they check my street address...
WHOOOPS!
Embarrassed laugher.
You're supposed to be in the really, really short line.
[Cue cheer with a sense of irritation]
So, I go, and vote. It was for about seven political offices, three of which were uncontested. No ballot questions. I check out, drop my ballot in the box, and run intoponders_life Sweetie on the way out.
I noted that it took me a half-hour to vote and that I probably should've been there at seven. Turned out that he'd been there at 7 and at the ripe hour of 8:30 he was leaving.
Holy crap! We're talking an hour-and-a-half to vote. In Massachusetts.
There's nothing like a pissed-off electorate, I think.
So, my final plea (Like I haven't been lunatic-y all week about this):
Go. Vote.
Please.
If you run into trouble while trying to vote or if someone challenges your right to vote, remember your Voting Rights and have the Emergency Phone Numbers on hand.
My goal is to win us a really boring next four years.
People HATE to be lied to. You lie to them, you piss them off.
And an awful lot of people out there (at least half the country if you believe the polls) have figured out that the Bush Administration had lied to them about something. It may have been the march to Iraq. Or maybe it was the tax cuts. Or maybe it was something during the debates.
But the point is this: at least half the country figured out Bush was lying his ass off about something over the past four years.
There's only one thing that people hate MORE than being lied to.
It's when someone claims they didn't lie when you know damn well they did and when you call them on it, you're the one who's crazy. Or mean. Or hateful.
That's how you really piss people off. Piss them off enough that they're willing to stand in line for hours just to get the chance to deliver a good swift kick in the ass.
Yeah. I'm a-hoping for the bitchslap heard 'round the world sometime in the early a.m. I'll be glued to television and obsessing over Blue and Red states.
And although I know I won't get it: I want to see Bush crying like a girl on international television when he gives his concession speech.
However, I'll settle for just the concession speech, kthnx.
Anyway, I overslept this morning and didn't get to my polling place at the grammar school until 8:05 a.m. (EST). The line was--eeeeep--hella long and snaking out into the parking lot. You could see well-dressed singles and couples tromping to the end of the line looking grim and determined.
No one was checking their watch.
Anyway, I could see
ponders_life's Sweetie way ahead of (he was at least in the gym) and when he looked my way I waved. He waved back, but the line was too long to talk. So, as I got into the building, I was assured by the election commission lady that I was in the right line for my precinct and ward (It's called 7-1). I looked sadly at the (nonexistent) line for the neighboring ward (That would be called 7-2) and waited patiently.
So, I get to check in and see the line just to get your ballot in the box. [insert slight hysterical scream at length] The school's PTO was doing the smart thing and running a breakfast-y bake sale to the tired and hungry voters.
Anyway, when they check my street address...
WHOOOPS!
Embarrassed laugher.
You're supposed to be in the really, really short line.
[Cue cheer with a sense of irritation]
So, I go, and vote. It was for about seven political offices, three of which were uncontested. No ballot questions. I check out, drop my ballot in the box, and run into
ponders_life Sweetie on the way out.I noted that it took me a half-hour to vote and that I probably should've been there at seven. Turned out that he'd been there at 7 and at the ripe hour of 8:30 he was leaving.
Holy crap! We're talking an hour-and-a-half to vote. In Massachusetts.
There's nothing like a pissed-off electorate, I think.
So, my final plea (Like I haven't been lunatic-y all week about this):
Go. Vote.
Please.
If you run into trouble while trying to vote or if someone challenges your right to vote, remember your Voting Rights and have the Emergency Phone Numbers on hand.
My goal is to win us a really boring next four years.
no subject
no subject
It's not that original, but I soooooooo want to see Shrub's face when he realizes he has LOST and then cut to a clip of Donald Trump saying "Yah fi-yahd!" (Yes, I know. But still!)
voting
This is not a surprise. At all.
The line wasn't very long then, took about fifteen minutes. Apparently it was really long before work, but not everone can just leave work at 9am and go vote like I can.
no subject
Not to be effusive, but I have really appreciated the posts you have made on the election. Overseas there is not the same news coverage and there was a number of issues I was unaware of (ripping up of voters registration cards springs to mind). In the last couple of weeks I've been diligently checking on your links and passing on the stories to friends and family with an ever-building sense of dismay (how many constitution amendments have been violated by now?) My ever-building sense of guilt finally motivated me to get a livejournal account and say thanks for the enlightenment - so-to-speak :)
Congratulations -- to you and everyone who voted.
As many have already said, decisions are made by those that take the trouble to speak out; apathy can create some ugly messes... You cared, and you did something about it. Which is more than many can say I suspect.
Nevertheless, I think the large voter turn-out has been uplifting. People seem to be getting energised and are *caring* enough to vote, even if it requires long queues, registration difficulties, etc. So even if The Shrub wins, I'm still Pollyanna-enough to think that in-and-of-itself, that is a win.
Compare it to Australia (where I live). Here, voting is compulsory: once you're on the electoral role, if you don't vote you get fined. Result = many people hate our elections and complain mightily about the whole process: voting is a pain, not a privilege. And waiting in line to vote for more than 30 mins? Fugeddaboutit. News reports of early voters in the US waiting 3 hours raise eyebrows and elicit various comments on how paying the fine would be easier. Which could explain how our election went last month actually... I didn't vote for this Aussie prime minister, but the little-man-with-massive-eyebrows won anyway with a large swing to his (conservative!) party. Rats.
My motto tonight has been "Here's hoping that there are many pissed electorates, and that the American public cares enough to make an educated choice: four years of boredom *is* better than four years like the last four."
Good luck.
(P.S. Between political browsings I've started reading and thoroughly enjoying your Xander/Faith fanfic; will be sending enthusiastic fic-dedicated feedback once I'm further along on Living History!)
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[snip]
No one was checking their watch.
Well, almost no one...
Good luck, I hope things go the way they should and Bush gets what he deserves. Wish I could be there voting but that'd be a little illegal, I think. I'll just have to settle for voting against Blair and against the Conservatives again at the next election. Of course not liking any of the major players does mean that occasionally I end up voting for weird candidates, but at least I'm taking an interest...
no subject
Four more years of Kicking Butt....Four more years of BUSH!