Attention all Floridians (and some people from other states to whom this applies).
It's Election Day!
Today is the day to make your voice heard in government (not that you can't do that everyday, but today is extra special in that you can get new people to scream your demands at after today).
"But it's *just* a Mid-term Election," you say? Apparently, shows what you know... Whether Mid-term or Presidential, it's still an Election. It still effects your life and the lives of your fellow citizens. It's still the right to vote, which many thousands of our forbearers died to give to you. "To me?" Yes, to *you*!
If you don't vote in this election, then I don't want to hear it... absolutely no complaints about elected officials who are elected today, no matter what they do in the future, no matter how they vote or what policies they put forth... no nothing like that out of you. Unless you've been in a coma for the last two weeks, and couldn't vote early or today... 'Cause otherwise, there's absolutely no reason not to vote in this election. Besides local government and Congress, in Florida, we're electing our Governor today for goodness sake! That's the state version of the President... Not to mention the ballot initiatives! All muy importante!
And there's also no reason to vote for or against people or initiatives that you know nothing about. It's been more than two months since the Primary, the ballot has been set for at least that long, and with the internet, that is ample time to do your research and get your facts straight. So if you vote unknowingly, don't want to hear it either. And under-voting is fine, if, after due diligence, you feel there are no suitable candidates for a particular office. Otherwise, it's still your fault for not doing your research...
Far from home? You could have gotten an absentee ballot and mailed in your vote...
No time to vote? If you live in Hillsborough County, I say bullshit you couldn't find the maximum of 20 minutes between the hours of 10am and 6pm over the last two weeks, Monday through Saturday to go vote at the library. And even if you couldn't... absentee ballots!
And here's my favorite excuse: "But the weather's bad today!" You just stop whining and think for a minute about the many women who picketed President Wilson to get the right to vote for themselves and their daughters and all female citizens of the United States alive today. From dawn to dusk, through heat, rain and snow, they stood on the sidewalk in front of the White House gates. Every. Single. Day. When WWI began, they still picketed. And for that, they were thrown in prison because they dared to publicly call a "war-time" President a hypocrite. They went on hunger strike in prison and were force fed by the most barbaric of methods and thrown into solitary confinement. They were denied legal council, and denied any contact with friends and family outside the prison. They suffered all of that to vote. Only to vote.
So you go vote today.
I don't care if it's 30 below outside and the weather guy is saying you're going to get 3 feet of snow before nightfall, and you're going to have to wait in line for hours even to get inside the building. You get off your ass, put on a parka, march down to your polling place, and cast a ballot.
And if it's just a bit of rain in your area... Lord help you if that stops you from voting! And how on earth do you get out of bed in the morning, if rain keeps you from doing the most important thing you can do as an American citizen?
Go Vote!... Now!... Yes, right now! Go Vote!
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3 comments:
Funny you should say that. It's cold and rainy here, and our car's in the shop... but WE still went to vote. My friend Sam even called me to ask if we did our civic duty. Duty, yes, and a priviledge.
As fluffy as Mercedes Lackey can be, she provides a wonderful description of just such things as the suffrage movement in Edwardian England in "The Serpent's Shadow".
Last semester when I had my Speech class, I did my persuasive speech on women's suffrage, complete witha PowerPoint presentation which I might still have on my flash drive: slides of women in parades, a dramatic drawing of a woman being forcefed in a prison cell, and a picture of Mrs. Pankhurst, among them. Fortunately no one in the class had to vote to say whether my speech swayed them one way or another; the teacher claimed it was irrelevent to the 20th Century.. HELLO?! Fill in the blanks there... What century did she think she was in?
P.S. And naughty you being on the computer for un-paper-ish reasons! :P
Best of luck. And don't worry if you haven't got time to do the PayPal thing; school CERTAINLY takes precedence over other stuff!
:D I'm glad that you got to vote. Good job! There are a few people in my Latin class who did not... I was proud that I was able to maintain my chi in the face of that news.
What a cool topic for a speech! I can't believe your prof said that! I wish you could see my face right now. I just don't understand how anyone could say that... Obviously not a history person...
School stuff duly taken care of... Thank you for the luck. It was touch and go for the last few hours. But since this is a rough draft, I figured I could be a bit sketchy in a few areas.
PayPal tomorrow after classes, no problem. ;D
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