LET'S PARTY LIKE IT'S 1776, Y'ALL.
Holy crapballs, Batman! I had no idea when I did my "scientific" study of Colin Morgan's smiles it would be quite so popular. I'm pleased, flattered, and totally don't have time to respond to every comment. So a blanket thank you to everyone who replied. You're all highly excellent individuals. A small correction should be made, however, that apparently in one of the first historical analysis pictures, feilongfan pointed out quite rightly that Colin is smiling/smirking at Richard, who is holding the camera, and only possibly Bradley, who is sitting next to Richard. Therefore it is possible that that smile is not Bradley-specific. (Or that Colin had a brief fling with/crush on Richard, but I'm discounting that because omg, mental images, DO NOT WANT.)
Anyway, I interrupt my usual journal content of non nationality-specific, fandom-related asshattery for a brief moment of seriousness and America-centricism. Namely:
Look, I know. If you live in America right now (and maybe even if you don't live in America right now), you are so fucking tired of hearing about the midterm elections you probably want to shoot yourself in the face. Hell, I'm a political nerd/junkie and I want to shoot myself in the face. But if you are over 18 and an American citizen, you need to vote. You need to vote because, as insignificant as it feels, it is actually important. America is governed by the opinions of the people who show up. So unless you're totally fine having no control over how your life is run, you have to show up. It's a responsibility that you, as a taxpaying, existing citizen, need to do. Period.
More specifically, you need to vote in this election, because this election is A Giant Fucking Deal, like, even more than most big elections normally are, and this is a Giant Fucking Deal because of a little Supreme Court case called Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, where it was ruled that there are no limits on private spending in elections. This means that anyone, a billionaire, a giant company, an overseas dictator, anyone, can essentially buy a candidate by pumping millions upon millions of dollars into a race, even if they cannot vote in it, and no one is under any obligation to say where the money comes from. And while I can spend a really long time (believe me) ranting on the relative morality of this decision, it's unimportant. The fact is, the reason you are seeing so many fucking campaign ads is that now candidates are getting giant amounts of money to run.
What this means, besides that the only way to escape from this election is to be actually dead, is that there are a lot of crazy people running for office right now, and they have a legitimate chance to win. I'm not talking casually crazy like we normally expect of politicians. I'm talking people like Christine O'Donnell, who thinks that the separation of religion and politics is not in the constitution, or that masturbation should be abolished, or that she is personally, as a conservative activist who is in no way affiliated with any governmental organization (knock on wood) privy to top-secret information that China is attempting to kill us all. There's Sharron Angle, who's running against the current leader of the Senate, who thinks Social Security and the Department of Education should be abolished, or that Conservatives, if they don't get their way this election, should plan an armed insurrection, and is, um... how do I put this. She's, like, kind of super-duper racist. Like, political ads depicting Hispanics as thugs who take your job and your child's college education, telling a Hispanic Culture Club that they all looked "kind of Asian" to her, has a side organization that goes to Latino communities with literature (and attempted to run TV ads) telling them they should stay home and not vote. That kind of racist. And then there's Rich Iott, who enjoys a multitude of hobbies, including NAZI RE-ENACTMENT.
(A partisan note: all the candidates listed are Republicans. I am attempting to keep this post as non-partisan as humanly possible, but the reality of the situation is, the Republicans are not an ideologically centrist party. They just aren't. Also, with the exception of Alvin Greene, no crazy Democrats are running. Conservative ones, yes, but not usually borderline psychotically so. Also, Alvin Greene is being totally ignored by the Democratic Party because he is a) crazy and b) has no chance in hell of ever being elected ever.)
So this election, even if you do not live in a state with a crazy person running, you need to vote. You need to vote on ballot measures. You need to vote on your Governor's race, if you have one. And if you have a Senator or Representative running who is not crazy, you need to vote for them, because if crazy people get elected this year, sane people are going to be desperately needed to balance this shit out.
I bring this up now because NOW IS THE TIME TO FIGURE OUT HOW YOU ARE VOTING. If you are at college or out of state, you need to get and send in your absentee ballot NOW. If you can vote early, you should vote NOW. If you don't know where your polling place is, you need to learn NOW. If you have no idea what the issues or candidates are, you need to learn NOW. You have this weekend. Use it to educate yourself so by Tuesday you can make your voice heard.
IF YOU ARE CONFUSED, LOST, SCARED, AND NEED SOME HELP: the first place you should go is the League of Women Voters website. You don't even have to have a vagina to do so. The League of Women Voters is a completely non-partisan organization that will tell you everything you need to know. They will tell you where you should vote. They will tell you the different ways to vote. They will tell you when you can vote. They will tell you what you're voting on. They will have each side or electable official explain their stance in plain English and they will fact check it. They are, in short, the greatest thing to happen to American politics that you never even knew about.
If you are still confused, on any issue, I am more than happy to explain it. I can't promise I will be as non-partisan as the League of Women Voters. In fact, I can pretty much promise I won't be. But I will be brutally factual and am at your disposal for Everything You Wanted To Know About (the American Version of) Liberalism But Were Afraid To Ask.
In conclusion - AMERICA! FUCK YEAH! LET'S GET ALL DEMOCRATIC AND ELECTORAL UP IN THIS BITCH.
EDIT! i_claudia has very intelligently suggested Project Vote Smart as an additional resource to use before you go out to vote. WOO! DOING YOUR CIVIC DUTY IS SEXY.
Anyway, I interrupt my usual journal content of non nationality-specific, fandom-related asshattery for a brief moment of seriousness and America-centricism. Namely:
Look, I know. If you live in America right now (and maybe even if you don't live in America right now), you are so fucking tired of hearing about the midterm elections you probably want to shoot yourself in the face. Hell, I'm a political nerd/junkie and I want to shoot myself in the face. But if you are over 18 and an American citizen, you need to vote. You need to vote because, as insignificant as it feels, it is actually important. America is governed by the opinions of the people who show up. So unless you're totally fine having no control over how your life is run, you have to show up. It's a responsibility that you, as a taxpaying, existing citizen, need to do. Period.
More specifically, you need to vote in this election, because this election is A Giant Fucking Deal, like, even more than most big elections normally are, and this is a Giant Fucking Deal because of a little Supreme Court case called Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, where it was ruled that there are no limits on private spending in elections. This means that anyone, a billionaire, a giant company, an overseas dictator, anyone, can essentially buy a candidate by pumping millions upon millions of dollars into a race, even if they cannot vote in it, and no one is under any obligation to say where the money comes from. And while I can spend a really long time (believe me) ranting on the relative morality of this decision, it's unimportant. The fact is, the reason you are seeing so many fucking campaign ads is that now candidates are getting giant amounts of money to run.
What this means, besides that the only way to escape from this election is to be actually dead, is that there are a lot of crazy people running for office right now, and they have a legitimate chance to win. I'm not talking casually crazy like we normally expect of politicians. I'm talking people like Christine O'Donnell, who thinks that the separation of religion and politics is not in the constitution, or that masturbation should be abolished, or that she is personally, as a conservative activist who is in no way affiliated with any governmental organization (knock on wood) privy to top-secret information that China is attempting to kill us all. There's Sharron Angle, who's running against the current leader of the Senate, who thinks Social Security and the Department of Education should be abolished, or that Conservatives, if they don't get their way this election, should plan an armed insurrection, and is, um... how do I put this. She's, like, kind of super-duper racist. Like, political ads depicting Hispanics as thugs who take your job and your child's college education, telling a Hispanic Culture Club that they all looked "kind of Asian" to her, has a side organization that goes to Latino communities with literature (and attempted to run TV ads) telling them they should stay home and not vote. That kind of racist. And then there's Rich Iott, who enjoys a multitude of hobbies, including NAZI RE-ENACTMENT.
(A partisan note: all the candidates listed are Republicans. I am attempting to keep this post as non-partisan as humanly possible, but the reality of the situation is, the Republicans are not an ideologically centrist party. They just aren't. Also, with the exception of Alvin Greene, no crazy Democrats are running. Conservative ones, yes, but not usually borderline psychotically so. Also, Alvin Greene is being totally ignored by the Democratic Party because he is a) crazy and b) has no chance in hell of ever being elected ever.)
So this election, even if you do not live in a state with a crazy person running, you need to vote. You need to vote on ballot measures. You need to vote on your Governor's race, if you have one. And if you have a Senator or Representative running who is not crazy, you need to vote for them, because if crazy people get elected this year, sane people are going to be desperately needed to balance this shit out.
I bring this up now because NOW IS THE TIME TO FIGURE OUT HOW YOU ARE VOTING. If you are at college or out of state, you need to get and send in your absentee ballot NOW. If you can vote early, you should vote NOW. If you don't know where your polling place is, you need to learn NOW. If you have no idea what the issues or candidates are, you need to learn NOW. You have this weekend. Use it to educate yourself so by Tuesday you can make your voice heard.
IF YOU ARE CONFUSED, LOST, SCARED, AND NEED SOME HELP: the first place you should go is the League of Women Voters website. You don't even have to have a vagina to do so. The League of Women Voters is a completely non-partisan organization that will tell you everything you need to know. They will tell you where you should vote. They will tell you the different ways to vote. They will tell you when you can vote. They will tell you what you're voting on. They will have each side or electable official explain their stance in plain English and they will fact check it. They are, in short, the greatest thing to happen to American politics that you never even knew about.
If you are still confused, on any issue, I am more than happy to explain it. I can't promise I will be as non-partisan as the League of Women Voters. In fact, I can pretty much promise I won't be. But I will be brutally factual and am at your disposal for Everything You Wanted To Know About (the American Version of) Liberalism But Were Afraid To Ask.
In conclusion - AMERICA! FUCK YEAH! LET'S GET ALL DEMOCRATIC AND ELECTORAL UP IN THIS BITCH.
EDIT! i_claudia has very intelligently suggested Project Vote Smart as an additional resource to use before you go out to vote. WOO! DOING YOUR CIVIC DUTY IS SEXY.