Have you voted?
First thing on your to-do list today: VOTE. Not voting means abrogating your civic responsibility, your hard-won right to express your feelings about the direction of this country, about how decisions are made, about the rights and responsibilities of the people and the government. One vote may not seem important, but in the aggregate, every vote matters, and that's how you make a contribution in this country. Even if it means voting for the lesser of two evils from your perspective, it still makes a difference; don't think for a moment that it doesn't. Vote.
I voted a couple of weeks back. Here in Washington state everyone votes by mail, which means we can vote in the privacy of our own homes, without the threat of "poll watchers," without voter ID laws--just us and our ballots. With only one or two exceptions down-ticket, I voted straight Democratic: Obama/Biden, Inslee, Cantwell, McDermott. I voted for gay marriage (because marriage is a civil right, not a religious issue or a "special" circumstance as its proponents would have you believe) and marijuana legalization (because once it's legal, it's less attractive to criminals and, oh, by the way, helps people with medical issues). I voted against charter schools (because they take money from public schools, they're not accountable for said money once it's in their hands, they're still unproven as a decidedly superior alternative, and they're too easily exploited by private and religious interests).
I voted to give the president another four years because in his first four, he:
--Repealed Don't Ask Don't Tell
--Saved the auto industry
--Instituted an economic recovery package that included the largest tax cut ever and the largest investment in infrastructure since the Eisenhower era among other elements
--Created the most comprehensive consumer protection laws this country has ever known
--Reformed the laws governing credit cards and their interest rates
--Reformed student loan rules
--Ended the war in Iraq
--Passed the most comprehensive health care laws in the history of this country
--Passed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
--Enabled our military to capture and kill Osama Bin Laden
--Gave the FDA the ability to govern the rules around nicotine in cigarettes
--Made it a federal crime to commit assault based on sexual orientation
--Deployed FEMA effectively in response to Hurricane Sandy
--Signed the Financial Regulatory Reform law to protect the country from a similar financial meltdown in the future
--Signed the START treaty, limiting nuclear arms in Russia and the US
--Kept us out of any more wars
--Came out for gay marriage
--Stopped the deportation of the children of illegal immigrants who had no control over their presence in the country who have become proven contributors to this nation
There's no question that the economic recovery is slower than we'd all like, but it took 8 years to get us here; it'll take more than four to get us out.
And here's why I didn't vote Republican: Because once the Republicans took the House of Representatives, their stated first order of business wasn't governing the country, it was trying to ensure that the president had only one term in office. It wasn't helping to pull the country out of economic decline, it was stalling every possible effort to achieve economic recovery and a more perfect union. And how did they do that? Among other things:
--They fought the health care reform tooth and nail
--They stalled aid to the 9/11 first responders
--They pushed the country to the edge of having our credit rating downgraded--and this is the business-first party!
--They've resisted more economic reform
--They've used fear tactics to attempt to revoke the rights of women and minorities
I couldn't, in good conscience, vote for people who are more interested in self-interest and in denying others their civil rights than they are in effectively governing this country. Just in case you wanted to know.
Sophie inspected my ballot before it went into the mail to be sure that feline interests were covered. She was satisfied.
I still don't understand, however, why Washington state has a postmarked-by deadline rather than an 8PM-Election-Day deadline. With ballots by mail and a postmarked-by deadline, we're still counting votes days after the rest of the country has made its decision, at least in the presidential race. It ends up meaning that our votes don't really mean that much in said race, and that bothers me quite a bit. Last night, a friend of mine suggested that, given the amount of military and naval personnel in the state, the postmarked-by deadline may ensure that everyone can get their ballots in and have them counted. But other states have huge military presences, too, and it doesn't seem to be an issue for them. This thing, I don't get.
So my most important duty for the day has been done--was done a while ago. Now the counting and the watching begins.
I voted a couple of weeks back. Here in Washington state everyone votes by mail, which means we can vote in the privacy of our own homes, without the threat of "poll watchers," without voter ID laws--just us and our ballots. With only one or two exceptions down-ticket, I voted straight Democratic: Obama/Biden, Inslee, Cantwell, McDermott. I voted for gay marriage (because marriage is a civil right, not a religious issue or a "special" circumstance as its proponents would have you believe) and marijuana legalization (because once it's legal, it's less attractive to criminals and, oh, by the way, helps people with medical issues). I voted against charter schools (because they take money from public schools, they're not accountable for said money once it's in their hands, they're still unproven as a decidedly superior alternative, and they're too easily exploited by private and religious interests).
I voted to give the president another four years because in his first four, he:
--Repealed Don't Ask Don't Tell
--Saved the auto industry
--Instituted an economic recovery package that included the largest tax cut ever and the largest investment in infrastructure since the Eisenhower era among other elements
--Created the most comprehensive consumer protection laws this country has ever known
--Reformed the laws governing credit cards and their interest rates
--Reformed student loan rules
--Ended the war in Iraq
--Passed the most comprehensive health care laws in the history of this country
--Passed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
--Enabled our military to capture and kill Osama Bin Laden
--Gave the FDA the ability to govern the rules around nicotine in cigarettes
--Made it a federal crime to commit assault based on sexual orientation
--Deployed FEMA effectively in response to Hurricane Sandy
--Signed the Financial Regulatory Reform law to protect the country from a similar financial meltdown in the future
--Signed the START treaty, limiting nuclear arms in Russia and the US
--Kept us out of any more wars
--Came out for gay marriage
--Stopped the deportation of the children of illegal immigrants who had no control over their presence in the country who have become proven contributors to this nation
There's no question that the economic recovery is slower than we'd all like, but it took 8 years to get us here; it'll take more than four to get us out.
And here's why I didn't vote Republican: Because once the Republicans took the House of Representatives, their stated first order of business wasn't governing the country, it was trying to ensure that the president had only one term in office. It wasn't helping to pull the country out of economic decline, it was stalling every possible effort to achieve economic recovery and a more perfect union. And how did they do that? Among other things:
--They fought the health care reform tooth and nail
--They stalled aid to the 9/11 first responders
--They pushed the country to the edge of having our credit rating downgraded--and this is the business-first party!
--They've resisted more economic reform
--They've used fear tactics to attempt to revoke the rights of women and minorities
I couldn't, in good conscience, vote for people who are more interested in self-interest and in denying others their civil rights than they are in effectively governing this country. Just in case you wanted to know.
Sophie inspected my ballot before it went into the mail to be sure that feline interests were covered. She was satisfied.
I still don't understand, however, why Washington state has a postmarked-by deadline rather than an 8PM-Election-Day deadline. With ballots by mail and a postmarked-by deadline, we're still counting votes days after the rest of the country has made its decision, at least in the presidential race. It ends up meaning that our votes don't really mean that much in said race, and that bothers me quite a bit. Last night, a friend of mine suggested that, given the amount of military and naval personnel in the state, the postmarked-by deadline may ensure that everyone can get their ballots in and have them counted. But other states have huge military presences, too, and it doesn't seem to be an issue for them. This thing, I don't get.
So my most important duty for the day has been done--was done a while ago. Now the counting and the watching begins.