let's_take_a_vote The Truth All right everybody let's take a vote! We must exercise our democratic rights, so that we can use them if we need them whenever the time comes. I'll start! I vote! (phew!) anyone else want to vote? 010723 ... baby satan i wouldn't mind a toke. 010723 ... Sol yeah ill take a boat, where to? 010723 ... america I vote, too! 010723 ... paste! make_fun_of_redneckk 010723 ... kingsuperspecial i'd vote, but my arm left arm is plotting against me. bigger fists to fry 010723 ... dB I already have a coat. 010723 ... farmfish i have a sore throat. 010723 ... Aimee I think I'll go drown myself in a moat 010723 ... The Truth After you rhyme, then you may gloat, but then you must be sure to vote. Feed your horse hay and an oat, so you'll have time to go and vote. Pack your things up in a tote, and bring them on your way to vote. write yourself a little note, otherwise you'll forget to vote! If a may offer you a quote let's make that an anecdote, It's just something that I wrote... EVERYBODY NOW MUST VOTE! 010723 ... Allie I'm voting for, unless this isn't in my interest, in that case I'm voting against. Understood? good. 010723 ... black-dyed gel product voting's for suckers, unless it's for a new m&m color 010723 ... Gollum fishes and wormses, nice wormses 010724 ... Teenage Jesus That's right. Voting is for suckers. If you think your vote has more sway than $$$ you are mistaken. But the weird part is that when/if it changes it's only going to get worse. 1984 will look like Willie Wonka's Choclate Factory in comparison. 010724 ... tourist I'm in Florida What's the use 010724 ... Dafremen Voting is for suckers...geez great...PLEASE don't tell me my Grandfather was right about the Communists poisoning our youth to democracy. Geezus...the "Red Menace" here on blue_blather and I didn't even bring a camera. I vote against apathy and angst. I vote for self reliance! (and orange Flintstone Push-Ups!) 010724 ... flippo i vote we not vote 010724 ... Teenage Jesus Hell freaking yes- self reliance! But going the polls to select a person who will get things done that we want done...I think Fred Flinstone's inspiration, Ralph Cramden said it best "Hardy har har." If you think "votes" are carrying the weight that pocket lining lobbyists are, you are mistaken. As Jerry Lee said to Elvis at Sun Studios, "...hell son, you are the devil." 010724 ... Dafremen Ahhh I see what you're saying NOW! As a result of too few people caring about and too much money being thrown at the political process, the system has become corrupt and bloated serving only a few special interests and crooked politicians who don't keep their promises to their constituents. So of course you are right. The SOLUTION to the problem is to throw our hands up in the air and give up on politics because it is a waste of time. Let the politicians do what they will, since our voices won't be heard anyhow. Yep that sounds like the solution alright. (By the way...any guesses as to how it got this bad in the first place? I'll give you a hint, it starts something like this: "My vote count? Hardy har har.") P.S. If you think politics is boring and a waste of time, if you would consistently rather watch MTV than C-Span, if you think that those B0z0s in Washington don't care about you and so you don't have to concern yourself with them, congratulations...you've been bought by the special interests, the media AND the government.(Can you say subliminal social reengineering? Well it's being done, say it or not. Do you really think that apathy was YOUR idea? Heheh think again.) (No I didn't mean to say that they were going to pay YOU anything...I simply meant that you've been bought. Lock stock and barrel. Sort of like Kunta Kinte from Roots, except you CHOSE your enslavement.) see also PRINCIPLES 010724 ... Teenage Jesus tisk tisk tisk- Is that how you spell that? ANYWHO- I'm not bought. I've got less important things to concern myself with. The ONLY good time for some C-Span action is when Pime Minister's Questions is on. Those Brit's know how to have some fun in thier gov chambers. Things haven't ended up the way there are today b/c o bunch of folks decided that they's stop caring and throw their hands up in the air or whatever. It's built into the design. The whole voting thing was a joke in the first place--and the framers behind the framers (as in the cats who made sure (damn sure) that there would be a federal reserve. Look- you and I don't have a quarrel. Another reason (and a damn good one I think) for not voting is to have a clear conscience. I take no responsibility for the death of anyone who has been unfortunate enough to be standing under a U.S. bomb as it plummeted earthward. Voters do. Voters, that is those who have participated in this "democracy" have blood on their hands. Not me. Lastly, if I may, I'd like to offer a saying of my people "if I cannot whoop it, I will go down." And look-it; stop pulling my chain and I will tell you how wonder you are. 010724 ... Teenage Jesus sorry for some of the incomplete sentences- it's an alprazolam kind of a day. 010724 ... Dafremen We may not a have a quarrel when it comes to free speech or thought, but I bet we're WORLDS apart when it comes to our feelings about responsibilities and rights. Voting is a right. You claim that it's a responsibility too. You claim that by voting for some guys who send us to war, the voter is participating in the killing. By that same logic you are just as responsible for those deaths as anyone who voted...in fact MORE so. See you had the opportunity to aid in STOPPING the killing. You had a vote too. Folx that felt like you do and voted AGAINST the killer politician excercised their RIGHT to vote in order to fulfill their RESPONSIBILITIES, both to themselves and to future generations. The likely outcome has no bearing on whether or not you should fulfill that responsibility. You should, and if you don't you are the loser no matter what the outcome. You may not give a piss what happens in 100 years, but I'm sure some future generation WILL. THAT'S how we got to this point. A situation, a generation and an administration at a time. Each step away from our original freedoms was brought about by APATHY, IGNORANCE or EMOTION. We are HERE now. We can either continue to walk willingly into slavery...or we do what we can...as futile as it may seem. Attempts to absolve yourself of culpability through inaction will be met with the realization that you and people who think like you were INSTRUMENTAL in fulfilling your doomsday predictions. If you don't believe me, imagine some day in the future: "That bastard has ordered another 50,000 children to report to labor camps. How could ANYONE have voted this lunatic into office?" "Hey man, not my fault I didn't vote for (looks nervously around) that @$$hole." "No sh*t. So you voted for Gramercy too huh?" "Umm...well not exactly." "What do you MEAN not exactly?" "Well...um..." 010724 ... Teenage Jesus First of all, I think you place far too much importance on so-called physical reality. Secondly, you chose to ignore the point about the whole predesignated set-up being rotten to the core. You want to make a difference? Then do so for those in your immediate surroundings. Don't think your piddly vote makes you responsible for the "bright shining future" and therfore deserving of thanx from future generations who'll say "gee, it sure is a good thing that Daffy and those like him voted. Thank goodness their persistance finally put an end to all that dang-old badness." If you want to make a difference, say something nice to someone. Give them some money (even if they want to spend it on booze.) Caste out false prophets. Help some kids. But don't delude folks into thinking that they are really going to make a difference in a system that was corrupt long before there was ever a USA. This crap is a lot older than that. And as far as war goes- if you think whose in office makes a difference as to whether or not the USA starts dropping bombs on folks- then you are in possesion of a very naive point of view; which I think is unusual for you. We don't need to change this system. It's rotten; and rotten things should be gotten rid of. I don't think THEY are going to let YOU/US vote THEM out of existence. Now- I will quote Sherrif Andy Taylor "Next time I go tiger huntin', I'm gonna take my tweesers." 010724 ... Dafremen You are under the spell of a few delusions: The first is that YOU are powerless against the system. Bullsh*t plain and simple. That is the mating call of the Common North American sheep. You CAN fight the system, you CAN change the system and we all have a responsibility to do so. If the day for violent revolution came tomorrow, I'd cast my vote with my own blood and voice my opinion with my PRESENCE on the front lines. That day isn't here yet. My responsibility remains. Secondly, you say the system was flawed from the start. Go ahead...explain how we were handed the keys to slavery by the framers of the Constitution. Do you HONESTLY think that any subversion of our rights was done with their BLESSINGS? Hell no, we gave up rights AND privileges in order to "save the children" and "stop the violence" and "keep out the foreigners" and "protect the environment" ...etc etc. We're the ones who put all kinds of penny-ante bullsh*t before our own freedoms and the freedoms of our descendants. I know more about the history behind the compromise that was the Constitution than I care to elaborate on here. The Constitution was one of the most well thought out documents of it's kind. Ever. Had it not been for our willingness to give power to a few people and TRUST them not to abuse it, had we done OUR part and remained "ever vigilant" things wouldn't have gotten THIS bad. They gave us a new form of government, along with it they gave us a job: "Be ever vigilant, don't let your guard down for a second. You are the bottom line in the defense of your own freedoms. Here are the guns you'll need should it come to that. Here are the minimum guidelines for what you should demand as your RIGHTS. Don't let them fool you, don't let them take this away from you. Be true to this one task, and you and yours will be as free as society can tolerate, always." Apparently we weren't listening and still aren't. Thirdly, I'm not sure how many other countries you've lived in or even visited. I've been to quite a few of them and have lived in 3. (U.S., Mexico, Philippines) We BOTH could have been much worse off. If enough folx stop caring because they "can't beat the government" maybe we still CAN be. Who knows? P.S. As for my concern for this physical reality. Did you think I was spiritual or something? I am a lucky ass lump of Universal Sh*t who just happens to have this unique opportunity to think, sense and act. Yes, my time is short, my actions inconsequential and any changes that I make are temporary. When I speak out on behalf of political activism I do so for TWO reasons: The first is that for as long as the consequences of human greed affect our ability to appreciate this beautiful gift of existence, we have some sort of obligation to keep the immediate short term greed of SOME temporary beings from continuing as a long term institution which steals this one shot existence from others like ourselves.(Remember, the stuff we're made of gets recycled. Part of what makes YOU could become part of what makes THEM. So it's really in our OWN interest too.) If we allow others to be born into this system through our inaction, it's as good as saying "Put de chains on dem boss man, jus leave me and MY chains be." The second is that I don't believe for a second that giving up would be any more interesting than fighting the good fight. In fact, quite the contrary. Given the choice between fighting the good fight and losing or sitting back to watch and losing, I'll take fighting the good fight any day. Like I said...self reliance, I'm done letting historical figures have all of the fun. 010724 ... Teenage Jesus I've gotta go home BUT- 1-revolution/front lines/break and replace the system --YES 2-vote and convince myself that it makes a difference and matters --NO I forgot about your view that this is all there is. Oh well- we'll laugh about it together someday; on the other side of something. Damn you Daffy- you are one persistant S.O.B. I guess I kind of love you n-stuff. : ) 010724 ... Aimee I vote for the underdog.. unless it's ralph nader 010724 ... Dafremen And the underdogs thank you for all that they have I'm sure Aimee. If they don't f*ck em the ungrateful sunzuvbiches. T.J. I think we both know I believe there's more than just this. I just don't believe it's necessarily LIKE this. I'll be recycled and play my part. Maybe there's another part for me to be played as a human. Who knows? We're supposedly at the top of the food chain.(Tell that to that kid who got his arm bit off by the shark.)But whatever the part I have to play, understand the appreciation that I have for this beautiful thing that is being alive and "sentient". Gawd I hope I don't come back as a fat gassy do0d's chair man that would suck. I guess what I'm trying to say T.J. is well...yea...we cool. 010724 ... nanny seeing that i was born canadian, i could never become the president of this oh so wonderful country known as the u.s.ofa. and seeing that i can not control it, i am not going to help someone else get that position, therefore i don't vote. i think it's a jealousy issue 011011 ... Dafremen Ohhh...but Nanny...you've COMPLETELY missed the opportunity to REALLY stick it to him....by voting the OTHER guy into the White House! 011011 ... mister mourning where do we take it? 011011 ... unhinged good god another one of daffy's long persistent rants brought to you by the soapbox that is blather 021012 ... x I was gonna put it not so mildly and say that he seemed to have ruined a good thing... but I suppose that's just one opinion in a sea of many 021012 ... unhinged eh, i don't know if 'ruin it' is the right word. that was just daf's style back then. i tend to ignore him when he gets like that. 021013 ... god i vote in favor of ratcock 021013 ... screwing for virginity "The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy." H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) "Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote." George Jean Nathan "A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government." Edward Abbey "The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any." Alice Walker but if voting could really change things, it would be illegal 021014 ... anonymous coward if my vote is pointless so is my life, maybe why not die? 040907 what's it to you? who go blather from