Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Go Vote! Bring your friends! Your parents! Your neighbors!

Don't let the extremists (who are much more likely to vote) have all the power.
Posted by Jewish Atheist at 12:04 PM

14 comments:

Sadie Lou said...

Yes! Vote or shut up. People who don't vote should be quiet.

1:41 PM, November 08, 2005
Jewish Atheist said...

Nice to see you back, Sadie Lou.

1:51 PM, November 08, 2005
Sadie Lou said...

Thanks. I took a little break from all of this over here. Not for any particular reason other than I want to limit my dosage. :)

4:34 PM, November 08, 2005
dbackdad said...

All we had today was a boring school bond issue. Voted anyway.

4:35 PM, November 08, 2005
Sadie Lou said...

California's propositions were pretty exciting. It took me all of about 2 minutes to vote though...

5:39 PM, November 08, 2005
Stacey said...

There were only 9 propositions on the Texas ballot. But Prop #2 was a biggie. It was to ban gay marriage in this state. I voted against it. I knew I'd be outnumbered, but I thought it important to vote anyway (as I always do).

The ban passed with 67% of the vote. Sigh.

8:32 AM, November 09, 2005
Shlomo Leib Aronovitz said...

re: vote or shut up

That's nonsense.

Voting is only one way that we manifest our citizenship, but no the only way. One does not have to 'earn' his or her
right to an opinion in the United States. Taxation should also give one the 'right' to an opinion if that right needs to be earned at all. Without taxation, there wouldn't be anything to vote on.

Not everything is decided, or should be decided, by our voting. Do you have any idea how much goes on behind the scenes that has nothing to do with our vote? Is this person suggesting that I should tolerate the violation of civil rights,criminal activity, or malfeasance in government because I didn’t vote? If voting makes you MORE responsible, then I would say that those who voted for a criminal government should be held accountable for the crimes of those they elected! Those who do not or cannot vote should have equal right to voice their ideals. If you can’t be held responsible for your decision to vote, then I should not be punished for my decision not to.

Even in the early beginnings of this country there were those who sought through poll taxes and other means to restrict voting and opinion to only a certain few. I see that nasty idea is still alive and well.

8:45 AM, November 09, 2005
Jewish Atheist said...

I knew I'd be outnumbered, but I thought it important to vote anyway (as I always do).

Stacey, in 50 years, when kids can't believe people voted against gay marriage, you can at least tell them that you voted for it. I look at places that ban it and I understand how people voted to ban blacks from marrying whites.

9:48 AM, November 09, 2005
Anonymous said...

Here's the exact language of the Texas marriage ban:

Sec. 32. (a) MARRIAGE in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman.

(b) THIS STATE or a political subdivision of THIS STATE MAY NOT CREATE OR RECOGNIZE ANY LEGAL STATUS IDENTICAL or similar to MARRIAGE.

Notice that the literal effect of this language is to ban recognition of ALL marriage, not just gay marriage. In their haste to hate, illiterate Texas conservatives have repealed marriage.

12:21 PM, November 09, 2005
Jewish Atheist said...

So much for "protecting" marriage.

12:43 PM, November 09, 2005
Sadie Lou said...

Shlomo: People fought and died for the right to vote. I wouldn't dishonor that.

1:52 PM, November 09, 2005
Anonymous said...

In a free society, one has the freedom to decline to vote AND complain loudly about the result. No legal or ethical link exists between the two.

Why would one decline to vote?

First, one may not feel educated enough on the issues to make a sound vote.

Second, the choices may be so odious that a non-vote is the best choice available. I've yet to meet a politician worthy of my trust - the system is so corrupt that it has lost any semblance of honor and honesty.

Third, when the electoral process is unfairly skewed (as it is with the electoral college in Presidential elections, where Gore lost despite winning the majority of the votes), one should not legitimize the process by participating in it.

I value my right to vote, my right to decline to vote, and my right to speak out about any damn thing I want. Freedom without the right to say "no thanks" is not freedom at all.

3:11 PM, November 09, 2005
Shlomo Leib Aronovitz said...

AL,

I plan to take that ban on marriage very
seriously!

3:20 PM, November 09, 2005
Stacey said...

"Stacey, in 50 years, when kids can't believe people voted against gay marriage, you can at least tell them that you voted for it. I look at places that ban it and I understand how people voted to ban blacks from marrying whites."

Thanks, JA. This meant a lot to me. I hadn't quite thought about it that way.

You are absolutely right. Hopefully, it won't take too long for Texas and for the rest of the country to realize that discrimination against some of us dehumanizes all of us.

1:02 AM, November 10, 2005

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