I did not plan to write a rant about this election day. The initial results are coming in and the balance of power has shifted in our country. Personally, this is a bad thing in my opinion. Now we will have a President that can essentially do nothing for 2 years because nothing he is trying to accomplish will get passed because of the bullshit party politics. Screw the people, its all about who’s side is better. England does it right, when you vote for a prime minister you don’t vote for a person directly, you vote for the party. This way after the election, the party that wins gets the majority in the house of commons and the prime minister is able to accomplish things. You still get the same bickering and party bullshit, but at least stuff gets done. In our country though, we have just put ourselves in neutral.
Perhaps though, that’s ok. As I was doing my patriotic duty tonight waiting in line to cast my vote, I witnessed 2 things that outraged me. The first was the schmoron behind me in line. I overheard him talking with his wife. He said “The allot is so long(2 pages) because it’s also in Spanish. I swear, if you can’t read English you shouldn’t be allowed to vote.” I spun around and gave him a look. I wanted to see the ignorant bastard that said this. If my daughter wasn’t with me, I may have said something. My thought was he shouldn’t be allowed to vote for being so stupid. I bet the jackass thinks this country has an official language! As far as I’m concerned, the ballot should be in any language requested.
It got better from this jagoff though. As he and his wife were going over the ballot, I heard his passive wife ask about the judges. He quickly responded “I vote No on all of them. Clear all of them bastards out. They are all terrible.” His wife responded “Maybe we should learn a little more about what they stand for.” Hos retort was quick and abrupt “It’s too late for that, just get rid of all the bastards.” I wanted so bad to tear up his ballot. It is sad that ignorant idiots have the right to vote. They are so stupid, they don’t even realize how much damage they are potentially doing.
I have to admit though, I was not as responsible as I should have been. I did not research the judges either. But I chose not to vote in those elections. Perhaps I should have done the opposite to cancel him out looking back, but I didn’t feel comfortable giving my vote on something I didn’t understand.
That was part 1.
Part 2 took place in the voting booth next to me. There was a man who had a deformed arm. Looked like a birth defect in adult hood. Possible it was from an accident, but it really didn’t look that way. Anyway, this gentleman was probably in his mid to late 40′s and he asked for assistance with his ballot. Ok, it’s an option we all get, but he could read and I would assume he could write or color bubbles with his other hand. What he did do was chat up his helper. She would read the race and candidates and he would ask questions about each candidate that you should read in the paper. He would ask who was the better choice and although she did not choose for him, she did tell him who had what commercials on TV. When they were going over the amendments she was then explaining what the full translation and impacts of each were. Explaining what they meant and again, what the commercials looked like. Sure, she denied offering which she would vote for, but this still seemed very illegal to me.
I know the lady was just trying to be nice and as helpful as possible, but I think a line was crossed. I am under the belief that when assistance is given the helper should be able to do nothing but read the ballot word for word and color in the bubble of the voter if that much help is needed. I just know I have never felt so uncomfortable casting my vote in this country I love. I don’t know if what happened was illegal, but it sure didn’t seem right.
I lost faith in my country tonight. I know what I witnessed was very small in scale, but I wondered really how small the mentality is nationwide. What upsets me even more though is the trend I see in Washington. 6 years ago, we didn’t like things so we changed the Republican House to a Democrat one. Our President was useless and didn’t do much in between all his vacations. Now the American people still see problems that cannot be quickly fixed in 2 years and instead of giving the President the tools he needs, we take them away and switch it back. Guess what? When the next President or this President doesn’t get much done because of the newly applied red tape, we’ll do it all over again. I’m tired of bullshit promises though keywords that have no merit when said. These guys are career businessmen and in business your goal is to make money for your business so your business can grow. Only, they don’t see America as a business, they see it as a crutch for their own businesses and private future growth. Amazing what you can do for your business when you control the laws that will impact it.
No one has a platform based on education and how we’re falling behind in this country. Education is not as profitable as war and it is suffering miserably. I think its time we as an American people take back control of our country. Not just with our votes, but with our voices. In France the people did not want to see retirement age increase and the people came out in droves to fight it. The current generation doesn’t gather for much of anything. Until we take back the power from our elected officials we will be at the mercy of what they want, not what we want.
To the elected officials I say this. Drop the bullshit. Drop the negative ads and demographic based campaigning. Really try to do something already. Just tell us what you stand for, what you want to do and run on yourself, not your party rules. Fix what is broken in our government and start by getting rid of the backroom bullshit. Campaigns should be publicly fully funded. Even steven for each candidate. Term limits in every elected office with a limit on total years of service regardless of titles. Make these career politicians get back into the work force paying for health care and gas and bills just like the rest of us. Cut the pork barrel crap out completely. If an appended item has nothing to do with the main purpose of the bill, it doesn’t get added. It requires its own bill. Make it illegal for corporate lobbyists to exist from a financial perspective. No campaign funding, and no extra access than you or me to our officials.
To me, that sounds like real change that will make a difference in our country. Would it be good or bad? I don’t know. But it sure as hell can’t be any more broken than what we have now. I’m tired of the crap and I’m embarrassed as some of the citizens I share a community with. We need a big dose of tough medicine around here, but will we be willing to accept it? Probably not.
