I went and I voted and I hope that you will too.
The ability to vote for our leaders is a right which is undervalued and sold cheaply here in the United States. You can buy votes for $20 in Louisiana, Missouri and several other states, because too many of us have forgotten or just never knew how important the right to vote really is.
As the generation which lived through the fight for universal voting rights in the 1960s ages, and we raise up a new generation in government schools which teach to the test and give basic civics very short shrift, the result may be that no one remembers the value of their vote 20 or 30 years down the line, if we even still have free elections in the environment of indifference and ignorance we're creating.
Right now our electoral process is going through a very rough transition, as modern technology begins to take over from paper ballots. Despite the fact that there has been no evidence of major problems with computerized voting machines, skepticism is running very high, and people seem to just be waiting for something to go horribly wrong.
| Three movies I'd recommend watching on election day:
The Great Man Votes. A forgotten classic starring John Barrymore which addresses issues of political corruption in city politics and the wooing of the voter. Barrymore plays the only registered voter in his precinct and humor and pathos ensue as meddling biddies try to get him declared an unfit father at the same time that politicians try to win his key vote. Sadly only available on VHS and hard to find, but worth the search. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The obvious and inevitable choice. Possibly Capra's best film, in which a heroic but naive Jimmy Stewart goes to Washington on a gubernatorial appointment with no political background and has to deal with corruption, seduction and a smear campaign. Claude Rains is brilliant as.the corrupt politician who knows he has fallen from his own ideals and Jean Arthur is radiant. The Devil and Daniel Webster. While not entirely a movie about politics, this adaptation of the Stephen Vincent Benet play is beautifully done and one of the best explorations of moral corruption ever filmed. It's unique because it presents the veteran politician in the form of Webster as the figure of honesty and heroism who has to save a constituent who has fallen into the grip of corruption. Edward Arnold is great as Webster, but the real treat is watching Walter Huston chew up the scenery as Mr. Scratch. |
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Arch Conservative
Here's my prediction for today. Five..no ten... minutes after we see the first sign of a GOP victory in any race that was supposed to be close we will be hearing cries of fraud coming from the Democrats on the MSM.
2 - Dave Nalle
I wish I didn't half believe that was likely, Arch.
I expect the first and loudest complaints to be about too few voting machines in poor districts - largely the result of allocating machines based on prior turnout in those areas.
Dave
3 - Arch Conservative
Let's just be honest. We all know that the GOP will lose at least a couple of close races and not claim fraud while the Dems claim fraud in every close race they lose.
4 - Dave Nalle
Given the already well documented cases of voter fraud from the left I suspect we'll see some complaining from both sides this time, Arch.
Dave
5 - Dr. Kurt
My voting experience was excellent. The touch-screen machine was easy & clear, it made me reconfirm my votes, and there was a paper printout on a spool. BTW, vote fraud should be a hanging offense - regardless of who does it.
6 - Clavos
Dr. Kurt wrote:
BTW, vote fraud should be a hanging offense
In Florida, it's a third degree felony.
7 - Nancy
Dr. Kurt - I concur wholeheartedly: election fraud should indeed by a capital offense, regardless of party.
My voting was easy, also, but then I'm used to computers. The poor little old grannies clocking me in were terribly uncertain how to get me name onscreen of their little tabletop unit, or how to activate the card to the machine. NOT something that instills confidence. I'd have preferred it to be in charge of a tech-savvy kid, even a 10-year-old, who knew what he was doing. Oh well. I was heartened to see that before I left at 7.08 my polling place had a long line of people out the doors. That made me feel good, even if I wasn't sure my vote registered or went into the Diebold dirty tricks ethersphere, as ours had no spools of paper. We'll see.
I'm quite sure there will be plenty of cries of treason & fraud on both sides, given the usual screwups being reported.
8 - Nancy
So when is Poison Annie Coulter going on trial for voter fraud in Miami?
9 - Scott
I actually voted last Saturday, early voting in Florida, and it was quite painless. No lines, the election workers seemed knowledgeable and friendly and the electronic machine didn't have any problems at all.
10 - Clavos
Nancy #8,
Since we are a third world entity and not really a part of US, there's no such thing as voter fraud in Miami, where the dead have been known to vote and convicted felons get elected to office.
And I'm not being sarcastic...
11 - Baronius
My voting experience was fine. On my way out, I heard a gentleman ask the man behind him if it was ok that he held a place in line for his wife. I got a real kick out of it. If courtesy and the "Rules of Cuts" are in place, democracy will survive.
12 - Rocky
I voted and it was easy and painless, compared to the 2 hours I had to wait during the last election. No problems with the machines and got to see the paper printout confirming my ballot selections. Still don't feel incredibly confident however...especially given the whole Diebold debacle (and I live in the town where Diebold is headquartered) and the problems and irregularities cited in Ohio the last time around. I'm holding my breath until the results come in and hoping for the best. Which in my book, means out with the old and in with the new.
13 - Donnie Marler
I voted, and it was a positive experience overall. One question, Brother Nalle, as a Missourian, where do you support the statement votes can be bought for $20.00 here? I'm just curious. No one has ever offered to 'pay' me for my vote, and wouldn't have enjoyed the response if they had.
14 - Matthew T. Sussman
[MAHER]New Rule[/MAHER]
Two lines at voting stations. One for senior citizens, one for everybody else.
Alternative New Rule: Post a sign near the voting machines, that says:
"It's called a touch screen. Here's how it works. You touch the fuckin' screen, and move along. Other people have planes to catch."
15 - Dave Nalle
Donnie, in 2004 a number of Democrat activists in St. Louis were indicted and ultimately convicted for a variety of election fraud crimes, including paying poor people to vote for specific candidates.
Dave
16 - Donnie Marler
Aghh, I'd forgotten about that! You have me there. Hopefully, all is well this election.
17 - Dave Nalle
Given the history in Missouri I'd hope that everyone there is watching things like eagles at the polls. But then we have the indictments this month of more people on voter registration fraud, so I'm afraid it's still going on.
But Missouri isn't alone. As the post election controversy gets going, google the acronym ACORN and you'll likely get all the info on vote fraud you need.
Dave
18 - Donnie Marler
Dave, Talent has a ten point lead at this time in the Senate race, early yet, but still a far larger margin than anyone expected.
19 - Dave Nalle
Getting late here, but it sounds like the election may be more exciting than anticipated, with a 50-50 chance of the GOP losing the Senate, depending on how a couple of very close races come out. Might be interesting to see if Bush has the balls to veto everything that comes out of capitol hill.
Dave
20 - STM
Very good to see you did your civic bloody duty Dave. Thank me, old boy! My ancestors lost a war 200 years ago just so you could! (Possessed of incredible foresight, and on purpose, of course ... you Americans have always been petulant and impatient. If you'd simply waited a while, it would have happened anyway, and you'd have ended up with a decent flag as well .... )
Also mate, he said, with something approaching seriousness, I don't understand why you guys refer to the Left, when it seems very centrist to me (the Democrats).
The Right I can understand. Genghis Khan would have been proud of Bush Co, but while the Democrats might be very Left in terms of the US system, they are very centrist to my way of thinking (which probably translates to wishy-washy, as it does elsewhere).
In reality, you are very lucky that your two main political parties are not literally poles apart. To outside observers used to the squabbling inner factions of the Labor Party as the party of the Left, you should be grateful for small miracles.
21 - Dave Nalle
STM, from a distance you may not see the diversity of our left here in the US. There are certainly a lot of democrats who I'd call moderate, and they are the mainstream of the party. But there's an increasingly vocal and powerful minority who are straight-up red-flag waving, bring on the revolution, international socialists, just like the ones you have in Australia.
Dave
22 - STM
Dave: Bastards ... they are what f.cks up the Labor Party. I hope it doesn't happen over there. I am old right Labor (as you might already have guessed), and worked for a minister in the government here who fell into that category. They genuinely have the interests of the working man at heart, are quite conservative in many ways, and want good relationships between unions, business and government.
The Left, however, are simply loonies and very annoying. The problem is, you have to have them along for the ride as a faction if you want to win government, because of the number crunching required for party leadership.
Shame. They should all be sent to North Korea, where they can frighten Kim Jong Il and his mates instead of decent, ordinary hardworking folk.
23 - Dave Nalle
Sounds very much like our democratic party, STM. We've got the old style unionists and urban minorities who are socially conservative but support a lot of state involvement in day to day life in the form of welfare and wage controls and the like. They're basically politically moderate. Then they have as their strange bedfellows the crazies who want to confiscate property, redistribute wealth, nationalize everything and basically give up our national sovereignty. They make for pretty strange bedfellows.
Dave
24 - Clavos
Dave,
Sorry to interrupt; just wanted to let you know I've got one in pending? :>)
25 - Jet in Columbus
Me too Dave, check your e-mail. The strongest abortion law thus far was defeated in south dakota.
Uh there are only two abortion clinics in Sout dakota!