I had high hopes for my auction, until I discovered that my vote probably has no value! How, you may ask? Well, it appears that I can take a short forty-five minute car ride down to Ohio (gas being dirt cheap now, and I drive a Prius anyway) and register to vote, not just once but many times! In fact, one guy claims to have registered to vote 72 times!
If I liked either candidate, I might have done that.
This news told me one thing. My vote is devalued, much like our US dollar. I could see the prospects of another family Christmas with us all together in front of the fireplace evaporate like smoke. Just like the shares in the stock market, my vote suddenly went from a potential worth of $1000 or more to less than nothing.
Now I know how Ford Motor felt when their stock went down to $2.40 a share today.
I guess it didn't really matter, because eBay removed my posting. They said my listing was promoting an "illegal activity." How they can determine that when votes all over the country are bought and sold on a daily basis is beyond me.
My only recourse is to run for Congress. I'm thinking that’s where my vote is worth big money.
This cautionary tale is to let the common man know that their vote is barely worth the ink their ballot is printed with.
Article comments
1 - Dave Nalle
Very good, very amusing, Joanne. But you should have let us know you were doing this. I could have told you that ACORN only buys votes for $20 or a hit of crack in your area, so your hopes of great profit were forlorn.
Dave
2 - Joanne Huspek
Damn. I should have asked you first. $20 in the kitty is cash money, even if it comes from ACORN.
3 - Dan(Miller)
Joanne,
I have one possible solution: invest whatever you have in pharmaceutical companies which peddle anti-depressant remedies. Failing that, booze manufacturers. My fearless prediction that the sales of both will skyrocket after 4 November.
Dan(Miller)
4 - Clavos
Now might be a good time to buy pharmas, Joanne. I have a number of pharma issues in my collection, and they are ALL depressed (pun intended).
5 - Matthew T. Sussman
Convince the Detroit Lions that your vote has an NFL-strength arm and can make all the throws, and even if it can't you'll still get $12 million in guaranteed money.
6 - Clavos
It's an addiction, isn't it, Dan(Miller)?
7 - Dr Dreadful
Dan, there's an obvious logical flaw in your argument. Who exactly will all these severely depressed people be that you predict will materialize after Nov 4?
I would imagine, rather, that there would be an alleviation of depression, since the majority of people will have got the government they voted for and will be at least mildly happy about it.
While we're at least obliquely on the subject, to their credit I haven't noticed Dave and the other doomsayers threatening to leave the country if Obama wins. Not even Archie, actually.
For your amusement, however, here is Stephen Baldwin on Fox News claiming that he will leave the country if Barack the Blessed makes it to the White House. Not to be outdone, here's Susan Sarandon threatening to leave the country if McCain wins.
I also heard that Ralph Nader was threatening to leave the country if he wins, but was unable to track down the footage.
8 - Joanne Huspek
Dr., after the last election, one of my office girls was so despondent over Kerry's loss that she threatened to move to Italy. She's still here. As an aside, she doesn't seem to be as full of hate and loathing for John McCain as she was for Dubya. I have a feeling her candidate is going to win this time.
If I had any money left, I could scoop up some penny stocks. Yup. All of them are penny stocks now. Unfortunately, that eBay business isn't doing so well for me.
9 - Clavos
...since the majority of people will have got the government they voted for...
I think all those voters will be very surprised at what they got by the end of 2010; IMO, they will NOT get the government they think they're voting for.
10 - Dr Dreadful
Well, we'll see, Clav. It's looking likely that the new president will have a sympathetic majority in both Houses of Congress; there's a good chance that the Democrats may even bag the magic 60 seats in the Senate, and be able to use the power of cloture to push through any legislation they wish over the objections of the Republicans.
The trouble with the current government is that both the Democrats and Republicans in Congress want things their own way, Bush wants things his own way which is different again, and nobody is willing to budge much. So things don't get done.
The new setup is likely to work much more harmoniously together, simply because of its political make-up. Whether you like the result, of course, depends on your personal ideology.
The only spanner in the works will probably be the Supreme Court, which remains for the time being ornerily right-wing. But after all, that's what it's there for.
11 - Cannonshop
Well, Joanne, there's one thing about knowing your vote is worthless-you can afford to cast it however you wish. In my case, I'll be casting it with the full intention of making sure those fictional voters registered by ACORN have to cast theirs to counter it.
12 - Baronius
See link - amusing take on the subject.
13 - Joanne Huspek
Cute cartoon, B. I hear Alberta is still booming but I doubt Canada will take any of us.