I made a post on the Plan-It-X message board about the issue of Ohio disenfranchisement which spawned some comments, some that made me feel pretty good and others which really pissed me off. I wrote a response, but then decided not to post it there. I fealt like most people already said what I wanted to say and that it would be more about trying to win an argument than to encourage further discussion, which is stupid.
I assume all you wangs who talk so highly about getting Bush out of office are going to be voting for Kerry. So has this anti-Bush trend really blinded you people that much? You're not going to get anymore power if Kerry gets elected..
Okay. Let's do a poll. Everybody who's planning on voting for Kerry raise their hands if you think things will be better because Kerry's a better candidate. I'm guessing there aren't a whole lot of hands. To refer to an "anti-Bush trend" is absolutely ridiculous and to perceive the current political situation as one where being "anti-Bush" makes you pro-Kerry is equally ridiculous. I would imagine that most people on this board who are voting for Kerry are doing so because they want to send a message to the world and to other Americans that they are not okay with the events of the last four years. I would hope that anybody who considers themselves an anarchist or socially conscious would be part of the "anti-Bush trend" because Bush is a really good example of most of the things that I think are wrong with the world. Kerry is too, but that's not the point. The point is that if you want do address any of the issues or attitudes that anyone I know thinks are important, it's really hard to do that without addressing them in the context of how Bush has fucked things up. That's reality and it's what people relate to.
Why not work on your real changes now, instead of dealing with an election that's going to do the same thing it's been doing for almost 200 years--putting a president into office.
I hear this argument again and again and still I find it impossible to understand how spending five minutes on one day in November comes at the expense of working for "real changes now." One might argue that the thought and discussion about elections is coming at some expense to concern for other things, but I think this perspective is really short-sighted. As I've said before the issues surrounding the election are the same issues that people try to address in their activism. Whether it's an election year or not, war is a horrible thing that demands outrage. Whether it's an election year or not, the distribution of resources in our world is very troubling. Whether it's an election year or not, it is scary as hell when anyone wants to intimidate or harass others because of their perceived differences. The issues that people talk about in the context of this election and that we strive for doing things like Food Not Bombs or prison book programs or street theatre or trying to consume less are the same.
Elections and using the context of the election to talk about these things seems like a really good idea because it's the one time that most Americans pay attention to the things that are happening in the world around them and think, even for a fraction of a second that they can change these things. If course you shouldn't speak to people as if voting in an election makes a difference, but to tie the things that you are thinking about or working towards with the issues that are familiar to others because of electoral politics makes a lot of sense to me.
In some ways, this argument is totally stupid because the point of the initial post wasn't to encourage people to vote, or even to sign a petition. I just wanted to give people an example of something that they could use to try to tell others how ridiculous things have gotten in America. To motivate others to have a little more concern, a little more reason, to try to do something be it voting or anything else.
Hell, 4 more years of Bush just means 4 more years of seeing his face on TV while he follows the same script that would be followed regardless of who was saying it. I don't watch TV, so I don't care.
This terrifies me because I think this statement mirrors that of many conservatives. "Because it doesn't affect me, it doesn't matter." For these people, the body count might rise (for both Iraqis and Americans) over in Iraq but as long as the media gives us the illusion that we're fighting to make things safer, it's fine. Let me say this - 4 years of Bush hasn't had much effect on my life. America is so wealthy and so wasteful that I can eat out of the trash whether there is a war on terror or not. America is so priviliged that I can manage to survive quite happily, even when I don't work very much and spend most of my time building relationships with my friends or doing projects with them. That is fucked up! The fact that so many of us have been so unaffected by all the horrible things that our government has done should be a huge fucking sign that says "Things are fucked up." 4 years of Bush has meant a hell of a lot more than a face on TV to many people in Iraq and in the rest of the world. 4 years of Bush has meant a hell of a lot to lots of other people affected by his administration's policies and rhethoric. The fact that we, as a culture, can do so much harm to each other in 4 years and so many of us don't even notice it, let alone suffer any consequences, is ther scarist thing of all. 4 years of Kerry may mean the same, but we'll kick and scream and fight then too. All I know is that the world can't stand 4 more years of anything if we don't all say "it's not going to be ok," in every way that we can.
posted by geoff on 10/01/2004 10:54:29 AM
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well, sometimes it is.
Yon posted this message on Friendster regarding the old Ohio, seemingly a key battleground state in this year's election:
Republicans in Ohio are scared.
New Democratic voter registrations are up 250%
in Ohio. Democrats throughout the "Buckeye
State" are prepared to turn out in record numbers
to demand change on November 2nd in federal,
state and local elections.
But first, Ohio Democrats need your help fighting
the latest dirty tricks by the Ohio Secretary of
State.
With only 6 days left before the voter registration
deadline, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell is
trying to bar thousands of newly registered voters
from the polls.
Stop him today and help protect democracy in
Ohio.
http://www.act04.org/paperstock
Citing an arcane ruling requiring voter registration
cards be printed on 80 pound paper stock,
Blackwell is threatening to void registrations
submitted on any other paper, demanding these
registrants re-apply. But there is no time to
reapply which could leave thousands of new
voters off the rolls.
Tens of thousands of Ohioans have registered
online or with registration forms printed in
newspapers, copied by friends, community
activists, and even state offices. These are valid
applications that must be processed immediately.
Blackwell is also trying to impose strict rules on
provisional ballots. In 2000, nearly 23,000
provisional ballots were cast in Cuyahoga County
alone (the greater Cleveland area). Due to
congressional redistricting after the 2000 census
and the swell of first-time voters, confusion on
Election Day will run high. Provisional ballots must
be made available in accordance with the federal
Help America Vote Act.
Sign the petition to stop Ken Blackwell's latest
dirty tricks.
http://www.act04.org/paperstock
In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the
Civil Rights Act granting every American citizen
the right to vote. Blackwell himself has been
quoted as saying "voting preserves the freedom
that we Americans cherish."
Don't sit back and let Ken Blackwell take us back
to the days of selective voting rights. Sign the
petition today.
In June, we warned Blackwell that we were
watching his close ties with Diebold, the leading
manufacturer of flawed electronic voting
machines. By July, with over 50,000 signatures on
our petition, the use of these machines had been
dramatically curtailed by local elections officials.
This time the stakes are even higher.
With your help, ACT has been on the ground
fighting to register and mobilize voters throughout
Ohio. As we race to the finish line the Republicans
are running scared and resorting, yet again, to
dirty tricks.
Don't let Ken Blackwell become the Katherine
Harris of 2004. Join our fight in Ohio.
Sign the petition and pass it on to your friends
today.
http://www.act04.org/paperstock
With great appreciation,
Steve Bouchard
State Director
ACT - Ohio
P.S. There are millions of Americans living
abroad who must have their voices heard in 2004.
Remind your friends and family abroad to register
for their absentee ballots before the deadline
passes.
Send them this link today -
http://www.votingoverseas.org
This is my analysis:
The idea that the paper stock of a voter registration form could in any way be important to the qualification of a voter is ridiculous. This is a clearly a tactic to discourage voting. Certainly, in a battleground state like Ohio, there are partisan implications to the demographics of the rapid increase in the number of registered voters. The idea that partisan politics could undermine the most important foundation of our democracy, the right to vote, is terrible. The fact that more people are choosing to take part in the political process, Democrat or Republican is great. To discourage their involvement by focusing on a minor technicality is a blow to democracy and an insult to those who want to play a greater role in that Democracy.
posted by geoff on 9/29/2004 01:19:58 PM
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Sherri rolled into town yesterday unexpectedly. Awesome that the person with the slickest job is also the one most likely to go to visit pals unexpectedly. I don't know if I'm capable of that level of spontenaity. I wish I was. In any case, it's nice to see old friends unexpectedly. It's nice to feel like the distance between Columbus and Bloomington isn't so far, and it's nice to feel like the experience and personal history contained in those places isn't so far. Autumn is nostalgic but it's also imbued with a feeling of motion and excitement which is a good foil, I think to the meloncholy of nostalgia. If all that's left by the time all the leaves fall off the trees is my nostalgia, though, I feel like I'll be in trouble.
I walked up to Chris' house yesterday. He made us smoothies and we just sat in their eerily spartan living room and talked. It was nice and I think I'll enjoy having so many friends in the neighborhood. Chris is excited about hanging out with a girl and he talks about it somewhat frankly, which is good actually, because I'm not sure if my akward secrecy about my feelings about such things is good. He's trying to interpret interactions and is coming to the conclusion that staying up into the early hours of the morning talking in secret places must count for something. This makes sense, but I can't help but remember a time when I decided that the intimacy of night time conversations did mean something, and that the something was a meaningful but occasionally frustrating platonic friendship and not that the other person had any romantic feelings towards me. The desire to have certainty rather than appreciating what you have is frustrating.
I'm looking forward to maybe riding in a courier race next week in Chicago. Short out of town trips seem exciting. I went to the skatepark yesterday and it was real fun. Maybe I'll go see Avail tonight which should be interesting.
posted by geoff on 9/29/2004 09:12:25 AM
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apparently, there is a marked increase in the number of new voters -
http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2004/09/28/new_voters/index_np.html
posted by geoff on 9/28/2004 01:43:12 PM
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http://messengers.org/events/events2004/2004.10.09.chicago.jpg
trackbiketerror@hotmail.com
posted by geoff on 9/28/2004 11:11:37 AM
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