Tag Archives: Voting

October 31, 2014 · 0:00

Worth Dying For. Worth Actually Doing

You may have noticed that I’ve been unusually quiet lately.

In fact, I’ve hardly told you to get your but out to vote at all.

It’s not that I don’t care; I do. Deeply. Elections Matter.

So here I am. I’m not too late, am I?

In trying to figure out what to say, I did a little research, and found a wonderful article (thanks, Google) entitled:

Voting Rights History
Two Centuries of Struggle
By Bruce Hartford

It summarizes the struggles that different groups went through to get the right that so many people foolishly throw away. The right that many people died for.

Women

Blacks

Asians

Hispanics

Folks 18-21 (who could fight, but couldn’t vote)

“Language Minorities”

If you pay any attention to the news, you know that the GOP has been very successful in limiting voting, in cutting the access to the polls. How? By requiring a government-issued photo ID (my favorite — in Texas a permit to carry a concealed weapon is acceptable but a student ID is not; by preventing early voting; by culling voter lists; by sending out confusing information on voting. All sorts of ways.

Go Vote! People died for that right.

Elections Matter

[Thanks to Father Kane at The Last of the Millennials for both the video and the image.]

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Filed under Campaigning, Criminal Activity, Disgustology, GOP, History, Mental Health, Politics, Science, Stupidity, Virginia, Voting

Tagged as GOP, Politics, Stupidity, Tea Party, Voting, Washington

September 27, 2014 · 0:00

Not One More

Maybe you’ve seen this before. Maybe you haven’t. But it is worth watching. It is worth seeing again.

We do everything we can to protect our kids from possible dangers. Except when it comes to guns. Really. How can we as a country, we as thinking rational people, we as parents continue to let the NRA decide.

Get rid of politicians who won’t stand up to the NRA. Get rid of politicians who think that it is just dandy that anybody can get a gun. Or collect enough of them to maintain an arsenal.

Protect your family. Vote these folks out of Dodge.

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Filed under Adult Traumas, Campaigning, Cancer, Childhood Traumas, Criminal Activity, Disgustology, Elections, Family, GOP, Gun control, Health and Medicine, Huh?, Hypocrisy, Law, Mental Health, Politics, Stupidity, Voting

Tagged as Assholes, Crazy people, Elections, Gun control, Health, Politics, Pushing Buttons, Stupidity, Tea Party, Voting, Washington

August 5, 2014 · 0:00

Self Protection for the Gun Control Crowd

My husband John believes that the whole reason that the NRA is bat-shit crazy about getting everybody guns is so that bit by bit, everybody will become afraid enough of their own shadows and/or that of their neighbors that they will have no choice but to buy their own gun to protect themselves from everybody else in the US who has one and is likely to come a-callin’. And then, of course, the gun manufacturers would get even more blood money and pay more dues! It’s a win-win for the NRA and the manufacturers! The fact that the country will lose is just collateral damage.

John may be on to something. Because just today I read that there are folks in the NRA who are advocating that non-eagle-eye folks have the right to guns, too. Not only people who need corrective lenses, but folks who cannot see at all. In a less politically correct time we might have called them “Blind Folks.”

Now, now, don’t get all worried. According to Dom Raso, the guy in this video, since blind folks have such good hearing, they don’t need to see what they’re shooting at.

So the logical conclusion is that they will not just randomly start firing their guns around like irresponsible folks. (Not that there are any irresponsible gun owners out there, natch.) That makes me feel much better.

Now I grant you, there is scientific evidence that blind folks can hear better than those with better vision. Still, I’m really not at all comfortable with the idea that one of my neighbors who is vision impaired might have a gun. Well, not if he can put bullets into it and fire it, anyway.

But this discussion led me to a brilliant idea. Now I know how I will protect myself during the apocolypse and/or the rapture and/or when the guvment’s jackbooted thugs come to my house.

I’m gonna make a sign:

Beware of The Jumpy Blind Woman with The Gun

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Filed under Adult Traumas, Conspicuous consumption, Criminal Activity, Disgustology, Elections, GOP, Gun control, Health and Medicine, Huh?, Humor, Hypocrisy, Law, Mental Health, Real Estate, Stupidity, Voting, Wild Beasts

Tagged as Assholes, Campaigning, Crazy people, Elections, Gun control, Health, Humor, Politics, Pushing Buttons, Voting, Washington

July 7, 2014 · 0:00

Did I Miss a Contest?

It’s John’s fault. Not long after we started dating, John got me hooked on contests when he won one. A free, all expenses paid trip for two to the UK in 1986! Seriously! It was right after the Lockerby bombing, and nobody was going to England. So British Airways held a contest to give away all tickets to London on one day in June. And John won.

I didn’t win.

I never win.

I always enter, though. No matter what the contest. As soon as I find out about a raffle, a sweepstakes, a lottery, I’m in. Take my money. Please.

So I must admit that I was a little bit miffed when I logged on to one of my favorite news websites — Talking Points Memo today. Because apparently there is a contest I missed.

A contest to see who can be the biggest asshole.

Did you see some of the things that were done to “celebrate” Independence Day?

There was the editorial in the WestView News — a New York newspaper (WTF? — New York?)

Charming. Even if it was meant ironically. Photo credit, West View News. Assholes

Then, there was that parade in Nebraska. Now tell me, what parade is complete without honoring our president:

Nope. No racism here. No disrespect meant, I’m sure. Assholes.

But to me, at least for today, the folks who win the contest for the biggest asshole in the country are these guys: the “Coal Rollers.” Assholes who modify the emission controls on their diesel vehicles to spew huge clouds of exhaust — ON PURPOSE! As it says in one of the articles I read on TPM,

Truckers essentially trick their vehicles into thinking they need to use more gas than it actually needs. The more fuel that’s used up, the more exhaust comes out thus the big plumes of dark emissions from a “rolling coal truck.” According to Daily Digest News, turning a truck into a rolling coal truck can cost as much as $5,000.

Just how much money would you be willing to spend to show just how big an asshole you can be?

They direct their exhaust towards Prius drivers, bicyclists, well, really towards anybody who might not be burning quite as much fossil fuel and/or emitting quite so much CO2 as they are. They’re doing it because they hate Obama and want to demonstrate just how much.

Yup. Today, Coal Rollers win the prize. They are the biggest assholes.

And they’ve cured me of my fascination with contests. Because I’m never going to top these assholes.