So here we are.
After what's seemed like an interminable build-up, Election Day is finally just a few short hours away. By this time tomorrow, barring any nightmare scenario coming to fruition, we'll likely know who the next president of the United States is -- which trajectory this country will take from January of 2009 forward. For many, the choice may be simple. But with all we've lived through during the past eight turbulent years -- with everything we know for certain is now at stake not just for America but for the world -- tomorrow's election feels like a uniquely daunting proposition.
Never in most of our lifetimes has so much been riding on one day.
And maybe that's why so many are going into tomorrow feeling as if they're handling a nuclear warhead.
That's what their individual votes feel like: immensely powerful and yet terrifyingly fragile.
They realize that, should they -- should we -- fail, the consequences for this nation could very well be catastrophic.
So it comes down to this: We cannot fail.
Tomorrow, you have the chance to do something mighty -- maybe the mightiest and most patriotic thing you've done in your life to this point. When you go into that voting booth, know that for just a few moments you are the most powerful person on the planet. You're taking a stand; staging a coup; starting a revolution. You are fighting back; telling those who've torn asunder the values and freedoms that America stands for that their time is up; telling those who would use ignorance, fear and cynicism as weapons against their own people that we've had enough.
And make no mistake: Your voice counts more than you could possibly imagine.
It counts because this time it won't do to simply win a victory over the forces of corruption and tyranny.
We need to leave them utterly decimated. We need to send a message.
And tomorrow, you get to do just that.
Tomorrow, you get to create a better tomorrow.
Tomorrow, you get to make history.
Tomorrow, you get to take back your country.
Tomorrow, you get to change the world.
It's all in your hands.
Monday, November 03, 2008
We the People...
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16 comments:
(stands tall)
We have done our part, and we are proud of it!
I just want to take this opportunity to thank you for doing your part in providing us with an interesting cross section of information.
I have to listen to people like my sister in-law who doesn't watch news, read papers, or "read the web" and just doesn't see any difference between the candidates, and my brother-in-law who honestly believes Obama is a muslim terrorist.
In my house we have actually printed out a couple of your more insightful and well-researched posts and passed them along to our non-web-reading family members in an effort to give them something more intelligible than our vague ramblings about such and such to consider.
Thank you for being intelligent and observant.
--Grateful Phil
first off, whoever took that picture had the shutter speed too slow, second off, this sounds like something hitler would have said.. we need to rise up for a better tomorrow! we need to '"leave [our opponents] utterly decimated" .. staging a coup, starting a revolution?
alls i is sayin is be careful what you wish for, because when so many people believe so deeply in a single person, that person can pretty much do whatever he wants
I really wish your country let Canadians vote... as it is, it looks like I'll be spending another harrowing election night biting my nails and cursing every State that turns red on the election map...
As an outsider looking in: IF Obama wins, and I think nothing's for certain, the change does not end tomorrow. There a whole pile of work and time that's needed to stay on top of things and keep the momentum and to make progress. My hope is that people stay interested and involved long after the votes are counted. Voting is only one tiny part of living in a healthy democracy. And, winning the election is one thing, running the country is another. In fact, isn't that a Robert Redford movie? Anyway, good luck.
Amen, sir. Amen.
The combined messages of Zinn's "A People's History of the United States" and Richard Ben Kramer's "What It Takes" suggest that, in the long run, whoever comes to hold the office of the Presidency this election cycle will not significantly change much.
And yet I'm driving back to NYC from MA, where I'm celebrating my 30th birthday with family and friends, to vote, because I didn't have the foresight to properly get my absentee ballot in on time.
The reason is: because you're right. It matters. Even if it just matters to me, personally, to cast my small, blue-vote-in-a-blue-state vote as a singular "fuck you" to the forces that want nothing more than to divide this country for selfish political purposes, it matters.
It matters so much.
Go America!
this is the most important Election day of the Decade!
oh, i support Obama. my whole school does, actually.
i live in Aussie-land and all the political commentators have white knuckles. says it all really. this is important. over in fashion blog land they discuss too. everyone except the kids in creche know it is important.
I've been reading your blog for a very long time, and this is the single lamest thing you've said since you admitted liking Kelly Clarkson.
...and yet every word of it is true.
I live in central Florida, and McCain no doubt has more support here in Marion County than Obama does, but that doesn't matter. I would cast my vote for Obama even if I were the only person in the state to do so, and I would do so proudly and without shame.
This isn't the 2004 election. I'm not voting AGAINST a candidate. I'm voting FOR a candidate. And it's a much better feeling.
I tried to make the same kind of statement on my bulletin on MySpace, Chez, but I simply don't have your power with words. Your statement was so much more powerful than mine I am in envy.
I hope you are right Chez. After the FISA vote, I gave up hoping that Obama was actually going to change anything.
I absolutely agree that McCain would be a terrible President, but I'm not so sure Obama is going to try and fix what is really wrong in this country.
I hope the coming year finds us out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and that we've had a total reversal of all the police-state nonsense that has been building over the last eight years.
Sadly, I think all that will change is that there will be more federal bloat being ineffective and costly.
As a citizen of this country I will vote for the person that would make the best President for these times. I will vote for the one that would stand up for the people of this nation whole-heartedly and without hesitation. While I do not agree with his border policy nor his energy policy, I heavily agree with his economic policy, foreign policy and emphasis on personal freedoms. My vote sincerely goes to Dr. Ron Paul.
in the words of scott mosier in clerks "that's beautiful, man."
Alex --
While voting your conscience is technically never wrong, I think you really are wasting your vote and doing yourself and the country a disservice by voting for Ron Paul -- and let me explain why. I made this same argument a while back on Sirius Radio:
Unlike past elections, the two candidates running for president right now are very, very different. The two paths they offer for America are not the sort of thing anyone would ever confuse and, by that token, there's a strong likelihood that you prefer one candidate's path above the other -- and that, if you're honest with yourself, you prefer it in a very big way.
With the race as potentially tight as it is, with every vote counting, then a vote for Ron Paul is essentially a vote against that "better" way -- particularly since Ron Paul can't win.
Let me put it in simpler terms: From a practical standpoint, you're shooting yourself in the foot just to make a point.
I feel like I should be listening to the Medal of Honor theme while reading this. Awesome job, awesome text, and may the people of this great nation make the right choice today.
Chez,
Neither of these candidates is going to give up the executive power that Bush has set up these last few years. Neither of them are going to reverse the surveillance and wiretapping. Neither of them are going to shut down the torture machine in GitMo. The Federal Reserve will still control our currency.
The only difference between our current situation and the one upcoming when Obama is elected (yes, I say when) is that those that earn more than a certain amount each year will begin paying more to the federal government and the federal government will use this to try and pay for a new series of programs to redistribute that money to other people. These programs won't work as effectively as they would if they were being run by smaller organizations like local governments and non-profits.
Anything short of actually reducing the federal government is a step in the wrong direction and means more money lost to bureaucracy that could be used to actually help some people.
That is why my vote is for Paul. It communicates my wishes for this country much more effectively than not voting, and the concept of just voting for one of the two major candidates is how we find ourselves in this mess we are in (Douche/Turd Sandwich). You are right that there is a lesser of two evils here, but why aim so low with my vote and choose evil?
I didn't say the choice was between the lesser of two evils -- far from this time.
You and Grover Norquist should grab lunch sometime, man. You can bring your tinfoil hat.
Look, I get your point -- and by all means vote for whomever you'd like -- but this isn't a choice between a Douche and a Turd Sandwich. That's what makes this election different, and why, as I said, it means that for practical purposes you're wasting your vote.
Chez,
Let me be wrong. I will happily be wrong on this prediction of the future.
P.S. What earned me a tinfoil hat? Does it just come standard for all RP supporters?
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