seventhe | Election Day

So here's one of the few politically-relevant posts you'll get from me.

I hope, if you live in the US, that you head out to vote today. I also hope that you haven't gotten so psyched over the presidential election that you've ignored your local races and local issues. Often, it's the local stuff that can really be influenced by a few determined voters; also, often, it's the local issues that are really going to affect your life more. I understand that 2008 is a big year for the presidency, but I've spent just as much time (if not more) looking into what's on the plate for Ohio / Cleveland / Akron, because those are the things that are directly going to affect me.

I kind of want to say that if you actually can't name your Congressmen and your Senators, if you can't tell me what issues are on your ballot, then you have absolutely no right to be pretending you care about the presidential election. But that's probably the kind of statement that bothers me most about politics: "If you don't believe in / support X, you are an idiot and you do not deserve Y."

Judgements like that pretty much offend me uncategorically, whether they're about politics, or religion, or academia, or -- or about cars or shoes. This election all-around has been pretty disappointing to me, mainly because of the sheer amount of judgemental superiority I've been seeing from both sides. Not just from the campaigns -- from their supporters, people at work or in school or on LJ who feel like they have the moral high ground because of one choice or another. I'm really sick of the attitude that there is a right and a wrong on so many of the issues we're dealing with today; often, it isn't that clear-cut.

This is why I've been staying out of the political realm. Because even if I agree with you completely, if you try to present your beliefs as the One True Path, you're likely to offend me with that.

But that's neither here nor there.

We have a great chance to get out there and change things about our country today, guys, from small things to big things. Let's do it.

And on that note, I'll end it with this:

Bush: 'Can I Stop Being President Now?'

And a game: Caption This Icon With A Cock Joke Or An "In Your Pants" Joke Plz