On Civic Duty. And/or: The Crushing Certainty of Defeat.
I live in a red state. A very red state. A state so red that I feel something very like despair when I consider its redness. Every single county -- even the "liberal" ones -- voted for McCain/Palin last election cycle. Oklahoma was the only state in which every county voted the same way.
So when I go to vote, I never expect that vote to mean anything. My polling place is an Episcopalian church, which offends me at its most basic level. While I suppose it is nice that the church donates its space and the volunteer time of their little old ladies, I can't help but be astounded that we allow such an obvious, if symbolic, breach of the separation of Church of State.
And so I grit my teeth and I hand my ID to the little old ladies who probably have no sinister plot to guilt people into making conservative decisions. Probably. (On a side note, I didn't realize until I was voting that I wasn't required to show identification in order to vote. This was the only measure that passed that I was actually in favor of, though I think my reasons -- to prevent election fraud à la Bush/Gore 2000 -- is completely different than the reasons for which it passed.)
Voting makes me queasy. I read down the list of candidates and knew, for a certainty, that Tom Coburn was going to be re-elected to the Senate to "represent" (read: embarrass) us some more. Mary Fallin was going to be elected Oklahoma's first female governor ever -- and she's going to be embarrassing, too. And ignorant people were going to vote in favor of banning the use of international and Sharia law in judicial decisions made in Oklahoma, because that was totally an issue with Oklahoma judges. And they were going to vote "yes" on a measure that exempts Oklahoma from national health care reform even while it acknowledges that it has no power to do that, and that the supremacy clause will trump this decision.
And I knew all of these things because Oklahomans vote on their principles: fear, stagnation, bigotry.
Voting here makes me sick. But I do it anyway, because otherwise, they get their way without anyone voicing dissent. And the biggest difference that my vote makes is that it causes my Republican classmates remark that -- hey -- the liberal minority is a lot bigger than I thought it was.
I'll take it. I guess. Because there really isn't another option.
So when I go to vote, I never expect that vote to mean anything. My polling place is an Episcopalian church, which offends me at its most basic level. While I suppose it is nice that the church donates its space and the volunteer time of their little old ladies, I can't help but be astounded that we allow such an obvious, if symbolic, breach of the separation of Church of State.
And so I grit my teeth and I hand my ID to the little old ladies who probably have no sinister plot to guilt people into making conservative decisions. Probably. (On a side note, I didn't realize until I was voting that I wasn't required to show identification in order to vote. This was the only measure that passed that I was actually in favor of, though I think my reasons -- to prevent election fraud à la Bush/Gore 2000 -- is completely different than the reasons for which it passed.)
Voting makes me queasy. I read down the list of candidates and knew, for a certainty, that Tom Coburn was going to be re-elected to the Senate to "represent" (read: embarrass) us some more. Mary Fallin was going to be elected Oklahoma's first female governor ever -- and she's going to be embarrassing, too. And ignorant people were going to vote in favor of banning the use of international and Sharia law in judicial decisions made in Oklahoma, because that was totally an issue with Oklahoma judges. And they were going to vote "yes" on a measure that exempts Oklahoma from national health care reform even while it acknowledges that it has no power to do that, and that the supremacy clause will trump this decision.
And I knew all of these things because Oklahomans vote on their principles: fear, stagnation, bigotry.
Voting here makes me sick. But I do it anyway, because otherwise, they get their way without anyone voicing dissent. And the biggest difference that my vote makes is that it causes my Republican classmates remark that -- hey -- the liberal minority is a lot bigger than I thought it was.
I'll take it. I guess. Because there really isn't another option.
The only thing to look forward to is that this is the last time Coburn will run for re-election. Unless he changes his mind. Or has been lying to us. Or just loves the power trip he is on. I can also hope Inhofe will be kidnapped by aliens and beamed to another planet. Anything to get him out of Washington.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't vote, you can't complain. So vote and bitch up a storm :)