Sitting here in a cold medicine-induced haze, I've come to the understanding that you would had to have actively avoided copious amounts of information throughout the past several months NOT to be at least a LITTLE bit sick of election talk by now.
Yes, it's historic, no matter what way you slice it. But the more people I talk to, the more I am starting to understand that many patriotic people aren't that fond of either of our presidential candidates and are considering using that as an excuse to give up their right to vote on Tuesday.
I, too, waver back and forth between certitude and skepticism in my choice for the presidency (and even in my stances on a few of the props). But with all the hullaballoo from various groups and camps inundating us with ads that beseech us to PLEASE see things their way...attack ads, smear campaigns and epic tales of heroism boiled down to their most essential 60-second pitch...I have come to remember one thing that is certain above all others - these groups, these camps, these people that blanket our television and radio programming with pleas to vote this way or that serve as a constant reminder that WE are in charge.
These groups work tirelessly day after day to come up with ways to manipulate our deductive reasoning, play upon our emotions and suspend our disbelief and all because they KNOW that WE THE PEOPLE ARE THE FINAL DECISION.
No matter what your feelings are on McCain or Obama or even whether or not children's hospitals deserve more funding and gay people should be allowed to marry, we are the final authority on the next direction our country takes.
(*Now, please don't assume I have taken a passive, hypocritical approach to my thinking by using valuable time that could have been devoted to researching ballot measures and standing in long, early voting lines, but instead were squandered by writing flowery blogs that forced my opinions on others through thinly-vailed thoughts about democracy and civic duty. I have not).
The morning after Halloween, hung over, exhausted and on my way to brunch, I realized that there was something infinitely more important to me than Advil, eggs Benedict and gossip. So I peeled myself out of bed, made the compromise of clean clothes and unkempt hair and drove my weary self down to Norwalk to stand alone in a 4 and a half hour line in the overcast and drizzle to cast my votes - all of them - and take my place among the hundreds of people who thought enough of their state, their country, and themselves to weigh in on the decisions of next 4 years.
It's not that I don't care which way you vote. In fact, I'd be thrilled if you voted the same ways that I did. Who wouldn't? But letting my mind wander to all the modern societies that don't give a damn what you think, just as long as you keep your head down and your mouth shut, I simply can't fathom a citizen of this country, a passenger of this ship NOT wanting to have a say about where this boat goes and who is at the helm.
"It's your nickel", my math tutor would half-heartedly reply after listening to one of my energetic rants about why I couldn't study with him that day.
But it is your nickel. You were lucky enough to receive it by being born on this soil and you deserve to spend it in whatever way you see fit. I guess I just don't see how you could let someone take it out of your hand and patronizingly pat you on the head, all the while assuring you that your contribution would have been worthless anyway...
...or it could just be the cough medicine.
You only have 72 hours left. Please stand and be counted. It's your nickel and it matters.
