Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Goddamnit: vote! (And not for Romney!).

Any Americans reading this?

I wish I could have taken a photo, on the bus ride from the Tsawwassen ferry to Bridgeport Station, of the giant Obama 2012 sign someone paid to put up, so Americans visiting BC might be swayed. It seems like a lot of Americans are slumping into apathy this election - I'm seeing references to Bill Hicks' "puppet on the left/ puppet on the right" routine, references to Obama's darker side (drones, assassinations), a general attitude of "it makes no difference."

This is, of course, bullshit. Ask any gay couple in America that wants to get married. Ask any woman concerned with the right to choose what happens in her own body. Ask anyone who wants access to inexpensive healthcare. Ask anyone internationally terrified of the possibility of another four years of Republican plunder (funny how Americans seem to almost completely forget about George W. Bush - short memories indeed). Privilege, apathy, complacency are not moral principles, and don't deserve to be tricked up with arguments about how voting makes no difference. There is a huge difference between Obama - whatever his faults - and Romney. There is no honest argument for saying otherwise, unless you're secretly on the side of the Republicans - if you LIKE the idea of the USA as a pirate nation, a rogue state, ripping off the world in the name of liberty.  

Hell - even Lemmy Kilmister wants you to vote for Obama.

Please, you apathetic, spoiled, over-priveleged assholes: go vote. And don't vote for Mitt. The rest of the world is in terror that we're going to see a right-wing Mormon wingnut in power in the United States. YOU might not remember George W. Bush - or the party he headed - but we do. Please don't let a Romney presidency come to pass. Get off your asses and vote.

4 comments:

Tyler said...

I'll be voting, though not for Obama as I'm not in a swing-state (it'll be for Jill Stein, Green Party).

There are various important local issues to vote on as well, which people often forget. Four states this year are going to vote on same-sex marriage, including mine (Maryland) -- hopefully it'll pass in all of them. (If it passes in any it will be the first time the American public has voted in favor of gay marriage.)

Barring limited shenanigans I think Obama will win tonight -- and more handily -- than is being predicted. (Though the shenanigan factor is a major unknown at this point.) But who knows; after all, my fellow citizens have disappointed me and the rest of the world on a grand scale many times before... Wish us luck!

Allan MacInnis said...

Yeah, I'm hoping that the media and the polls and such have been misleading about how close the race is. A close race means more of a "fear factor" and more reading-of-news - it promotes a mood of attentive terror that most mainstream media seems to favour. SURELY Americans can see through Romney better'n the 49%-49% polls indicate...?

Still, good luck!

Tyler said...

Never overestimate a people who gave Bush his second term!

I'm not overly concerned with the popular vote. The reason I'm largely confident about the outcome is because I just don't see Romney winning Ohio, and without it, his chances are pretty slim.

But we shall see.

Allan MacInnis said...

Whew!