06 November 2006

Tuesday To-Do List

1. VOTE!
Tuesday, November 7 is Election Day here in the U.S. The only acceptable excuse for not voting is that you are not old enough. There are all kinds of civic organizations, party-affiliated groups, and other means to help you get to your polling place. In most places, the polls open very early and stay open into the early evening, past dinnertime even.

Ideally, you will vote for the same people that *I* want to win the election, and they will win, and I will be thrilled. I realize, however, that not everyone shares my beliefs, values, and opinions; but the important thing is to vote anyway! You may not think it will change anything, and God knows I've felt that way, but never so much to keep me from not adding my ballot to everyone else's. If nothing else, voting gives you the right to complain about whoever was elected, if your candidate doesn't win!

I can also tell you that voting does make a difference, maybe not all at once, but a little bit at at time. I worked for a while at the U.S. Senate, and let me tell you, when people voted and the makeup of the House and Senate changed, even slightly, there was a lot that accompanied those changes! Even if laws and policies didn't drastically change overnight, everyone woke up and got their butts into gear. And if they were surprised by the changes, they had only themselves to blame.

And lastly on the topic of voting, we should all vote because we CAN. I think Americans are too complacent about the right to vote. When you are casting your ballot, you are doing something that not everyone in the world, even today, ever has the opportunity to do in their lives. People have died for the right to vote, governments have been toppled when they tried to restrict or revoke voting rights for even a portion of their citizens.

So get thee to a polling place!

2. SPOT. What, you may ask, is SPOT, if not a cute little doggie in children's books? Well, SPOT is the Society for the Preservation of Thanksgiving. Visit the website, and try to take the message to heart. Because Thanksgiving is a real holiday, and should be celebrated and treated as such.

And if you are not going to celebrate holidays properly (i.e., as *I* think they should be celebrated), well then there probably is no hope for you anyway ...

3. Eat some chocolate.
(OK, this is on my to-do-list everyday.)

4. Visit Wendy Knits, and read about her plans to encourage people to contribute to Heifer International. Not everyone's cup of tea, but at least it makes you think ... and thinking often leads to action (like maybe deciding to VOTE!) ...

5. See #1.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Bridget,

I fear you, ergo I vote. :-)

And may I add that you can enter the booth and cast one single vote. A message can be sent by not voting blindly. Choose your candidates with care and cast your ballot thusly.

Here endeth the lesson. Go and may the Force be with you.

(Well put, Gitte, and thanks!)

the wicked witch of the east said...

you sound like a libral lois lover, you commie pinko...(what the hell is a pinko anyways??)...and i totally almost said "and also w/ you"...man, i'm having sunday mass flashbacks...thanks a lot la-la...anyhoo...in summation...voting good...bridget commie...and we take back thanksgiving...viva la revolution!!...:)

Theresa said...

It seems to anticlimatic to have voted by absentee ballot 2 weeks ago . . . but I still get to see all the results come in!

Carol said...

Amen!

Carol said...

Good Morning Bridget!
If you click on the photo, it may make it bigger. If not, I'd be happy to post a larger one. It was Brian's coffee that he left on the counter (God forbid they rinse dishes & put them in the sink) & the "leaf" occurred.

Anonymous said...

Well, I voted, and Phyl wouldn't let me not take thanksgiving seriously (although the turkeys aren't big enough yet so we may have chicken but it was raised by people I know, my mom and her friends), I have visited Wendy Knits but I have a problem -- there is no chocolate -- I must have eaten it all yesterday...