Did you vote?

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All right, this election thing has become a bit of an embarassment on a global scale. It has given everyone an opportunity to take the piss out of your government. How do you feel about this turn of events? If you didn't vote, do you wish you did?

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000

Answers

Oh, yes, I voted. Anytime someone specifically asks me my opinion, I take advantage of it.

It didn't matter too much in the Presidential election, there was no doubt about which way my state was going to swing.

I don't see why anyone would think this scenario is embarrassing. If I were one of the candidates, you can bet your lunch money I'd be scraping the barrel for every vote, too. We're talking about a pretty important job here, and I don't have a problem with all the shoulder-overlooking and triple-checking. I think it's a good thing. It's certainly been the most interesting part of the election.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000


I suppose by embarassing I mean that abroad people are rolling their eyes claiming that something fishy going on. Don't you feel there is something a bit off about this particular election?

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000

I voted early and I agree with Mary Ellen. It's not embarrassing. This is probably the best thing that's happened to the american election process in decades. Of course, it's fun to make fun of, most american political news is (see, The Daily Show, SNL, etc). I've gotten some funny as hell jokes via email, too.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000

Yeah, there is something off in that whomever designed the ballots in Florida did a really bad job. I'm just surprised that most places don't use voting booths with mechanical levers to vote, instead of using paper and pencil/poker. I've only used the mechanical booths and just assumed most of the country did the same.

I don't know why the rest of the world is getting their panties in a wad over this. We're just making sure that in such a close race, the real winner actually wins.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000


Yes, I voted. And like everyone else I know, I voted more to keep someone else out of office than because I embrace everything that my party's candidate stands for. I have no problem with the fact that the people in Florida are trying to sort through this mess as fairly as possible. It's not as if the new president were going to move into the White House 12/1; we have some time. I also think it's fantastic that so many people now feel that their votes count and may be willing to get off their rumps and vote in future elections.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000


I always vote, and I don't see this election as embarrasing. I thought a number of commentators from other countries thought it was cool that we actually have procedures for how these things are done (regardless of the rhetoric, there are actually procedures and they are working.) Some people have also said that in their countries there would have been rioting and murder by now, and that they admire how the US handles these types of things (no I can't remember who said that.)

The reason it seems so fragmented is because individual's rights come before state's rights, and state's rights come before federal rights (with exceptions of course, don't blast me) and many voices are allowed to protest, so it seems messy, but we keep going up levels as decisions are made. It just takes a while.

It's been very emotional at my work, but if you were around during Watergate, you've seen these kind of discussions before.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000


Yes, I vote in every election I can. I'm a firm believer in our processes. What's happening with the current presidential election is all about the rule of law, specifically Florida law, and I'm cool with that. I've heard it reported that the rest of the world is laughing at us, jeering at us. I don't get that, if it's true. This system was well thought out, has served us well, is serving us well now and will continue to serve us well. I don't find it embarassing at all.

As far as kinds of ballots, I'm aware of several different kinds used in this election. There are the mechanical red lever booths, the butterfly punch ballots, the "color in the shape" ballots where you have to fill in an arrow or a circle, the completely electronic booths in use where I live, Internet voting in Washington state and US mail voting in Oregon. I kinda wish we'd all get on one kind of ballot and stick with it, but I'm not aware of all the issues surrounding that, such as cost, etc. All I can say is that I've used lots of different kinds of ballots and the electronic booths I get to use now are easy and efficient.

The butterfly ballot in Florida's Palm Beach County was designed by one Democratic member of the three-person canvassing board and approved by both major parties in advance of Election Day. I think her goal was to display all the presidential candidates at once so that voters wouldn't have to turn the page to find their favorite.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000


The rest of the world is laughing at us? Why? Because we go overboard in order to be fair and equitable? Gee, maybe we'll just cut off all foreign aid, stop give-away food shipments, and next time some tyrant starts beating up one of our friends, we'll just stay home and watch it all on TV. Please don't hate us because we're beautiful.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000

While it's frustrating to wait for results and play by our own rules, there are plenty of parts of the world where a situation like this would lead to chaos and people getting hurt, and I don't mean just their feelings.

Fishy? Nonsense. Democracy, like love and marriage, are noble as concepts but often tedious and messy in practice. I'm proud of us, for trying to be fair when there's so much at stake, for letting even the idjits say their piece (I just turn off the TV!), and for accepting whoever winds up with the job and moving on with things.

If I lived in a country where the military shot up the capital whenever there was a controversial election, I would consider that embarassing on a global scale.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000


er...don't diagram any of those sentences I just wrote. I can't help it; I learned my grammar in public school. :)

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000


I always vote. Until very recently I also thought everybody went to a voting booth and used a mechanical lever. My sister moved to Oregon this year and was really upset about having to vote by mail. She really likes going to the polling place and poking holes in the ballot. She had planned to take her 3 year old daughter with her to show her what it was all about. Did you know that they also don't let you pump your own gas in Oregon? I found that out recently when I went to visit.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000

Why on earth can't you pump your own gas in Oregon? They must have some reason and I'd love to hear it.

When we moved to Texas from New York in the 1980s, I remember seeing my mom get flustered by having to operate her first self-service gas pump. Even as a little kid I found the concept of full-service gas stations odd. Talk about make-work.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000


I voted, and I'm not embarrassed about the tallying delay. And I like pumping my own gas, too.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000

You also can't pump your own gas in New Jersey. Apparently the powers-that-be in those states think people are going to blow up the stations if they pump the gas themselves. If only they knew that the people who pump the gas are most likely the ones that would end up blowing up the place.

Oh, uh, yeah, I vote every year too.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000


I heard 2 different reasons why you can't pump your own gas in Oregon. One was the environment. I guess they are afraid we will let some gas fumes leak into the ozone if we pump our own gas. The other reason was to create jobs. I don't know if either or both of these is the real reason, but that's what I heard.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000


With all the American money invested in foreign countries it probably wouldn't be a good idea to sit back and watch the world go to hell in a handbasket, but I suppose it's fun to imagine that you could do that, Bubba! Anyway, it's the US allies that are worrying the most about this election. When the most powerful government in the world seems to falter, everyone's in trouble, no?

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2000

I don't think that the delay is embarassing either, it's the dodgy ballots that seems to have spurned debates on whether there was some sort of vote rigging. Since it's the closest election since Nixon and JFK you'd think they'd have tried tried to cut down the margin of error.

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2000

I am glad this happened. It has shown people just how much their vote counts. NPR ran a list of a bunch of elections and voting events where the outcome was determined by a single vote. I took my 7 year old back to the polls to show her how it worked and they had a sample ballot for kids. Chief executive, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, etc. Head of education, Thomas Edison, Albert Einsten, etc. Secretary, Susan B. Anthony, etc. (whom she voted for-way to go girl!) and, do you think hot dogs should be served at all sporting events, yes or no? I wish we went by popular vote rather than the Electoral College. And, if I think I had punched a ballot wrong, I'd want to have the opportunity to do it again. I guess it is too expensive to print up ballots again and have people revote.

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2000

The rest of the world is laughing at us? Why? Because we go overboard in order to be fair and equitable?

Who's this 'we'? Everyone is completely split on what should be done - - that's hardly unified support for 'fair[ness]'.

The rest of the world is laughing, in part, because even the US elections have now been tainted by the urge of American news sources to turn them into a source of entertainment. Everyone was gunning to be first to announce the winner, and they fucked it up, most likely fucking up the election results in the process.

Also, the images we're being shown of Americans shouting at each other, sometimes employing the use of racism ('It's not my fault if YOUR PEOPLE can't read!' was one rather disgusting outburst I heard hurled at a black person from a Bush supporter), are utterly sad. If you didn't laugh, you'd have to cry.

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2000


Well, that's the rest of the world's perspective, then. There are idiots and intolerant fools everywhere, and they do tend to make the evening news. But that doesn't make them the majority.

As far as the media making things a three-ring circus, we've come to expect that. I think the line's been crossed -- "first" has become more important than "correct", but it's a cutthroat business, and people obviously are craving that kind of coverage or it wouldn't be working.

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2000


I don't think 'People crave it' is a legitimate reason for irresponsible journalism.

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2000

I don't think anyone is advocating irresponsible journalism, but I also don't think it is a practice that stops at the US borders.

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2000

I wasn't aware that anyone suggested that it does, elena. In fact I just wrote a Hissyfit about that very subject.

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2000

I initially took the suggestion that American news sources' urge to turn the elections into entertainment as an indictment of just US media/journalists. I'm happy to be mistaken.

I'm on my way over to Hissyfit right now...

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2000


Quick aside: I seem incapable of proofreading...I assume you understand what my last post meant, even if I failed to construct a decent sentence.

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2000

MaryEllen, you are just too correct about journalism. TV journalism (is that an oxymoron?) is so much showmanship. And "tacky" or "sensational" gets a least first attention in print. Darle Routier (sp?) is on deathrow here in Texas because of the foregoing and for no other reason that I can see and I've looked the case over twice to see if I missed anything.

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2000

I would say, though, Elena, that the difference between American news sources and British news sources is that, here, there is a definite line drawn between tabloid, sensationalist outlets (The Sun, The Daily Mail, et al) and respectable ones (the broadsheets, and any news programme on the air). In the US, even the networks are in on the fight to turn the elections into entertainment, ratings and money.

Two possible reasons for this difference is that the BBC isn't funded by advertisers, and the election season here only lasts a few weeks (as opposed to 18 months in the US).

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2000


Oh, don't get me wrong. I wasn't justifying irresponsible journalism. I was just recognizing the fact that it exists for a reason. I don't personally give much credence to TV news (OK, maybe Jim Lehrer's show is still good. Not much else). I'm a news snob, though, and realize that I'm the minority. Anyone wanna hear my rant against "USA Today"? That's what I thought.

BUT, even having admitted my snobbery, I still think the majority of the people in the US don't take every word on the TV news as gospel anymore. The public wanted the news a little spicier, and that, by god, is what we've got. We know it's "infotainment", and we're ready with our grains of salt. It's not like the American public is a bunch of blind sheep hanging on Dan Rather's every word, though I think that's how most of the world perceives us.

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2000


Oh, and another thing, I don't think too much of the automatic respect for some media sources versus another. Earned respect is different, but assuming that the tabloids are trash while the non- tabloids are *obviously* telling the whole, unbiased story -- is that really such a great idea? I like to keep my skepticism universal.

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2000

I voted. I am not embarassed about what's going on - it takes a while, sure, but a close vote is a close vote. I would find it more embarassing to live in a country where we didn't have the right to vote.

I live in NJ and I have to say, I have no desire to pump my own gas. I moved to IN when I was 19 and I was like - what? get out of the car? pump my *own* gas? Horrors! It's better to not pump your own gas - that way it all costs the same and you can stay in your CAR when it's nasty out! Whoo hoo! Viva New Jersey!

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2000


In Oregon the gas-pumping issue is indeed to create jobs. My in-laws live there, and we've visited numerous times. I don't mind at all -- the only thing that annoys me is you *do* pay full-service prices, pretty much, but in OR, they don't check your fluids or clean off your windshields -- you still have to do that stuff. God, if I have to pay you to pump my gas, can't you pop my fricking hood and make sure I have enough oil?

Er, back to your regularly scheduled topic.

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2000


Yeah, I voted...I'm not embarrassed by the delay but I am embarrassed by the caliber of candidates to choose from (or lack thereof...and I pump my own gas (though we have the option not to IF you can find a full-service station and IF you want to pay up to 50 cents more a gallon).

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2000

It's curious how some Americans tend to get all self-righteous and work themselves into such a tizzy when their government gets into a scrape. Some people get an attitude and brag about how they could wipe those insolent foreign critics (how dare they criticize me when I could beat the shit out of them!), others get apologetic and feel responsible, as if they represent their country than a bunch of self serving white men. During the years that I've lived there the friends that I have made are lifelong friends, who have gone through thick and thin just like the friends I have from elsewhere in the world. I've met mentors and morons, fat, tall, thin, short, just like in every other country. The US is a melting pot, with practically every religion that exists, Americans, Africans, Europeans, Asians, not to forget us aliens. If you're a gun toting Texan or a tight arse suburbanite, you should proud of your country and learn about how it was created (just to get a little humble). You should also appreciate the rest of the world as you would respect your parents. Every dog has its day, empires are built and are bound to fall. Being British, and existing only as a result of the greedy colonialists I can vouch for that. In six billion years the sun's going to blow up and wipe us out anyway, so do and think what you like. Oh, and these petrol prices are killing me...

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2000

Too many Americans think that the US's contributions of humanitarian aid and military involvement are some kind of selfless acts performed out of the goodness of the American government's heart.

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2000

"In six billion years the sun's going to blow up and wipe us out anyway, so do and think what you like."

Yeah, that's what I say, too. Y'all go ahead and be self-righteous or apologetic, or talk about how ridiculous Americans are or whatever, because we're all going to die, anyway.

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2000


Jane, don't start on the petrol prices, or we'll really have to throw down (TM Nicole -- not really, but Nicole always says it and it cracks me up).

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2000

Well, I voted on Monday in our municipal election. Our federal election is on November 27, and I sure as hell intend vote again.

An American friend of mine asked me if we're all laughing about the US election in Canada. I haven't heard anyone laughing about it because it's a fairly serious issue. We don't have the same type of government or elections so we couldn't have the same kind of thing happen here, but I wouldn't be so foolhardy as to say election mishaps wouldn't happen here. Since we only have 31 million people, it is easy to have consistent voting methods across the country. Also, the feds don't defer to the provinces to handle designing the ballots and maintaining the voting processes. However, that's easier to do when you only have a tenth of the population that America does.

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2000


I don't think the US can ever be a "good guy" in the world view. If we don't interfere, we're isolationist. If we do, we're paternalistic or merely protecting our own interests. God knows this country is far from perfect, but sometimes the Big Bad America stuff gets old. And you can give 10,000 examples of bad things the US has done and I can give you 10,000 examples of good things, and then you can show me how the good things were really bad, and nothing has changed anyway. Then we can go back to our corners in a huff and feel all justified. Situations will always look different from the outside than from the inside, and neither one is the complete picture.

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2000

Well said, Mary Ellen.

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2000

Last year, when I was stuck on the couch with the 'flu for a whole week I watched the Discovery Channel and scared myself silly with all the apocalyptic programmes they air. Sun exploding, asteroids colliding with the earth, viruses, environmental disasters etc. "I'll have another beer, what the hell, the world's gonna blow up anyway." or "Who cares that the Turks are gonna invade, the world's gonna blow up anyway." or "So what if Bush becomes president and blows up the world a little sooner than we expected, the world's gonna blow up anyway." Try it for yourself, it's pretty liberating.

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2000

i vetoed and i still dont no who won!!!

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2000

I am a world traveller, well-read and old enough to have some perspective. I am a student of history and have been involved in a prolonged, armed struggle. While I agree that America can never be viewed totally as a "good guy," ignoring the impact America has had on the world is to overlook the obvious. All the sneery remarks from other cultures and countries are meaningless. "Only those who actually DO something are ever criticized." While I'm aware that America has many faults, some of them glaring, I realize that she is a work in progress and have little patience with other cultures' (?) condescending observations. In the perspective of history, Greek civilization, the Roman Empire and the British Empire lumped together will pale when compared to the impact America has had on the recent past, the influence it has on the present and the affect it has on the shape of the future. And all in just over 200 years. America in decline? Not hardly. America hasn't even "had her day" in the "every dog" sense.

-- Anonymous, November 18, 2000

Floosie, I wanted to veto too but there wasn't a place on the ballot to veto all these idiots whom the power brokers offered us. I wish there was a "none of the above" vote. But I vote mainly for the city and county government nominees and the propositions. That's what daily affects your life. From the Senate on down is what really matters. And ban the IRS. James

-- Anonymous, November 18, 2000

limberhack yo mean youdindt vote? its your duty to !!!

-- Anonymous, November 19, 2000

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