Election Day

Common Election Day nonsense and the response from one of our frequent contributors, Tim Blandsword:

“My vote doesn’t matter I live in red/blue state and I’m going to vote in the opposite direction”

• That is probably accurate. But just because something is likely going to turn out one way does that mean that you shouldn’t try to turn it around? A 16 seed just beat the number one overall seed in the NCAA basketball tournament last year. Now every number one seed team knows that they should never be unprepared, and every 16 seed team knows they can win. That may be a classic, silly, TB example, but it holds true. And TB can say it cause TB has a voice.

“I don’t know anything about the candidates.”

• What are your thoughts on changing that in 15 minutes by reading about a few of them on their web sites? Ignorance is almost never an acceptable excuse anymore in the age of the internet. Classic Blandsword response.

“They make it so hard to vote in my state, I don’t want to bother with it.”

• Yes that’s a pain in the old behind. Agreed. However, TB’s advice is to not take “no” for an answer. It is your right to make your voice heard through voting. So if you are passionate about your views and you want the people in office to represent those views, call whoever you need to every day, every hour, whatever it takes to make sure you are eligible to vote and don’t let them tell you “no”.

“I locked my keys in my car.”

• Not entirely sure how this one got mixed in here. But if you need to break the window, a frozen bag of Brussel sprouts typically works quite well.

“I’m afraid I’ll get yelled at or harassed at the polls or that I won’t know how to do it, I’ve never voted before”

• That is a scary thought and TB ain’t gonna tell you that won’t happen. But take a quick look back through history and think of people who were harassed as they were changing history. They kept their eyes on the prize and pushed through until they made their mark. Your vote is no less important than any famous speech, movement, protest that changed the world in the past. TB signing off.

Poignant as always Tim, Thank you.