Election Night

Okay, let's get this out of the way.

I didn't vote this year.

Go ahead, call me names. Cuss me out. Or, like my mom did when we talked last night, express your disappointment and threaten to take me out of the will.

After the last presidential election, I caught a bad case of voter apathy. I had high hopes that Bush would get ousted; I didn't particularly care for John Kerry, but hell, this was the heart of the ABB movement ("Anyone But Bush"). Everything about Bush's first term was the stuff of nightmares and horror movies and legends to tell kids of what might happen if they don't obey. "Brush your teeth every night, or Dick Cheney will waterboard another detainee."

Chaos and maddening mismanagement of our government rampaged through our country in such a manner that people who keep up with politics - truly pay close attention to the world around them - couldn't possibly have voted Bush in for another term. Except, of course, when they did. That was the starting point of my voter's apathy. Some would rename it "social apathy," but po-tay-to, po-tah-to.

Now, these past four years have been like the sequel to a film that is so far below the original, it almost stands to tarnish the legacy of the original. This was the "Batman Returns" presidential term, the "Pet Semetary Two."

And today, we the people run the risk of seeing, not a sequel, but a remake. Should McCain win, I truly hope that much of the policies of the Bush era don't hold up. Of course, I think that lurking in Palin's shadow is a heart of darkness that could rival at least five Dick Cheney's. But what do I know, I'm just a psychologist.

Hell, had he won the party nod, I just might have voted McCain in 2000, since that was when he was making the most sense, and risking the trust of his own party, and was probably the most liberal of conservatives and actually had the poise that made you think that he'd have been probably a president that could have rivaled the best in my/our lifetime. Of course, the political machine had other ideas, and the party kid from Texas was the puppet du'jour. I mean, seriously, after all the bailouts and bank crashes and threats ad infinitum of depressions, recessions, etc., we really didn't need that economic surplus that Clinton left behind, did we?

I live in South Carolina. That negates my vote immediately. If I want to vote McCain, trust me, I won't be alone; on the contrary, I'll be one in millions. If I want to vote Obama, I'll be one vote cast into the Red State Sea, because you can almost bet that South Carolina's electoral college will lean to the right. I've already heard enough ABB v2.0 ("Anyone But Black") rhetoric to last me all the way through to the next election.

Where was all this voting process reform that was supposed to be in place by now? Wasn't the electoral college system supposed to be broken down, reconstructed, abandoned, whatever, by now? The electoral college is yet another reason for which I laughed when I heard Al Gore tell me that "my vote counted." Said the man who won the popular vote in 2000 - which is good enough to win you prom queen, class president, employee of the year at your small company, and whether the family eats chicken or fish tonight - but didn't win the presidency. This is the same reason that the movie "Swing Vote" should not have grossed over six million its opening weekend: Because the vote for the commander-in-chief hasn't been in the hands of one man since ... good lord, when??

Whoo ... I'm out of steam on this rant. I just truly want the president that is going to make the best decisions for our country, without being a nigh-total fuck-up like G. Dub. I mean, seriously, for every one thing that dude did right, there were AT LEAST five things he did wrong. The fact that he's not in jail or on trial for treason or some shit is mindblowing, to me. But I already find myself certain that my vote means nothing. Thank you, American political machine, for making that so.

"I'll show you politics in America right here. 'I believe the puppet on the right shares my beliefs.' 'Well, I believe the puppet on the left is more to my liking.' Hey, wait a minute, there's one guy holding up both puppets! 'Go back to bed, America, your government is in control. Here's Love Connection, watch this and get fat and stupid. By the way, keep drinking beer.'" - Bill Hicks