Soapbox

I'd like to take a break from our regularly scheduled (well more like sporadic) posting to be a little serious. I know that saying this to the people that read this blog is a bit like preaching to the choir, but here it is anyway: If you do nothing else today, please get out and VOTE.

I don't get patriotic and touchy feely about many things, but I do believe in this. We have not only a right and privilege to exercise by voting, but a duty. Not only did countless numbers die to protect our rights, but countless others have also died in other lands seeking the very opportunity so many of us take for granted. Honor all those whose voice has been taken, lost, or suppressed. Speak for them, VOTE.

Further, clearly we are in a time of turmoil. As a young women I know worry about things I never thought I'd have after growing up in prosperous times: will I be able to buy a house, send future children to college, keep a job, have health insurance, and someday retire comfortably? The decisions of a few have left the majority of us to figure out how to pick up the pieces, and I, my children, and grandchildren will suffer the consequences. Take charge of your future, VOTE.

Obviously, I have a strong preference of just who you should vote for, but that's not what this post is about. I still hear far too many people saying they just don't care, or just don't get it when it comes to elections. Maybe the end results won't be what I want or what you want, but we have a way to voice our opinions, and to throw away that opportunity is just a shame. Express yourself, VOTE.



To sum up, I leave you with a thought from George Bernard Shaw:

"Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve."

We deserve the best: intelligence, hope, protection from external threats, and help for those less fortunate. We deserve better than what the 8 past years have provided. No matter who you think will provide that society, VOTE.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled progamming.