« The perils of wokeness

I did the thing

I went to the polls as soon as they opened. Here in small town America, voting is painless — no lines, no problems, just instant service and quick gratification.

However, it did feel a bit grim and unsatisfying. I felt like I’d been sent out to stop a raging, drug-addled hippopotamus with a hatpin, and my vote was just the tiniest little pinprick. I’ll feel better about it if everyone gets out there with their individually ineffectual hatpin and stabs the beast to the heart. We can do it!

« The perils of wokeness

Comments

  1. Akira MacKenzie says

    I would like to point out that not only is it Election Day, it’s also Guy Fawkes. Given the stakes of this election and the violent fascists who support Trump, I find that coincidence… ominous.

  2. Hemidactylus says

    I voted the 1st day of early voting here in Floriduh. My POTUS vote may have been an inconsequential blue drop in a sea of red. Yet by some miracle our infamous chad state could flip to Kamala. Imagine Desantis’ perplexed rage. I doubt that will happen. One can wish.

    I voted straight D and for amendments 4 (abortion) and 3 (weed). I’ll need the latter if Trump wins.

    I dread tomorrow.

  3. rorschach says

    3 of the current SCOTUS judges fixed the Florida vote for Bush in 2000. They are about to do it again, and I get the sinking feeling that Biden and his unwavering trust in “the process” and “the institutions” is what got us here in the first place. I’m afraid voting will not make one iota of difference this time, as MAGA will not accept anything other than a Trump win.
    Btw, just watching CNN interviewing a female Puerto Rican first time voter saying she and her whole family will vote for Trump. I mean, what hope is there?

  4. flex says

    I was thinking the other day that our choice was between someone who would feel comfortable in Eisenhower’s cabinet or a spite-filled, grievance-driven, easily-manipulated old man with no principles what-so-ever.

    @3, rorschach, we don’t know how hard CNN, or other news outlets, needed to look to find people who will help make this election appear close. Did they interview 1 person, or 50 people to get the clip they wanted? MAGA is a frog puffed up to look bigger than a cow by the media. If we hold here, it deflates, or explodes.

  5. beholder says

    I voted! (For Jill Stein, of course.)

    It was brisk and there was ice everywhere this morning, but I made it a few minutes before polls opened. They gave us neat little stickers with red and green chile peppers on them.

  6. rorschach says

    @5,
    “I voted! (For Jill Stein, of course.)”

    I’m hoping this is an inside joke of some kind. You never hear from Jill Stein for 4 years, and then she plops up again just before an election to do Putin’s work and siphon progressive votes away from Dems, see 2016. You can argue all you like how Trump and Harris are not really different choices when it comes to climate policy, mass murder of Palestinians, immigration or whatever. But Jill Stein is not the answer.

  8. drewl, Mental Toss Flycoon says

    I went across the street to my polling place at 8am, hoping to be one of the first, only to find out the polls opened at 7.
    There was a line (Yay!!!) and I was number 145 out of a town of 3500. So I’m hopeful we can get our governor evicted from St. Paul so he can go do something useful…
    All jokes aside, I’m hopeful. The people in line were a diverse bunch, and everyone was eager to vote. Said hello to some neighbors who work elections, now I get to watch everyone else come and vote. Probably the busiest I’ve seen in the 12 years I’ve lived here. To the point I almost want to sit in my yard and yell at the people zooming 40 MPH down my street (it’s literally one block long, and you have to turn to get on it). Also, it’s an elementary school, so slow the fuck down people!

  9. billseymour says

    This boomer always votes in every election, even for the mythical dog catcher.

    I expect that I voted on the losing side in all the state-wide races because Missouri is mostly rural and lots of folks get all their information from Rupert Murdoch or Elon Musk (or worse).  We’ll probably wind up keeping our MAGA governor and U.S. Senator; and since I live in Missouri’s gerrymandered Republican Second Congressional District, I probably haven’t helped to flip a House seat either.  But I’m in a somewhat blueish area of the 2nd District…lots of union workers live around me; so I’ll probably keep my Democratic state senator, state rep., and St. Louis County councilman.

    The only other possibly good news is that Ammendment 3 (overturn the MAGA abortion ban) and Proposition A (raise the minimum wage) might well pass.

    I now wait with bated breath for the polls to close.  Mano says when that’ll be.

    beholder @5:  I think Charly nailed it.

  10. Akira MacKenzie says

    I voted (Blue down the line) a few weeks ago, largely to avoid the possibility of AR-15-armed “poll watchers” deciding that I’m not voting correctly.

    @ 6 & 7

    Don’t feed the fascist.

  11. Hemidactylus says

    rorschach@3
    I doubt much can be made about the anecdotal musings of a rando Puerto Rican woman in the street. Is she representative of Puerto Ricans or Hispanics as a whole?

    Instead:
    https://www.pewresearch.org/2022/09/29/hispanics-views-of-the-u-s-political-parties/

    Hispanics have generally favorable views of the Democratic Party, regardless of their family’s origins. For example, significant shares of Mexicans (62%) and Puerto Ricans (58%) in the U.S. say that the Democratic Party represents the interests of people like them somewhat or very well. Meanwhile, a minority in each group (32% and 36%, respectively) say the Republican Party represents their interests well.

    Cubans’ views of the Republican Party stand in contrast to other U.S. Latinos, reflecting the group’s long-held preference for the GOP. But Cubans also express relatively positive views of the Democratic Party. Cubans are about as likely to say that the Democratic Party represents the interests of people like them as they are to say the same about the Republican Party.

    Probably not a great sampling but:
    https://amp.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article294878384.html

    The Puerto Rico Research Hub at the University of Central Florida polled about 150 Puerto Ricans who predominantly live in Central Florida through an online survey in the last half of October. They found that 85% of those polled would vote for Harris while only 8% said they supported Trump. Six percent said that they would vote for an alternative candidate. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 8 percentage points.

    I would say the person on CNN and her family may reflect the views of a minority of Puerto Ricans in the US. Some Mexican Americans may vote for him too and may support deporting recent migrants as they prefer yanking the ladder away their recent ancestors used or maybe their families live in states where they precede statehood before ceding to the US.

    beholder@5
    I’m sure Nader voters were proud of their choice as the 2000 fiasco unfolded. Arguably, given pliability of some Cuban voters at the time the Elián González situation in South Florida was as much a factor as the contrarian Nader voter in the 2000 results.

  12. rorschach says

    @11,
    “Is she representative of Puerto Ricans or Hispanics as a whole?”

    Obviously not, but it just struck me as odd. Trump just called her state a garbage heap, American pregnant women are dying of preventable sepsis because doctors refuse to treat them because of GOP laws, and Trump announced mass deportations of immigrants. How can you sit down with your family and decide, ok let’s vote for this! Baffling.

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