The Sad State of Election Day, 2012

The Internet is awash with cool graphics and the like touting the importance of voting, so I'm not going to add the clutter, much.

I will say that I have voted in just about every election since the 1982 general election.  Why?  Simply because it's important, and if you don't use your voice, then you allow someone to speak for you.  That's wrong.

What's also wrong?  The political climate we, as Americans, have allowed to be created by people mainly with big wallets and bigger mouths.  We've somehow as a society gotten to a place where it's now only sufficient for a candidate to scream "my opponent is evil" and then expect to be elected.  Forget baseball, we've turned demagoguery into the national pastime.  Even worse?  Yes, I've said "even worse", is that some actually view the demagogues as heroes.  Some people actually believe whatever spew they hear, word for word, from their favorite venom merchants as being gospel truth.  Maybe what's happening isn't so much that we've allowed the demagogues to take over but rather that we've allowed giant swathes of our population to turn into moronic Sheeple, believing whatever their party spokesperson says.

For the record nowhere in the above will you see "Democrat" or "Republican", as both political parties are equally guilty.  The Democrats have George Soros, the Republicans have the Koch brothers.  The Democrats have the Occupy Movement, the Republicans have the Tea Party.  Detecting a pattern here?

As for me, well I describe myself as a fiscal conservative but a social liberal.  That basically means that BOTH Obama and Mittens turn my stomach:

• If Obama is re-elected I have no doubt that nothing will be done to end our nation's on-going federal spending spree.  Governments, like families, can't really balance a budget by simply increasing revenue all the time.  See the City of Scranton for a great example.
• If Mittens is elected, then it's open season for religious groups to dictate public policy.  Read Leonard Pitt's great article HERE that says just what I mean.  I'm all for freedom of religion, but that doesn't just mean that you are free to practice your religion, it also means that I am free from you ramming your religious beliefs down my throat. 

However distasteful the choices, I will still vote this morning.  Sometimes the choice really is the lessor of two evils, but that still doesn't take away from the importance of making the choice.

No matter who wins the presidential election I will end up okay.  I just hope though that those who really do have more on the line do take the time to vote their conscience.  Even an imperfect choice is a positive step in a Democracy such as ours.