Just over 12 hours until our 8 year national nightmare is over!!!!! It’s gonna be hard to sleep tonight…
P.S. Is it wrong to revel in the schadenfreude that comes with the news that the dickiest Dick of them all pulled a back muscle while (finally) moving out and will have to attend the inauguration in a wheelchair? Considering the number of people that were wounded and killed as a result of his lies and evil, I think not. Good riddance, douche.
As a child, and then as a teen, I couldn’t wait to turn 18. Oh, it wasn’t because of the military eligibility or the right to destroy my lungs legally, it was because I wanted to vote. Yes, I was one step away from being the kid in “The Breakfast Club” who creates a fake ID so as to cast his ballot. When I finally got my chance, it was glorious. I felt like part of the process, and damn was I proud to be an American (yes, a REAL American – fuck you, Psycho Sarah!).
Fast forward to the 2004 election. After the massive debacle of 2000, I thought it prudent to do all that I could to fight back against the forces that had thrust upon us the disaster that was the first term of the Bush presidency. As such, I volunteered for Voter Protection in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, an area that had been significantly targeted by fraudsters in 2000. Of course, as I was going to be in beautiful Reading, PA on Election Day, I had to get an absentee ballot. That’s where things went horribly, horribly wrong.
I took a train from the city to my suburban voting district and went to the Board of Elections to procure my ballot. I was told that as an “inactive” voter, I had been “purged” from the system. I wasn’t sure what was more shocking – the fact that they claimed I had been inactive (maybe they thought that my vote for Nader in 2000 meant I hadn’t voted at all) or the premise that one can be booted from the system despite having registered and having gone through all the proper channels. Aghast, I left the Board of Elections, mouth gaping, steam escaping from my ears, and likely looking like the female version of Bruce Banner as he transforms into the Incredible Hulk.
When I went into work the next day, my colleagues asked if I had voted. I told them the story, and they asked if I had filled out a provisional ballot. I said no, and that I had not been offered one. After some rather rudimentary research, I found that I was entitled to a provisional ballot at the very least, and that the Board had violated the law in not proferring one. Plans were then made for another schlep to the ‘burbs.
I went back that afternoon and demanded to speak with the person who was running the show. A bitchy blonde woman came to “help” me and I explained the situation. “Well, what do you want me to do about it,” she asked. I told her that I wanted the right to cast my vote, and she said I had no such right. I asked for a provisional ballot and she sneered. I asked why I had not been given one the previous day, and she had no response. I said, “Do you realize that you are in violation of federal law?” She said, “Yeah,” and literally THREW THE BALLOT IN MY FACE!!!
Needless to say, I was pissed. After exercising my freakin’ right, my next move was to contact my U.S. Representative. Her office was very helpful and an investigation was launched. The Board of Elections was informed that they had acted improperly and that they would need to follow procedure in the future.
As a former disenfranchised voter, I still find it bitterly ironic that I was going to protect other peoples’ rights, yet mine had been duly stomped upon. I raise the issue now, because this is still happening.
People, I implore you to be conscientious about this situation. The Bush administration has done whatever it could to erode them over these past 8 years, but you still have some rights, and they must be protected at all costs! Therefore, I hereby provide to you, courtesy of the Daily Kos, this handy-dandy guide to handling voting issues:
10 Commandments to help blunt efforts to steal or intimidate your vote.
Never allow intimidation! Cast your ballot!
So some friends and I go out on Saturday night, and everything was going swimmingly. Pre-game at a super cute apartment, delicious Korean dinner and great wine, and then it’s time to rock out. We head to a party at a hotel bar, only to encounter a massive line outside. On the other side of the doors, there is a much shorter line. We ask the husky genius in the black suit with the requisite earpiece what the difference is between the lines, and he doesn’t seem to know. Not wanting to wait on a ridiculous queue with a bunch of B&Ters, we decide to meet up with some other friends at a new bar downtown. One of my girls has to use the facilities, so she just walks right through the front door of the hotel, and actually goes into the bar in question to use the potty. Upon her return, she reports that the bar is far from crowded. None of us can understand why this increasingly snaking line exists, but by then we’re way over it and jump in a car to head downtown.
Upon arriving at venue #2, we encounter a mini-line at the door and a pimptastic bouncer, complete with fedora at a jaunty angle, and his compatriot, the snotty blonde bitch with the clipboard. There’s all sorts of commotion and inquisition over the issue of reservations and crowding, and we are flabbergasted by this nonsense. Finally, our friend who is already inside works it out and we sail past the door Nazis, expecting a claustrophobic, packed-to-the-rafters, shove your way to the bar kind of space. Yeah, not so much. The place was half empty, and it took under 5 minutes for our entire party of 6 to get drinks and a table with seating for everyone.
So, my question is this: what the fuck? Is this a power trip thing? An attempt to seem “scene-y”? A curious situation where businesses are disinterested in making money? Thoughts???
P.S. Despite the entry drama, a good time was in fact had by all.
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