Wednesday, November 03, 2004

The election night that isn't ending

Well . . . so much for my ambitious plans to blog live. You know by now that I didn't/haven't done it.

I am getting tired and probably won't wait up to see what the overall sitch' is tonight--if a clear resolution is even possible tonight.

ABC has already given Florida to Bush and maybe Ohio will hold all the anticipatory glory this year. But will that matter if Kerry doesn't also get Michigan and/or Wisconsin plus Iowa? My head hurts and I don't have a Tim Russert-brand white board to tell me what to do.

I taped the Daily Show's election night special but, in a spectacular show of adulthood, didn't watch it, choosing to try and glean information from real, honest news reportage. Nothing definitive has been gleaned yet.

The problem is provisional balloting. In years past (i.e. 2000) people were disenfranchised in honest and clearcut (i.e. brutal) ways. If we don't want you to vote, hey, you ain't voting. But now we are allowing people to stand in line for 7 hours and letting them cast their provisional ballots and then several days later we'll decide if you are illegally voting under the registered name of I.P. Freely.

Speaking of long lines--Knox County, Ohio (with only two voting locations) won't finish casting their final ballot until about 3 am Wednesday morning!! And the polls were supposed to officially close at 7 pm. They moved people in line in and locked the doors. I just can't believe it.

What bothers me is that we in America have clearly grown so accustomed to lackluster voter turnout that now that we have a significant proportion of registered voters deciding to give a shit, we simply don't have the capacity to get it done in a timely manner. If this continues, the nation should just call off work on Election Day and let people focus on nothing but . . .

One comment on local issues . . . I am very disappointed in the overwhelming decision to define marriage that was done in my state today. Even Republicans were coming out against this state constitutional amendment, claiming that it was poorly written and would too broadly penalize far more individuals that it supposed to be intended.

But really, the intent here is to somehow prop up this notion that marriage is more than a contractual obligation between two people. I happen to agree with that, marriage is a sacred and serious decision, but it is made sacred by a RELIGIOUS ceremony. As far as legal, government issues are concerned, my marriage was a quick trip to the courthouse to sign a document and pay $10 I think.

People trying to make marriage this sacred thing between a man and a woman and nothing else need to turn on their TV and see what passes for marriage in this country. Most people treat it as a simple decision made for the flimsiest of reasons. And none of that can be blamed on homosexuals. These amendments are hurtful, unnecessary, and shameful.

Anyway, I'll soon go to bed and wake up in five or six hours to probably no resolution to anything else. See you then.

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