i was unable to.

so you must now read my public service announcement for the year. i'll leave it at this, as i should hope this gets the point across. it goes something like..:

vote, you bastards. over the top? i don't think so. if you didn't vote last election, you're a bit lazy and a bit selfish, but who can honestly blame you? not many people. it was the most boring election i can remember [and i can remember blacking out from bush vs. dukakis in '88] and gore should have cruised. perhaps now you realize that you should have voted and i should think that if even a handful of people who didn't vote last time actually do vote this time, that will be enough to swing the vote. but how can you risk that?

you couldn't have possibly known ahead of time how much bush would decimate this country, let alone others, in a scene unseen since absolute monarchies many centuries ago. [or at least since insane fascist dictators of the 1900s.] but now that you have seen what he has done, if you let it happen again, if you let him destroy everything he can for another four years..

there is a saying that goes something like if you don't vote, you can't complain. i don't care if you complain even though you didn't vote. i care that you didn't vote. when people don't vote, it is eliminating the possibility of democracy. sure, i agree that the electoral college system of voting is complete bollocks and should be scrapped, but that isn't what this vote is about. not voting makes the whole election process nothing more than a high school popularity contest. whomever gets more people to care, even if only enough to use a marker for 3sec, wins.

i don't want mandatory voting because then people will just vote randomly because they have to. i want mandatory political awareness. sure, i too am an idiot when it comes to politics, but you find out which candidate is better and you vote.

call me crazy, call me a rambling fool on no sleep, call me whatever you want, After you have voted in november. because it isn't about "having the right to complain" or "making the world a better place" or "doing your patriotic duty". it is about not being a selfish, lazy bastard for two days this entire year. [day one, the day you register. day two, the day you vote in a primary, optional, but it would be nice. day three, the day you vote in november.] because i don't care about that other stuff, i care about you screwing me over.

i don't even care who you vote for. i care, but it is the intent that matters to me here. you put forth the effort enough to vote for the person you think best of the two, that is good enough. if i'm going out of my way to try and make this a better place for you, as is every other voter, the least you can do is return the favor. if you turn your back on everyone this time, you deserve no respect. because you have no honor. don't look people in the face ever again. you will be a second class citizen.

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