Seven Sayings About Voting 1) "Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual)." ~Ayn Rand~ 2) "Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don't vote." ~William E. Simon~ 3) "Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." ~John Quincy Adams~ 4) "Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote." ~George Jean Nathan~ 5) "Vote: the instrument and symbol of a freeman's power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country." ~Ambrose Bierce~ 6) "The idea of an election is much more interesting to me than the election itself... The act of voting is in itself the defining moment." ~Jeff Melvoin~ 7) "Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody." ~Franklin P. Adams~ ********"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." ~John Quincy Adams~ Usually when doing this meme and there's a certain theme to it, I almost always have a specific slant to it. Today, however, though there's a definite theme, the quotes are all across the board, so to speak. I didn't plan it that way; these are just the quotes that caught my immediate attention. But the more I think about it, the more I'm glad today's quotes are so diverse. Because their diversity reflects, perfectly, the ambivalence I feel towards the upcoming Presidential election. To be honest, I don't know who to vote for. I don't know who's the lesser evil, Obama or McCain. I don't know who will keep his promises to the best of his abilities once in office, who will be best for our country and our people...and who will run it further into the ground. At the moment, I'm seriously considering the Write-in option. Or voting Libertarian--which I've never done before. I haven't heard a lot of positive things about either main candidate, which exacerbates the confusion and ambivalence. Obama talks a good talk; he can sure persuade an audience to his way of thinking pretty easily. He's also visibly made disability issues part of his platform--which is alluring--but...I haven't seen any evidence of what good he's done. In an interview by Glenn Beck with some reporter in Obama's camp, when asked what Senator Obama's past accomplishments were, the reporter couldn't remember. To Mr. Beck, as well as me, that was very telling. Obama seems to talk the talk, but not walk the walk. As for McCain, the only thing I've heard about him is that "he's a war-monger." And I can't say or be sure that's correct. It could just be a rumor. Now it seems Obama has thrown the "black" or "racist" card on the table, and the two are hashing it out. Pretty soon, if it hasn't already, mud and manure will fly, and that is why I hate politicians. That and the fact they rarely keep the majority of their promises once in office. Because of my involvement with Determined To VOTE!, I feel duty- or honor-bound to vote; I'd feel like a hypocrite, teaching others about the importance of voting when I wasn't going to vote myself. And that is why I chose to highlight John Quincy Adams' quote: "Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." I'm going to vote for principle; I'm going to do what I feel is right...what I hope is right. And though my vote may not make much difference, I will have the satisfaction that I tried.

moon phase