We, the People

I’m taking some important time away from NaNo today because I have a confession to make. I’m a closet patriot and a voting geek.

When elections roll around I always vote. I’ve heard the arguments my whole life about how I’m wasting my time and how my vote won’t count for anything. (Believe me, my old man swore both parties were in collusion to screw him over personally!) I grew up on a diet of corruption, mistrust, and hatred of the government. Some of my earliest memories are of my old man watching the Watergate Hearings and cursing up a blue streak at the television. Nightly, my family watched the news and I saw the deadly farce of Vietnam play across the screen. I sat in gas lines, every other day, during a made-up “oil crisis”. I’ve lived my life in the shadows of Iran-Contra, The Cold War, Desert Storm, and Slick Willie getting a hummer from a pudgy intern. I’ve seen more corruption and vileness in my government than you could shake a stick at and you know what?

I still love it.

Last night the people of this nation made a statement. We made a major change in the structure of our government. Now, some folks reading may hate that change (I do not!) but here’s the thing that you need to keep in mind: WE made that change. Not some charismatic lunatic with a gun and a few hundred maniacs at his back. Not some multi-national conglomerate who put forth its giant hand to install its own puppet players into power. WE ,THE PEOPLE (great words, eh?) We made the choices of who would lead and we did it without violence, without revolution, or insurrection. We did it as the men who first assembled us under those amazing words: “We, the people . . .” meant us to. We made our decisions as a unified people. We chose those we felt best expressed our own personal values to represent us and we did it simply by showing up and voting. If that is not the height of human civilization, I don’t know what is.

In my head I can still hear my father telling me what a waste of time voting is. I could recite for you his hour-long litany of disgust with politicians and firm belief that the voters had nothing to do with who garnered power. I didn’t agree with him then and I sure as hell don’t agree with him now. I vote. Every chance I get: I vote. I take it as a very serious responsibility and I believe that every vote counts. If you voted yesterday, I want to say: “Thank You!” Thanks for doing your part in making this nation run. Thanks for putting forth your honest opinion (whether I agree with it or not!) and being someone I’m proud to stand beside as a citizen of the United States. Thank you for being a vital part of:

WE, THE PEOPLE . . . of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Later!