Get off the internet and vote

[Alyxavior]

Get off the internet and vote

*nod*

When I voted in the early voting a couple weeks ago, the people there had said that their numbers were up drastically.

I had a couple people offering to give me the "I voted!" sticker, but I told both of them that I'll wait to get the sticker until I was actually done voting. *laugh*

 

[Jovial_Kitten]

Get off the internet and vote

Originally posted by Alyxavior@Nov 2 2004, 10:41 AM
*nod*

When I voted in the early voting a couple weeks ago, the people there had said that their numbers were up drastically.

I had a couple people offering to give me the \"I voted!\" sticker, but I told both of them that I'll wait to get the sticker until I was actually done voting. *laugh*

​

I didn't get a "I voted" sticker

 

[StarLord]

Get off the internet and vote

kitten did you remember to take your official long pink slip that was attached to your ballot, with it's real official # in RED?

 

[Jovial_Kitten]

Get off the internet and vote

I had electronic voting. Press buttons and it beeps.

 

[Jovial_Kitten]

Get off the internet and vote

This didn't happen to me but it is a great read.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/hilltop/1085853.html

I just had the most unreal thing happen. Mindblowing cool. I swear, you are gonna freak when you read what just happened. I had to go get registration tags for the truck and the car, so I headed into downtown to the court house. I had to parallel park that truck, a 21 foot long beast without power steering. My arms are still cramping, but I did it, without pushing in the grill of the econocar behind me. No small feat, I assure you.

As I drove by the community center, where the voters are going, I decided to pull in and check out the action. There were lines out the door. I was chatting with a couple of goofy looking young guys with Kerry signs, and asked how it was going. They said there were people lined up an hour before it opened. YES!

For laughs, I walked over to some Bush people, standing there in their business suits with Bush signs. I decided to ask, face to face, why they were pushing for Bush. What the hell, it's something I've wanted to do for a long time, so I did. I introduced myself, said I'm a guy who's honestly baffled and confused as to why anyone would vote to put Bush back in office. They were pretty jittery at first, wondering what my motives were. I assured them that I was just a man trying to understand something that makes absolutely no sense, and had hoped to talk with people in order to understand.

He's a man of God. He's a strong leader. He's protecting us from terrorists, I got the typical canned responses. So I told them that I see Bush as the most screwed up president in history. They looked like they were ready to faint. I said that I needed to find out, from Bush supporters, why they are backing him this time around, explaining that, the way I see things, it just goes against common sense.

So we talked, all 5 of us were telling our side, and we were all being very respectful about it, which was cool. To every parroted response, I replied with the way I saw things, and they grew more fidgety as we talked.

They said they're voting for Bush because they're Republicans, and that's what you do, you vote for your guy. They said he was a Good Christian man. I think I shook my head on that point, so I asked them if it bothered them that they don't really know much about what Bush has DONE, other than what Bush has said in his speeches. I asked them if they'd even thought that he might be lying point blank. They all laughed a nervous laugh, as if it was out of the question. Read my lips, I am not a crook, I did not have sex with that woman. Presidents have been caught in outright lies before, Good Christian men at that, and said that it frightens me to see so many people standing there cheering for the man without a clue as to what is actually going on.

One of the guys bristled, and started shooting out Limbaugh-esque crap. Every point he brought up, I replied with how I see it. He said Bush was a strong leader, I asked how smart it was to keep steering straight ahead, when the smart thing would be to change the course before we go off a cliff. He said Bush stood for people's rights, I asked how that could be, when he's trying to ammend the constitution to take rights away from people. He said he was conservative, I pointed out the many things that Bush has done that are the exact opposite of being conservative.

This one guy's a pastor at his church, Baptist I think he mentioned when we all intruduced ourselves to each other. He said had just done a long sermon this last Sunday about protecting the country by voting for a Christian man, George W. Bush, because Bush was going to great troubles to protect the Bible, where Kerry wanted to outlaw the bible. Of course, I laughed at that, and shook my head and replied that this outlawing the bible thing was just untrue. That made him mad, so I asked him to take a look at Bush's actions, and asked how those actions are representative of God or Jesus. I asked him to take an honest look at Bush's actions and see how they compare them with God's teachings.

And he just stood there,staring at his hands as he fiddled with his Bush sign. He just stood there.

And stood there.

His friends were waiting for him to say something, but he just stood there, their eyes were darting back and forth between the pastor and the other people in their group. Then, the most beautiful fucking words I've ever heard came out of his mouth.

\"You know.. I never really thought about it that way. You're right. That really isn't very God like at all.\"

His pals just stood there, the woman's Starbucks cup literally started sloshing in her hand, they all started laughing nervously.

You're right he repeated, then handed his Bush sign to the smartly dressed lady, and walked over to where the kids were standing with the Kerry signs. He peeled his Bush sticker off his lapel, folded it, stuck it into his coat pocket, and asked the young men if they had an extra Kerry sign. The people he had been with were standing there with the wildest look in their eyes, not able to believe what he just said.

Just talking face to face with this guy, a pastor, a guy who's been pushing for the God Guy, came to realize that Bush isn't what he's cracked up to be. He said he'd already voted for Bush, but said he'd stay there for the rest of the day, and said he'd personally talk to the members of his church if he saw them coming in to cast their ballot. And he said he'd personally ask them to vote for Kerry, because Bush hasn't been acting in a God-like way.

I'm so jazzed over this change of heart, I mean, I just talked sense to a guy that's been preaching the good of Bush. And he's going to be pulling aside the members of his church and explaining why they should vote for Kerry.

\"Young man, I was questioning why you were trying to pick apart my arguments, why you were so eager to find out why we were supporting Bush. You were sincere, and to tell the truth, I wish I had kept a more open mind. And... (a long heavy sigh) and I'm ashamed that I didn't question any of this before. Thank you.\"

I swear to the God of your choice, I wish I had a video camera there to record this, it was amazing. The guy just had his eyes opened, and as I was heading back to the truck, his pals had leaned their Bush signs against a post and were listening to the goofy college guys explaining why they think Bush has let the country down.

Peel my ass off the ceiling.

VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edit: You know, I don't think it had much to do with anything I said or did, I think it was a matter of him having doubt, which he didn't address. And I'm guessing that, by asking him point blank what the deal was, a real person trying to understand any of this stuff, and it must have jarred loose that doubt and made him address that bit of doubt. However it happened, I'm not complaining at all, I'm just blown away that here was a guy preaching the glories of Bush two days ago, and is now pushing for the other guy. The world amazes the hell out of me at times like this...