Peoria have too much litter for you? Too many crappy sidewalks? Too much crime? Peoria's Public Schools not worthy of your genetic offspring? Well, since 82% of Peoria's registered voters could not bother to get off their pathetic, whiny, lard asses and vote yesterday, I don't see why the powers that be should be motivated to make the necessary changes. It's not as if the apathetic and lazy citizens they represent are likely to show up and boot kick them out their jobs.
UNLESS, of course, the weather is really nice and there is nothing good on T.V. Jeeze. I thought Midwesterners had CHARACTER. A chill in the air and a couple of inches of purty white stuff keeps Peorians from voting. Sad state of affairs if you ask me. Yes, I did vote yesterday. There was even a bit of a line. I noticed that every other voter at my polling station had at least thirty years on me. I would guess the median age of the average voter in my precinct yesterday was 72. The average age of election judge was probably 75. I got the feeling these seniors didn't care much for the new technology, but they were there regardless. They call it the Greatest Generation for a reason.
This is a quote from this morning's PJ Star:
"Voting is a privilege," said Bob Miller, 73, of Chillicothe. He was one of the few who braved the weather to vote. "The weather doesn't bother me."
No wonder why it is hard to get decent candidates. NO ONE CARES. If you want to get something done, NO ONE CARES. Okay, a measly 18% care, but does that make the crummy pay, constant media criticism, and time away from family worth it? Not likely. Springfield is attractive to the corrupt and vain for a reason...
NO BODY CARES!!!
Maybe Peorians can remove their heads from their apathetic, lazy asses for the General Election, but I'm not holding my breath.
(BTW I copied this pic from another blog early last week, but I can't remember whose. My apologies and hat tip to whoever first discovered it on Google.)
11 comments:
** claps **
that pic has been all over the net. It's origins are long lost...
I ended up not getting to work. The precinct captain was wildly disorganized. Aggravating. Although apparently with turnout so low, I would have ended up doing the same thing I did at home: reading a book to entertain myself.
At least the changeover to the new machines went better than it appears to have gone in Chicago. But I still don't understand why we can't have pen and paper. And split shifts for judges. (And, well, precinct captains who don't suffer from anal-cranial inversion.)
Polly, are you as flexible as the guy in the picture??
I guess working with the public I get to hear some pretty interesting conversations. There were two women in their early-late 60's (my guess) having a conversation about the elections. The more vocal of the two said she wasn't going to vote. Now she is from a generation that takes voting seriously. Her reasoning: You used to WANT to vote for your favorite candidate..you WANTED to vote for Eisenhower and JFK. You don't want to vote for anyone nowadays because they don't stand for anything and they're all crooks.
Not my words, but I can't say I overly disagree with her rationale. But it's a sad state of affairs when our older generation thinks like that.
Every elected position has a line for a write in candidate. A WRITE IN candidate !!!!!! If you don't like the list, put someone on there who you DO like.
Doesn't anyone remember Wonder Boy Schock's write in upset?
Being an "Independent" doesn't excuse you from voting in the Primary. You just have to be registered. I considered myself an Independent until I watch Perot take votes away from Bush Sr. and gifted the White House to Clinton. For those of you who blame hanging chads, voter fraud, the Supreme Court, etc. for Gore's loss, I truly feel for you. However, it has to be a better feeling than watching a freak midget with a voo-doo pointer and a multitude of bizarre pie charts lose the election of your favored candidate.
Get off the pot and pick your poison. Independent/moderate, IMHO, is the same as saying "I'm above making a choice. No candidate is worthy of me making the effort to cast a ballot." None of the candidates are perfect, many of them suck. That doesn't excuse you from participating in the process.
Imagine how much better our candidates/choices would be if voter turnout was 100%, or hell- even 50%?!
"Imagine how much better our candidates/choices would be if voter turnout was 100%, or hell- even 50%?!"
Interesting article in the Tribune over the weekend said "not much." Some academics did a study and when the non-voters show up to vote, the results stay pretty much the same, apparently following the lead of the informed voters.
At least Ross Perot spawned a great Seasame Street Muppet: H. Ross Parrot. With pie charts and a twang.
I didn't read that article Eyebrows, and I couldn't bring it up this morning online, but I don't see how it could be true. The biggest political surprise victories have all occurred when the typically apathetic get off their ass and vote. Consider Florida and Ohio in the last Presidental election. Folks who couldn't give a rat's ass about who their elected officals are turned out en masse to make damn sure that the homosexuals living down the street could not be legally married, or the cancer patient next door couldn't legally be perscribed pot to cope with pain and puking. The right (or wrong) issue/candidate makes all the difference. The uninformed are happy to vote as long as voting gives them a caddy sense of power.
When I voted, even though I was a registered Republican, I was offered my choice of a Republican or Democrat ballot. For a nanosecond I toyed with taking a Democrat Ballot, just to cast a vote for Edwin.
If you feel entitled/justified/obligated vote for a Republican or Democrat in the General election, than you should feel entitled/justified/obligated to vote in the primaries. Since Indpendents rarely have a candidate (serious or otherwise) on the ballot, I don't see the point of being an "Independent" other than it must be more important not to endure being LABELED a liberal or conservative than it is to get your hands dirty and make a decision one way or the other.
I despise being automatically labeled by some as a brainless gun totin', no excuses prolifer, whiny overtax conservative by some just because I registered as a Republican. However, I think it is more important to participate in the process as early as possible in an attempt to get the best candidate and ultimately the best public servant as possible.
I'm not sure I agreed with the article either - and I didn't think it did a good job of explaining the research in question - but it was interesting. If I can dig up a link or find the story itself in my recycling bin I'll post it.
Peoria does suck, but not because of politicians per se. Last time I visited, four Peoria cops handcuffed me and threw myself, my wife, my two crying daughters and our dog out of the Ramada into the night. They claimed we were trespassing, even though we paid for the room, apparently because I got in an argument with the worm of a nightclerk (I did not touch or threaten him in any way). BTW, Ramada never returned our money.
Bottom line, stay out of Peoria unless you like rabid pigs manhandling you.
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