Why bother to vote in USA's Nov 4th Election?

{Check out the informative links at the end of this article}  
                                                 

Recently I received a call from a local Democratic Party worker that went something like this: Hey Pete, how's it going?  Haven't seen you around this campaign, we could really use some help at the office, any chance we can count on you coming down to lend a hand?

You see I'd been a slightly active Democrat, particularly the past decade, even attending the State Assembly and Convention thrice, twice as a delegate representing Hermosa, La Plata County, but this year nothing.

My friend was curious why the depression and lack of interest, what happened to me?

Well, Obama happened, yet another crushing disappointment for those who believed in his campaign talk.  The man made assurances to We The People, but seldom fought for them once in office.  

Admittedly, I believe that had we the people - I'm talking about regular educated citizens who possess humanist and rationalist instincts - been busy putting pressure on the President, he'd have acted more valiantly. 

After all, it's the votes and vocal grassroots voters who put The Backbone into our representatives but it seems we the people abandon our newly elected leaders as fast as our government abandons it's peaceful foreign commitments.  Reminds me of the saying, "we get the government we deserve."

Of course there's also the Republican Party, our one time loyal opposition which has morphed into some malicious hulk possessed by the single-minded desire to wreck Democratic Presidencies and to heck with our nation's problems.

Think I'm exaggerating?  For an introduction to the GOP's disregard for our nation's best interests you'll find Robert Draper's "Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives" an interesting read. 

Well then... having written all this, why am I not marching down to the Democratic Office to lend a hand and some cash? 

My 'out' is I'm tremendously busy this year - but I do toss in some cash when I can and now I want to reach out to folks who share my love for our liberty and being an American citizen and member of a proud community.  Folks like me who have broken free of blind dedication to other's interpretations of ancient "holy" books.  Folks who believe in experiencing their lives on this wonderful home planet of ours.  Folks who are so disgusted by our political process that voting seems a farce or worse.  

I'd like those Americans to consider the real world consequences of not adding their (your?) vote to the final count.  I'm haunted by the 2000 election and all the jaded civil libertarians and rationalists and humanists and environmentalists and such enlightened citizens who chose not to vote.  Or even more hideous, sacrificing their vote by giving it to that vainglorious has-been fool Ralph Nader.  

I often wonder if those too busy to vote in 2000 citizens ever ponder the direct consequence of their abandoning the Democratic Party?  I say this because it was the "I won't votes" that gave our government over to a tribe of faith-based self-interested zealots.

Where were the loud concerted demands of worried citizens telling the Supreme Court to "leave it be, allow the votes to be counted"?  We turned away, too busy with our daily lives.  Abandoning the meek liberal to the ruthless right-wing bullies to work it out and they certainly did. 

The "I won't votes" gave President Bush and Cheney and their neocon mentality our government.  Then these God fearing people proceeded to display nothing but contempt for their national security advisors, reacting with equal dismissal towards all rational objections to their sophomoric Rambo war schemes. I won't even get into their utter contempt towards our planet's life-support system and scientific observations and our accumulating knowledge or all the irreparable harm that has been inflicted on the world, and indeed the course of history, since that fateful 2000 election, when so many good Americans were too good to vote.

Here we are fourteen years later, has anyone learned anything?  Have the Reaganomics masters-of-the-universe made the world a better place to live and raise our children?  Have they learned anything from their mistakes?  Do they even recognize any mistakes?  How do you feel about your future?

The thing is, we live in America a nation that still follows Democratic Principles which includes relatively open elections that install the representatives and law makers who will govern us through the next years. 

Yea, sure you laugh, the system is corrupt, my response: cry me a river.  The fact remains, it's the system that sets all the rules and exports our soldiers and treasure and weapons out into the world to multiply their, and our, miseries.

What I'm driving at is that no matter how disappointed or even disgusted I feel towards the Democratic Party, I'm a humanist and believe in the Scientific Enlightenment and personal freedom.  I reject people who literally believe they understand God Almighty the creator of time and life.  

I mean really, what are we to make of politicians who are so full of themselves they are convinced they've tapped into God Almighty's Mind - it boggles my imagination.  

What happened to good old time religion?  When faith was personal and between you and Jesus or the God of your choice.  Back when your faith was reflected in how well you lived your life and handled your challenges.

The Democratic Party no matter how weak at least continues to represent the "intellectual enlightenment" which ushered in today's rational understanding of our world.  Democrats appreciate the scientific process and the need for us to listen to real experts, unlike the Republicans with their political and religious certitude and their "litmus tests" for whom or what to pay attention to.  

Tuesday, November 4th, Election Day, is coming up fast, another chance to participate.  The one time your opinion can make a difference and the Democrats sure could use some extra help, buddy can you spare a vote? 
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The following came from a Mark Udall email - it's a link that will help you check if your voter registration is valid, or allow you to register to vote, if you have a valid Colorado Driver's License. 

"The first step to voting in this election is to make sure you're registered. 
click on "Register" to register to vote and confirm your registration today."

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Bottom line: not voting 
is a vote for giving control to 
people who think like this . . .

Inside the Christian Right Dominionist Movement That's Undermining Democracy

by Chip Berlet

http://www.publiceye.org/christian_right/dominionism.htm

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Indoctrinating Religious Warriors

Charles M. Blow - January. 3, 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/04/opinion/blow-indoctrinating-religious-warriors.html

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Christian Insecurity is the Real Driving Force Behind Republican Attempts to Force their Religion on Others  

By Allen Clifton - November 10, 2013

http://www.forwardprogressives.com/christian-insecurity-is-the-real-driving-force-behind-republican-attempts-to-force-their-religion-on-others/

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Timeline: The Religious Right and the Republican Platform

by Lauren Feeney - August 31, 2012

http://billmoyers.com/content/timeline-the-religious-right-and-the-republican-platform/

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Republican Presidential Hopefuls Get Religious Scrutiny Before 2012 Primary Campaign

By Devin Dwyer - April 22, 2011

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2012-election-republican-hopefuls-show-religiosity-primary-campaign/story?id=13428006

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What is Dominionism? Palin, the Christian Right, and; Theocracy

by Chip Berlet - September 05, 2008

http://www.theocracywatch.org

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New NSA docs contradict 9/11 claims

“I don’t think the Bush administration would want to see these released," an expert tells Salon

Jordan M. Smith - June 19, 2012 

http://www.salon.com/2012/06/19/new_nsa_docs_reveal_911_truths/

"… Many of the documents publicize for the first time what was first made clear in the 9/11 Commission: The White House received a truly remarkable amount of warnings that al-Qaida was trying to attack the United States. From June to September 2001, a full seven CIA Senior Intelligence Briefs detailed that attacks were imminent, an incredible amount of information from one intelligence agency. …"
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Also see 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_A._Clarke

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Warnings on WMD 'Fabricator' Were Ignored, 

Ex-CIA Aide Says

By Joby Warrick - June 25, 2006

Washington Post Staff Writer

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/24/AR2006062401081.html

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Ex-CIA Official Faults Use of Data on Iraq

By Walter Pincus - February 10, 2006

Washington Post Staff Writer

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/09/AR2006020902418.html

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New Woodward Book Says Bush Ignored Urgent Warning on Iraq

By David E. Sanger - September 29, 2006

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/washington/29account.html?pagewanted=all

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Fool Me Once

Paul Wolfowitz, Bill Kristol, and their fellow neocons botched Iraq. Now they want to tell you what they think. Ignore them.

By Jamelle Bouie - JUNE 16 2014

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/06/paul_wolfowitz_bill_kristol_and_douglas_feith_should_be_ignored_the_neocons.html

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Inside the Worst Congress Ever

A look at some of the lowlights of Robert Draper’s new history of the House.

By David Weigel - April 2012

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/04/robert_draper_s_history_of_the_current_house_of_representatives_is_a_study_of_dysfunction_.html

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UPDATE: Eric Cantor Plotted to Sabotage US Economy in Secret Meeting with Hensarling & Luntz

June 11, 2014 

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/06/11/1306103/-Eric-Cantor-Jeb-Hensarling-Kevin-McCarthy-Plotted-to-Sabotage-US-Economy-in-Secret-Meeting

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The Conspiracy to Commit Legislative Constipation

by James Wolcott - September 21 2014

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/wolcott/2012/03/The-Conspiracy-to-Commit-Legislative-Constipation

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Merchants of Doubt 

In their new book, Merchants of Doubt, historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway explain how a loose–knit group of high-level scientists, with extensive political connections, ran effective campaigns to mislead the public and deny well-established scientific knowledge over four decades. In seven compelling chapters addressing tobacco, acid rain, the ozone hole, global warming, and DDT, Oreskes and Conway roll back the rug on this dark corner of the American scientific community, showing how the ideology of free market fundamentalism, aided by a too-compliant media, has skewed public understanding of some of the most pressing issues of our era. 

http://www.merchantsofdoubt.org

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Why we should trust scientists

https://www.ted.com/talks/naomi_oreskes_why_we_should_believe_in_science?language=en

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FactChecking ‘The Pledge to America’

Republicans' 'Pledge to America' falls short on some of its facts.

September 24, 2010

http://www.factcheck.org/2010/09/factchecking-the-pledge/

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Republican dirty tricks and smears: An ignoble history

September 18, 2004

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/09/18/51901/-Republican-dirty-tricks-and-smears-An-ignoble-history

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The Republican War on Science Returns

Chris Mooney - August 22, 2011

http://www.desmogblog.com/republican-war-science-returns

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Time to start paying attention to how badly we need this to remain healthy.

Take a look at our 
Earth From Space and from within:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38peWm76l-U

Published on YouTube by maverick on May 29, 2013

The groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. Produced in extensive consultation with NASA scientists, NOVA takes data from earth-observing satellites and transforms it into dazzling visual sequences, each one exposing the intricate and surprising web of forces that sustains life on earth.