It’s only been election day in the States for a little under an hour now, but on this side of the world the morning is heading toward afternoon and that has me thinking I should be sitting in front of the TV and listening to Wolf Blitzer yammer on about exit polls.
This is certain to be one of those days that I resent the hell out of whoever has yet to get around to inventing the beamy-uppy thing, as I would LOVE to be in the US for all of this particular Tuesday in this particular November.
I’ve not minded at all missing out on the hoopla of the last two Presidential elections … in fact I casually contemplated passing myself off as Canadian (or a Kiwi like Sis, but I can’t do the accent) … but this one brings such promise that I’m sorry to be missing the party … Democrat, of course.
My beautiful and bright daughter, Jenn, has been stumping for Obama in North Carolina, and I would love to be sitting with her as the results come in. Not that I’m counting unhatched chickens from way over here in the Indian Ocean … no way! I’ve been out of America long enough now to harbor no illusions about the potential of pinheads to rise like over-yeasty bread and take over the world, reminding me in no little way of the creature introduced in Michael Landon’s first film, “The Blob”.
Could it be, though, that this time around intelligence counts? Could smart and honorable and vital and committed and fresh and fill-in-a-positive-adjective-here carry the day?
Do the world a favor, and get out and vote today, and if you’re still undecided and of the mindset that a movie star should tell you what box to tick, feel free to let my brother influence you. After all, he’s a smart guy, too.
I’ll be over here waiting with fish on my tongue (baited breath … a groaner, I know, but it’s an inside joke aimed at a few) for the results to start coming in on CNN’s website … Anderson Cooper is cute, isn’t he just, and isn’t that what TV news is all about? … and hoping for the promise of a new and brighter world.
We all sure could use that.
A collection of my short stories:
I'm in this one, too ...
And I'm in here, as well ...
Paradise Preoccupied 
You should be happy to be out of the madness! LOL I stood in line for two hours, starting at 6:45 a.m. I can’t say publicly who I voted for, but with my brother stationed in Iraq the last 8 months, you do the math…
It was fantastic Sandra! I wish you could have been here. It was obvious from the beggining who was going to win….as soon as the polls in the east started closing. It was a landslide. More people voted this year (especially the young ones) than any other time in US history.
Wow! What a day!
The hubby and I went out to cast our votes just as the polls opened. Our 4-year-old didn’t want to wait in the comfort of the Jeep and watch Kipper while DH and I took turns waiting in the voting line so he came with Mama and got his very first civics lesson.
We had the opportunity to teach him several lessons:
Our DUTY, as Americans, to vote every election day.
Government identification and voter fraud.
The importance of a private vote.
The need to read every issue before voting on it.
Colorado has electronic ballots (which are totally whiz-bang terrific) so after I ticked all my selections, my son got to push the “VOTE” button that cast my ballot.
He suffered through a lot of learning but pushing that big yellow button was pretty much the highlight of his morning. Well, that and the monstrous red apple I bought him at the college cafeteria on the way out.
Some reflections on this election by someone whose horse lost:
1. I hate that so many people made this election about race. That’s a cop out when it comes to selecting a candidate. I don’t give a damn what color your skin is – can you do the job?
2. I WANT to like President Elect Obama. I really do, but what scares me is the possibility that he may just be a puppet whose strings are held by long-time, do-nothing, party politicians who, at the end of the day, are the same time and money sucking losers who get nothing done no matter what party they claim to represent. If President Elect Obama can walk the talk he’s talking and make congress do SOMETHING productive, then I will be very happy indeed with our new President. In the meantime, I’ll be sending him and his family good thoughts every day because, after all, he will be the President of the United States.
Must tell you a local (SA) version of the “fish on tongue” story. One of my trainees (in my previous life) had been a public prosecutor in the Kwazulu Natal region…largely populated by (duh) Zulus. Despite being of the paler complection, he had grown up in rural Natal and was surprisingly fluent in Zulu (pretty fly for a white guy!). The story goes that all courts in KZN have a Zulu interpreter and my trainee said that this provided endless moments of merth as he heard the magistrates English being translated into varying degrees of absurdity! One of the best, he said, was when a magistrate let out a sigh and said, “I am am on the horns of a dilemma” which was tranlated into, “The Chief is sitting in a very uncomfortable position on the horns of a buck I have never heard of”!!!
Hope you enjoy!