I went out for drinks with a friend to our favorite pub last night. We love the place for the great music and more importantly always lively conversation. A young man struck up a conversation with me about politics specifically the BP Oil Spill and the War. Subjects close to my heart because I grew up on the Gulf Coast and my family lives there. Also, my brother-in-law is in the military and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Comforting my sister as she cried wondering if her husband was safe and him coming back and over a year later his eyes are filled with sorrow gave me a renewed passion to end the war. The Gulf Coast disaster destroyed an ecosystem and a way of life. The media would have you think it is all okay.
I thought how exciting that this 22 year old young man is fired up and so I said he should get involved. He said he doesn’t vote because it takes too much time to research the candidates. Now maybe I over reacted, but I said “That is despicable and people like you are what is wrong with this country. You sit here and say our country is crooked and that our leaders are criminals and you are too lazy to even vote. We live in a free country where we are can vote, protest, say what we want and you do not deserve it.” Maybe tough words, but in my opinion the truth.
Now when I was younger I only voted in Presidential elections. When I grew up and realized that I want my neighborhood to be safe, a speed bump on my street, better public transportation, cleaner air, and more trees. There is no such thing as an unimportant election and so I decided to get involved.
Today on a national level radicals are trying to take away our freedoms with the patriot act, internet blacklist laws, and the right to control my own body. BP has profited from destroying my home.
The young man said “How can you trust the news?!” I said, “I don’t; look at their records to see how candidates have voted, who they are endorsed by, and what they truly stand for, then make your decision.”
Women protested and struggled for me to be able to vote, have the right to choose and soldiers lay their lives on the line for us. If they are willing to give their lives literally and figuratively then the least I can do is show up on voting day and make an educated decision on the best person for the job. The least we can do to honor them is click on our computers and research our candidates. It is now our job, our duty, to take up the fight for the next generation.
Vote and honor our sisters and the soldiers who fought and died for your right to do so.
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