Bipartisan? By whose definition?

The FISA vote by the house is being spun as a bipartisan effort. Bullshit. Check out the vote and you'll see that, as ususal, the Republicans voted as a block, except for one lone vote, and the only bipartisan effort was by Democrats who defected to their corporate sponsors, and to the lame-duck president. Pathetic.

The bill supports warrantless wiretapping on anyone, and immunity for telecom companies who participated in those wiretaps, illegally, in the past.

Connecticut's congressional reps voted against the bill, as might be expected, with the exception of Chris Shays.

Middletown recount, and voting machine discrepancies

Two things are clear from the recount of votes in the recent election in Middletown, Republican Earle Roberts will stay on the Common Council and Bill Boyd will remain on the Board of Education.

What's also clear is that physical, printed votes are essential, since, the hand recount of votes demonstrated an even larger discrepancy in tabulated votes than was originally suspected.

Earle Roberts plans to complain to the Secretary of State about methods of recount. We should also complain that the voting machines don't seem to be working correctly.

And what's more disappointing is the low voter turnout. Earlier reported as 30%, it now seems likely that it was less than that. Democracy seems broken, and voter apathy is no way to make it better. The less people voting, the more likely it is that a few people are going to make the decisions that affect your life each day.

Why we don't vote

It's absolutely shameful that only 30% of those registered to vote in Middletown, actually voted. It's an indictment of a populace too lulled into complacency to get off their asses and make a decision about the people who run the towns, the state and the country they live in.

So, why don't we vote. On Connecticut Public Radio today, John Dankowski hosted two young politicians on Where We Live. The topic of discussion was Getting Out the Youth Vote, and the guests were David Brewster, President of the Connecticut Union of College Republicans, and Matt Lesser, whom you may have read about in this blog before, who is a member of College Democrats in Connecticut. (The show is available online and will be rebroadcast tonight on WNPR).

Lesser, BTW was recently victorious in his unopposed run for Planning and Zoning Commission alternate here in Middletown, where he received nearly as many votes in his category, as the unopposed candidate for mayor, received in his. Matt worked hard to get the vote out among his fellow Wesleyan students.

The main question on Where We Live was voter apathy among young people. The problem with the topic is that voter apathy is not an affliction of youth. It infects young and old alike. The answer to the question of why people don't vote became clear during the course of the show. Though they are barely out of their teens, both Lesser and Brewster spouted the pat, scripted answers you would expect to fall from the lips of party bosses several decades their senior.

When asked about youth disaffection from policies of the Bush administration, Brewster took the opportunity to not answer the question, but to laud Bush for diligently fighting terror. While Brewster admitted that the war may not be going the way it was predicted to go, he thought it was important to be fighting in Iraq (I suppose so we don't have to be fighting them here.) He obviously doesn't think it's important enough for him to enlist. His evidence to the success of the Bush doctrine - we haven't had a terrorist attack on these shores since 9/11. The same specious argument the president offers.

As for Lesser, when asked if students were less active politically because they aren't threatened by the draft like young men in the sixties were, Lesser smugly posited that youth today are more "saavy," that they don't need to espouse revolution because they can affect change through the electoral process. He cited the Democratic congressional victories as his example of how change can happen by using the system. What he didn't explain was why the Democratic congress has been such a complete failure in ending the war, protecting our civil liberties and the Constitution, or controlling a runaway executive branch.

The reason most people don't vote. Simple. Politicians. When twenty-year old political novices speak exactly like their ineffectual mentors, it's a hothouse for apathy and cynicism.

Give me Abby Hoffman any day.

Now vote, motherfuckers

So, you don't feel engaged by Democracy. Who can blame you. After all, it seems like the fools are running the government at the local, state and federal level. But that's because enough of us don't vote to prevent the fools from running the government.

Maybe you can't make the council meetings, or get in the street and shout about war. But you can vote. People died to give you the opportunity to vote. People in countries where there is no vote, or the vote is meaningless (don't start, we'll talk about that later), would fight and die for the opportunity you have today. Cynicism is the mother of apathy. Apathy is the mother of dictatorships.

Here in Middletown, as in many municipalities, the vote is long. You don't have to vote for everyone. You don't have to vote party line. Vote for the people you know and trust. A no vote for a candidate you don't want, is a vote for his or her opponent. Just because there are eight candidates, doesn't mean you have to choose eight. Cast your ballot for responsive and responsible candidates.

I'm a lifelong Democrat. I've wavered in my support for the party of the ass often enough. Today I voted for two Republicans whom I think deserve a chance in town, David Bauer for Common Council and Catherine Johnson for Zoning and Planning.

You don't have to tell me who you voted for. Just vote.