‘I Voted In Arlington’
courtesy of ‘christaki’
It’s primary day in Virginia for a number of local and statewide offices, which means it’s your chance to go vote the bums in or out, depending on your preference. Polls opened at 6am and won’t close until 7pm tonight, so go out and get your franchise on. Not sure where exactly you’re voting? Plug in your address and go find out. There are a number of primaries today for the various congressional seats, so go grab a ballot and make democracy happen. Democracy only works if you take part, and besides, you can’t bitch if you didn’t vote, and God knows how we love bitching about politics in this country. Do your duty.
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
Off the hook — no Democratic primary in Arlington today.
Virginia has, I believe, open primaries, though Phil. You could choose to vote for Matt Berry, a gay republican going up against Jim Moran…
They do, but I don’t vote in Republican primaries.
“you can’t bitch if you didn’t vote”
Pfft, it’s the opposite. You can’t bitch if you did vote since you agree the process (and therefore the outcome) has legitimacy by participating.
That’s the biggest load of shit I’ve ever heard, Nacim.
Love you too Tom.
If you enter into the situation and agree that voting is the legitimate process by which to assign authority or legislative representation, by which grounds can you complain about the results? You can’t agree to the process but then complain when the results don’t go your way. It betrays that you care more about the latter (getting the results you want) than the former (democracy).
On the flipside, if you don’t believe it is moral to impose your preferences on authority or legislation on others, abstaining from voting is the only consistent principle. It is also the position that gives you the moral currency to continue bitching about the situation given that your principles remain intact.
Love,
I couldn’t disagree with your comments in more strenuous terms, Nacim. The only way to create change is through participation in the system, and through engagement. Divorcing yourself from the participatory democracy in which we live only serves to isolate you further from the decision making process.
What happens if you have been EXCLUDED, for no good reason, like those of us in DC?!?!?
“We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.” ~Thomas Jefferson
Just sayin’.
@citizenw,
you mean the mayor-for-life and the rest of the DC City Council have been a figment of my imagination all these years? All those people that voted for Marrion Barry for mayor AFTER he got out of PRISON, that was all just a dream? Thanks for clearing up that mess.
Marion Barry wasn’t a factor at all from 1801-to the mid-1960’s, is a minimal factor now, and won’t be a factor at all soon (he ain’t getting any younger). And yet DC citizens were, are and will continue to be excluded, with or without his presence. I call massive red herring.
It de-legitimizes the authority of the Congress and the U.S. Government that it unjustly Governs Without Consent…. “just power derives from the Consent of the Governed”.
Nacim, there’s a difference between protesting the legitimacy of an election because your guy didn’t win (which is ridiculous) and criticizing the actions/decisions/priorities of an elected official once he’s in office, especially if they depart from how he campaigned. Might not always be realistic, but it’s certainly not hypocritical.
Also, living in this country and abiding by its laws means you “agree that the process has legitimacy.” If you don’t think it’s moral to live in a society with a recognized authority, feel free to move to a private island in the Pacific.
Molly, you misunderstand. I wasn’t talking about protesting the legitimacy of an election if your guy doesn’t win. Rather, I said that if you do bitch about your guy losing, it betrays that you might care more about your guy winning than about the democratic process. If this wasn’t true, wouldn’t you be indifferent to whatever “the people choose”?
By that logic, people who want legislative representation and currently live in the District should just move, eh?
I understand what you were saying – and incidentally, I agree with you. The protesters who’ve invaded the city lately to complain about disenfranchisement don’t know what they’re talking about (and have no appreciation for irony).
But I think you misunderstood Tom. When he said “bitching about politics” I believe he was referring to the actions of elected officials, not to the election outcomes themselves. There’s a difference between disagreeing with Obama and believing his election was invalid.
“Also, living in this country and abiding by its laws means you “agree that the process has legitimacy.” If you don’t think it’s moral to live in a society with a recognized authority, feel free to move to a private island in the Pacific.”
When the recognized authority is “We, the people” (“Government of the people, by the people, for the people [ALL the people]”), and you are arbitrarily excluded from that definition (as are DC denizens), then the process, as applied to those who are excluded, is not exactly legitimate. That same situation applied to blacks and women, which is why it was corrected. “just power derives from the Consent of the Governed.”