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Something beyond this one election to think of...but something that is about this and every election...this might sound cheesy but, after seeing NOTHING but negativity on this forum from both sides, I felt I had to say this, and have been thinking about saying this for awhile.
I was the biggest dork in highschool...never went to the prom, never was in sports, but I do remember, right after I graduated, another rite of passage: The first time I voted. I stood at that machine, pushed some buttons, and was about to push that one button marked "cast ballot" when something happened. For one brief moment, I was everywhere in this nation's history....
I saw a sixteen year old kid, starving at Valley Forge, desperately hoping that the "lost cause" wasn't lost. I was in DC in 1814, and smelled it burning and saw people struggling to put out the fire, while being shot at by Red coats. I was in Virginia, and saw a slave family, terrified and hiding in the heat of the day as they tried to escape north. I was in Antietam, and saw lines of men shot down on both sides. I was in a trench in 1918 in Europe, and saw a yound man die of Gangrene before he even saw battle.
I was in Boston a year later, and saw a young women marching for sufferage, her head held high and proud while a crowd of men bowed her loudly. I was in the pacific, and heard the cries of a hundred seamen as the Kamakazi took down their ship.
I was in Deutschland, and saw the grim determination on a soldier's face after Dachau was liberated, and the telling look that he knew he was doing the right thing. I was in a cockpit on a cargo plane, and heard the heavy breathing of an exasted pilot as he dropped yet another shipment of fuel to Berlin. I was on a mountain top in Korea, surrounded by the scream of the dying, and I was on a street in Alabama, as unarmed protesters faced dogs and thugs on a march toward freedom...
I saw it...I saw all the faces, struggles, and heardships faced by millions over the two centuries and three decades of America's existince, all so I could just move my hands a few inches and press the "cast ballot" button. I stopped for one moment, and looked up to the sky, and said the biggest understatement of my life, "thank you", before I cast the vote. They did it for me...they did it for us.
No matter what happens, who wins, or who you are voting for, think of them...those nameless, faceless millions how marched, struggled, faught against enemies, foreign and domestic, and lived and died for the freedom we have to make this choice. I ask you all, as cheesy as it might sound to some, before you cast that vote, to say a quick prayer of thanks to those who made this possible. I hope it was worth it ...and I hope that we, as a nation, can make them proud.
8:10 eastern time...I'm off to vote...I still wish this thread had as many views as the "obama's a dirty muslim!" or the "McCain sucks!" threads, but ohh well.
"where ever there is liberty, there is my home"
-Benjamin Franklin.
I was shot down in Vietnam taken prisoner in a Hanoi hell hole, starved, beaten and broken.
Country first
But I was valuable, unlike so many other less fortunately born POWs, so I lived to go home. I got back to work after a year and a half, dumped the fam and embarked upon a new career. And now, forty years later, here we all are, my friends.
"Country First," my last and most effective slogan (dont remember "Reform. Prosperity. Peace"? We didnt think you would.), has a triple message. It reminds all you Joes out there that I was a POW, of course. And our tests proved that it emboldens your much appreciated paranoia, intolerance, xenophobia and blessed loyal ignorance that President Cheney and the late Permanent Republican Majority developed so diligently; Governor Palin and I give you our solemn promise that we and our well-paid shills intend to flatter, encourage, and maintain this very special mix of "Joeness" among real American families in every way possible for as long as we possibly can. But above all, we devoutly hope that "Country First" expresses the dream that we share with you - a commitment to continuing the selfish, mindless, heedless consumerism that has made our country what it is today. My friends, I thank you.
Not going to jump in on the baiting from either side. Thanks to those who sacrificed so we could vote.
Amen.
That was beautifully said and my tears flowed freely. I'm about to walk out the door and vote and I'll keep your thoughts with me. Thanks for reminding us what it's really all about.
My thoughts go in the same direction everytime I vote, whether local or national elections.
Thanks, Punk!
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