voting, just some thoughts

[PoopyPants]

Myself and one of the gal's at work were talking politics, when we started talking about voting.

she's going on 40 and im going on 34, neither one of us are registered voters.

why ?

let this sit in your brain and boil over for a bit before you go all gung-ho on me and bash my brains in.


2 times, maybe 3 i forget has there ever been an election where the PEOPLE voted in the elected president.
The electoral college has and always will be the ones who vote in the president.

so why friggin even bother, they have taken the constitution of the united states, the part that says, OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, AND FOR THE PEOPLE, and totally thrown it away. along with other sections i wont go into.

so why on god's green earth should i even try to vote when it makes absolutely no difference in the world ?

the people dont vote the president in, the electoral college does.
the E.C. isnt made up of "average joe" citizens, its made up of the same ass backwards, backstabbing, money grubbing, under the table politicians that are trying to be voted into office.

can someone explain to me why i should register to vote ?

i know it seems childish, and unamerican, but the US government stopped being "American" centuries ago.

 

[conjur]

<sigh>

It's way past time to make Civics mandatory at the elementary and high school levels.


THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE
http://www.fec.gov/pdf/eleccoll.pdf

 

[aswedc]

Sometimes I wish we could test people for basic civic competency before allowing them voting privileges. But then like 5% of Americans would vote. Oh well.

 

[DanceMan]

Well, the president is not the only person who you will be voting for, and I will go so far to say, not even the most important person that you should be voting for.

Most important to me are your senators and congresspersons. They can help keep a president in check, and because they are the Legislature (they MAKE the law), can have more of an long-term influence overall, much more than a president who is term-limited. And as far as I know, all of these offices are decided by popular vote.

Don't forget your local and state political leaders. They usually have more of a greater effect on you than most federal politics. (stress the words usually and more)

Finally, more people (including yourself), should consider running for office. It dosen't matter if it's the local dogcatcher or school board. Why complain and be part of the problem if you can be part of the solution?

 

[kogase]

34? Damn, I'm 17 and I could tear that apart. Look here, let's not even get into any indepth explanations of the electoral college and it's purpose in our country's democracy. Let's just go with the very simple and telling fact that there have been very, very few elections where the the electoral college vote did not correlate with the popular vote.

It is your duty to vote. It is your duty to take a part in the process that gives the common man, including you, a voice in a world full of jackals. It is your duty to contribute to this system, no matter how small your voice, to work towards the betterment of our society. At the very least, it is your responsibility to insure that your voice is heard, that you don't die as no better than an ape, and so that you can say you tried to make this a better world to live in.

In my opinion.

 

[SlitheryDee]

"At the time, some politicians believed a purely popular election was too reckless, while others objected to giving Congress the power to select the president. The compromise was to set up an Electoral College system that allowed voters to vote for electors, who would then cast their votes for candidates, a system described in Article II, section 1 of the Constitution."

Check it out

 

[Rainsford]

The popular vote has only been ignored a few times, mostly when some odd situation arises. If Kerry had got 200,000 more votes in Ohio, he'd be the President even though he still would have lost by something like 2.5 million votes. But that kind of situation doesn't come up very often, most of the time the people really do pick the President. And at the very least, the people ALWAYS get to decide who their state supports.

 

[Yo Ma Ma]

Your local elections have a direct impact on your daily life.. much more so than any presidential election. It's not as visible and hasn't all the hoopla about it like the big elections every 4 years, but if you are at all interested in your local or even state politics it's a fine idea to register and vote.

 

[cKGunslinger]

Yeah, I think the OP has been beaten down enough (and rightfully so) without need for my late-to-the-party-comments.

 

[PoopyPants]

i guess i should have clarified, i didnt mean local stuff we were basically talking on the federal/presidential level.

it still doesnt seem right that the peoples votes dont "count" so to speak

this is a quote from that PDF which doesnt help me i know what the electoral college is im not some uneducated hillbilly.

n the possibility of electing a minority president
the risk of so-called "faithless" Electors,
the possible role of the Electoral College in depressing voter turnout
its failure to accurately reflect the national popular will. <---------------------------- hhmmm the words written in blood just as i said them. the electoral college may NOT reflect the voting of the people.


regardless of how you put it , the electoral college is who votes in the president. not you, or me or your buddy mike or your aunt flo. the electoral college.

it may seem, as if we the people are voting in the president and vise pres. but the reality of the situation is, the electoral college is who really does it.

now i will gladly be educated if i missed something, politics has never been my strong point and for good reason, when you grow up around your grandfather and father, who are both politically strong people, and hear them talk about the truth of the way things are, and then as you grow older you see with your own eyes the truth of life in america, and the politicians who run it, don't you stop and think for one minute, wtf is going on,,, of the people, for the people, and by the people, turns out to be nothing more than words on a piece of paper that was written long before us.

I love my country to death, and love the people around me, but when it comes time to vote in our leader and our votes arent what votes him in,,, well.... :\

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: PoopyPants

she's going on 40 and im going on 34, neither one of us are registered voters.
why ?

The electoral college has and always will be the ones who vote in the president.

so why friggin even bother, they have taken the constitution of the united states, the part that says, OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, AND FOR THE PEOPLE, and totally thrown it away. along with other sections i wont go into.

so why on god's green earth should i even try to vote when it makes absolutely no difference in the world ?

the people dont vote the president in, the electoral college does.
the E.C. isnt made up of "average joe" citizens, its made up of the same ass backwards, backstabbing, money grubbing, under the table politicians that are trying to be voted into office.

can someone explain to me why i should register to vote ?

i know it seems childish, and unamerican, but the US government stopped being "American" centuries ago.

Originally posted by: aswedc
Sometimes I wish we could test people for basic civic competency before allowing them voting privileges. But then like 5% of Americans would vote. Oh well.

<shakes head violently>

It's called Representation, not neccessarily by individual but as a voting bloc.

Look at England for example, they didn't vote for Blair, they voted for the Party.

We do the same thing here but sling more mud at an individual
(Swift Boat crap for example)

You don't really just vote for Bush, the vote was for all of the Republican Club Crooks.

If it went Democrat it would be for that set of Democrat Club Crooks but the key is that it is a different set of crooks. Slightly different backgrounds and financial backing.

It's just a finely tuned subset of Italy's Mafia rule.

So register and vote for your favorite set of crooks next time, at least you would a valid reason to complain, now your whiners. Here's your :music:

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

[shakes head violently]

It's called Representation, not neccessarily by individual but as a voting bloc.

Look at England for example, they didn't vote for Blair, they voted for the Party.

We do the same thing here but sling more mud at an individual
(Swift Boat crap for example)

You don't really just vote for Bush, the vote was for all of the Republican Club Crooks.

If it went Democrat it would be for that set of Democrat Club Crooks but the key is that it is a different set of crooks. Slightly different backgrounds and financial backing.

It's just a finely tuned subset of Italy's Mafia rule.

So register and vote for your favorite set of crooks next time, at least you would a valid reason to complain, now your whiners. Here's your :music:

:Q

Damn, Dave. You must have stayed at a Holiday Inn last night! :thumbsup:

 

[irwincur]

Good don't vote.

If you can't even understand the basics of the electoral system I would rather not have you cast a vote for anything. There is a certain amount of responsibility that comes with voting - unfortunately, not enough people seem to get this.

 

[judasmachine]

it never was by the people. the gentry wrote that document.

 

[ahurtt]

Because if you don't at least make an effort to vote or change things, then you have no merit when you want to complain.

 

[Dissipate]

Originally posted by: conjur
<sigh>

It's way past time to make Civics mandatory at the elementary and high school levels.


THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE
http://www.fec.gov/pdf/eleccoll.pdf

So let me get this straight, you are advocating government run schools pimping a process that perpetuates the government. This is nothing more than blatant brain washing.

 

[kylebisme]

Originally posted by: ahurtt
Because if you don't at least make an effort to vote or change things, then you have no merit when you want to complain.

I'm pretty sure his post is an attempt to change things. However, with all the "it's your duty to vote" comming back at him despite the fact that he may well live in a state where the electoral college members aren't even bound to reflect their states popular vote; it doesn't look like he is making much headway.

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: Dissipate

Originally posted by: conjur
<sigh>

It's way past time to make Civics mandatory at the elementary and high school levels.


THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE
http://www.fec.gov/pdf/eleccoll.pdf

So let me get this straight, you are advocating government run schools pimping a process that perpetuates the government. This is nothing more than blatant brain washing.

How can you hope to chnage or even dismantle a system if you don't even understand how it currently works?

 

[Dissipate]

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger

Originally posted by: Dissipate

Originally posted by: conjur
<sigh>

It's way past time to make Civics mandatory at the elementary and high school levels.


THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE
http://www.fec.gov/pdf/eleccoll.pdf

So let me get this straight, you are advocating government run schools pimping a process that perpetuates the government. This is nothing more than blatant brain washing.

How can you hope to chnage or even dismantle a system if you don't even understand how it currently works?

Why do you need to know how it works to dismantle it? All you need to know is that it is evil, and not participate in it (i.e. stop voting).

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Originally posted by: DanceMan
Well, the president is not the only person who you will be voting for, and I will go so far to say, not even the most important person that you should be voting for.

Most important to me are your senators and congresspersons. They can help keep a president in check, and because they are the Legislature (they MAKE the law), can have more of an long-term influence overall, much more than a president who is term-limited. And as far as I know, all of these offices are decided by popular vote.

Don't forget your local and state political leaders. They usually have more of a greater effect on you than most federal politics. (stress the words usually and more)

Finally, more people (including yourself), should consider running for office. It dosen't matter if it's the local dogcatcher or school board. Why complain and be part of the problem if you can be part of the solution?