I’m not a political person and I don’t understand a damn thing about the election process. If you asked me yesterday morning I would say this:
“I vote for a candidate but somehow my vote isn’t truly a vote?? I have no idea.”
So I thought, ‘I can’t be the only American dumbfounded when it comes to the entire process?’
As citizens, we were taught so well having a chapter in social studies in the 5th grade and sprinkles of it here and there till senior year. Sure, you have Government classes and clubs but lets be real here….we would be bored out of our skulls and didn’t want to partake in that. So basically it’s up to the citizen to relearn it again if they care.
I always get mad at sites when I anticipate a really dumbed down version of what an electoral college is, only to discover the site is patronizing me and assumes I already know the building blocks. I typed in “idiot’s guide to understanding the election.” I got one of the idiot’s guide answers, clearly written by a political savant:
courtesy of idiotsguide.com
Frustrated I googled: “teaching children about the election process.” Obviously I needed to dumb this whole train wreck down. I received results from:
- Disney
- Scholastic
- School House Rocks
- PBS
Despite being alone in the room, I still looked around to see if anyone was watching then I clicked on Disney. Hey it’s Disney, the cartoon is probably going to be amazing. Don’t judge me. Unfortunately the player/plug in thing wasn’t working on my tablet and I didn’t want to dig deeper and I couldn’t stay focused. I moved on.
Eventually I found a few sites and I am going to publish a few posts to teach you about the election process if you don’t know about it (with of coarse my own special spin on it). If you are that political savant, holding your brandy in your cherry wood library, in front of the fire place….just skip these posts. Sure this maybe a little boring then my usual posts but if you don’t understand the process….stick with me so we can learn together. I leave you again with a funny thought from my last post:
And here to motivate you is a link to Ted Cruz as a vampire:
https://www.google.com/search?q=ted+cruz+as+a+vampire&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjn8oy0nKrLAhXCLyYKHeHUC1EQsAQIHA&biw=1328&bih=876
OH MY GOD! NO YOU DIDN’T! LOVE IT!!! i also found this comparison: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiP5pLCparLAhXDPT4KHdpcCOUQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2Fpics%2Fcomments%2F36sgyc%2Fthe_resemblance_between_ted_cruz_and_alf_is%2F%3F&bvm=bv.116274245,d.amc&psig=AFQjCNEO8B4NcWd8J6VlDaAqaewOpVyuyA&ust=1457292967308112 thoughts?
Alf is waaaaaaaay too good for Ted Cruz … for sure!
Yeah, I didn’t even make the comparison till I clicked on YOUR pics and found it and it’s awesome!
Here’s MY take on voting … this was written from 2014 from my “dead” blog:
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I was discussing voting with a friend of mine today at lunch. I’ve got a few thoughts about voting. The first time I voted I was 18. So young. So naive. AND I really believed that my vote counted. When I’m talking about voting I mean NATIONAL elections — think POTUS. I do believe that voting in local elections DOES make a difference if one has taken the time to know their community and study the ballot issues at hand.
According to the link below: The chances of your vote deciding an election in any state is less than 1 in 60 million.
http://www.policymic.com/articles/18362/5-common-misconceptions-about-voting-your-vote-doesn-t-count
I also think that people should be required to have a photo ID such as state ID or driver’s license to vote. I’m confused as to why there isn’t a basic PHOTO ID requirement to vote. You need a photo ID to buy alcohol, cigarettes, enter a bar, board a plane, cash a check, register for a test (like SAT, ACT, etc.), and so many other things. But now that I’ve already pointed out that one’s vote doesn’t really count in the first place then I suppose having a photo ID is moot.
As far as the last presidential election I didn’t vote. Truth be told, my voter ID was from the 2008 election and I hadn’t updated my address for my voter registration card. My driver’s license however, was updated with my newest address but I was told I couldn’t vote unless I drove to some other far away poll station … it was about 15 minutes until the polls closed and I’d never make it there in time. So, I didn’t vote in 2012. And again, I feel assuaged that my vote didn’t really count anyway. No, it’s not sour grapes.
And according to the article link above: “You are substantially more likely to die in a car crash on the way to the poll.” YIKES!
Looking on the bright side I could have died driving over to the other poll site to almost cast a vote that wouldn’t have counted. It took me a while to get to this place of not voting. Now with this said, please don’t let me discourage you from voting because it feels good to almost make a difference if only in your mind!
YAY!! Someone is going to explain this to me!! However, I do have on question before I move onto part 1 – why does it say “Every state (and the District of Columbia)”? Confused Canadian over here!
That is a great question that had me guessing for many years. See Columbia is a term that used to be used for the United States at least from an artsy/poetic stand point. I believe it somehow came from Christopher Columbus. Some citizens wanted United States to be called Columbia. Obviously they lost. The District of Columbia, or Washington DC was also named after our founding father George Washington. This small little piece of land is not part of any state.I hope that makes sense.
Totally does! 🙂
Oh crap, I don’t think I answered your question, or did I?
Yeah I think you did! 🙂
LMAO. You’re killing me with that photo. I’m not trying to be mean, but dang there is a real resemblance there.
I mean not only did the mom dress them in matching outfits despite not being twins but they are staring off into the distance, so stoic.