or 'Another I Just Voted for Obama Diary: Why I Love Vote By Mail.'
Got my ballot in the mail yesterday, so I woke up this fine Sunday morning, put on a pot of coffee, and sat down to vote. Of course the top of the ticket was easy, but as always in Oregon there was a forest of ballot measures with which to come to grips, and some non-partisan races at the state and local levels whose candidates I needed to know a little more about...
Sipping my coffee (there's a little Kahlua and Citronge in there but hey, I'm an atheist, I don't have church to go to today, so a little booze in my Sunday morning coffee is my way of connecting to that human need for ritual), I vote for the Right Honorable Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden with a strong sense of satisfaction, suddenly coming to grips with the incredible amount of trust it takes to vote for a presidential ticket. In the end, though, I do trust these men to lead America through the strange, confusing years of the early 21st century. In a lot of respects this really does feel like the first presidential election of the 21st century, as many pundits have dubbed it. Then there's Jeff Merkley of course, and Earl Blumenauer to complete the national ticket. Straight party ticket for the statewide races, that's easy enough.
Oregon's well-known, much-hated conservative anti-tax activist Bill Sizemore sponsored a host of horseshit measures that I thoroughly enjoy voting against, including the time-honored tax loophole for the rich, another measure that would limit how public employee unions spend political money, and here's a good measure: let's remove the requirement for homeowners to have building permits for projects costing less than $35k. This guy Sizemore's a fucking genius:
"Hey Ethel, how do like my new deck...holy shit, what the hell was that?"
"I think your new deck just collapsed and killed Cousin Merle, but the rest of the wedding party is only slightly mangled..."
Some "tough on crime" (aka: I'm in the pocket of the prison building industry) measures sponsored by perennial Oregon GOP political failure Kevin Mannix (with many unsuccessful runs for congress and governor under his belt over the years) that need to be voted down...I think I need a little music. What am I in the mood for? Dead Kennedys? Bach? Sonic Youth, Donizetti or Coltrane? Now there's a choice I wouldn't be dealing with if I were in a voting booth on a cold, gray November day. Coffee's getting cold...time to zap it.
I go with the Sonic Youth; Daydream Nation seems to be an apt theme for the day, although I don't quite know why...maybe it's because a Teenage Riot at the polls will all but assure Obama's victory...
Some tax measures. I support the bonds for Portland Community College and a renewal of a five-year levy to sponsor the Children's Investment Fund, but not the funds the Oregon Zoo is seeking to revamp the elephant program. Zoos all over the country are realizing that elephants are too intelligent and too big to be crammed into zoos, no matter how golden-gilt the cages are. Maybe this will encourage them to find a better place for those magnificent, sad-eyed creatures.
All in all, I'm glad that I got to vote in a polling booth at some point, but I wouldn't trade vote by mail for anything...