Just finished my election day journey into the twilight zone. Unless I'm traveling, I don't do early voting because I like to show up early in the morning and observe the procedures; here in the 'burbs there aren't scowling police officers discouraging suspicious looking (Black, latino, or freaky-looking) voters, but from time to time there have been campaign workers illegally close to the polls. Nothing like the inner city polling places of my past life, where I often got the hairy eyeball from defenders of the public safety for being a big disreputable looking person. Oh well, now that I'm old I'm almost respectable. Some insights and musings:
1) It's so easy to vote in the nice 'Publican burbs. No lines. Nice clean safe surroundings. Everybody friendly and polite. Wonder what they'd say of they could see my ballots? 'If my thought dreams could be seen, They'd prob'ly put my head, in a guillotine.' In 2008 and 2012 people I drove to the polls had to wait for hours to vote.
2) I've refined my protest votes.I used to vote for family members or cartoon characters when only a Publican stood for an office, but a couple of elections ago I got the idea of voting for yellow dogs I used to own. But there is a lot of room in a touch screen write in field. You can say things like: Fido, my dead yellow dog. At least he was a good dog.'
3) I have invented a new device to vent my spleen on local crooks running unopposed, the insult write-in. Instead of merely voting for Mr. Natural or Donald Duck, you can type in 'Donald Duck has more brains than Wesley Romneybush III.' Somebody has to read these, and I hope somebody has to read them out loud.
4) There are limits. I would have loved to write in 'Sparky the Wonder Penguin rules. Oliver Northadams IV blows dead bears.' Sadly, there wasn't room.