From a friend on her (unlocked) LJ:
As we stood in line, the election judge called for our attention, holding up a piece of paper and shouting, "Listen! This is a LIE!" All day she'd been noticing people going to the voting booths carrying these sheets of paper with candidates' smiling faces, but in the afternoon someone called her attention to what the literature actually had on it. Now, these sheets were made up to look like official Democratic party literature, telling folks in this largely Democratic district who the Democratic party wants them to vote for. And this handy little list of Democratic politicians included such people as... our Republican governor, Bob Ehrlich. Nice!
It's reassuring to know that in a world of hackable, digital voting machines, a bit of low-tech deception still has its place.
[link]
The odious Michael Steele is also listed as a Dem in those materials. (They went so far as to bus in homeless people from Philadelphia to distribute the flyers. There's no homeless people in Baltimore? Or maybe they figured those folks would know what the deal was.)
(Picturing David Simon taking notes and cackling)
So in other non-election news... yesterday I drove over a curb that was higher than I thought, and scraped the bottom of my car in the front. Today when I was driving to and from the gym I smelled a burning smell, and now I think I damaged something.
My friend is coming over for House-ian goodness, so she's going to follow me to the repair place a few blocks away. I may have an unintentional half-day tomorrow...
I did do the damage while stealing signs for a Republican candidate (named Kevin Bacon, no less!), so I guess it's kinda related.
Hee. Mr. Jane is as big a democracy geek as I am. He's got the results and the Daily Show/Colbert Report on the big screen in HD out back of the bar.
I believe I told my boss I was going to try to overthrow the government when I went to vote at lunch.
He's got the results and the Daily Show/Colbert Report on the big screen in HD out back of the bar.
Wait, Daily Show/Colbert is on already?
Wait, Daily Show/Colbert is on already?
Election night live coverage, I'll bet.
No, he's playing that at 10, 11, and 12. I'm sure right now (or in half an hour) it'll be early returns.
Re Daniel's link, holy fuck.
I should probably head out to vote in a minute... finally (more or less) worked out how I'll vote, I think, unless I get waffly on some of the eleventy jillion initiatives on the CA ballot once I get to the polling place. I slogged through the enormous voter info book yesterday and came out mostly with a blinding hatred of the initiative process with a side of white-hot loathing for the Taxpayers Protection Society or whoever they are who are also loathed by Sean. I read all the initiatives and want to vote no on everything just to spite everyone, then I read the Taxpayers Whosits' arguments against the initiatives and I want to vote yes on everything just as a fuck you to them.
I'm definitely, absolutely voting no on the sex offenders initiative -- like Sean, I find it comforting to at least pretend that that's not the way we do things in this country. Also, as two different local papers pointed out, the provision that no registered sex offender may live within 2,000 feet of any school or park is severely WTF -- it makes practically every major urban center in the state (you know, all the places with large, solid law enforcement, counseling, rehab, job and housing assistance infrastructures) off-limits to any registered offender and makes them all, without exception, the problem of either rural areas, which will be much more ill equipped to deal with them, or other states.
Fucking whackadoo initiatives and tax asshattery have ruined this state.
t /still bitter about having attended public school in post-Prop 13 California
As appalling as the sex-offender initiative is (and the abortion one, etc) this year's really appalling initiative on the CA ballot is 90. A friend of mine calls it "our generation's Prop 13."
