Probably the best party of my entire life took place on November 2nd, 2000. Guests of this party included Aaron, myself, a large bottle of Bailey's Irish Whiskey, a moderately large bottle of vodka, some Bully Hill wine, some orange juice, a few other assorted beverage-like substances, and two very generous helpings of cornbread, ribs, and various southern-style food items from Theo's Barbeque in Binghamton.
And Dan Rather.
I SWEAR he was there.
Aaron and I threw an impromptu Election Night party, wherein he drove me down to my voting place, and then we got absolutely trashed and yelled at my TV for the rest of the night.
When we were done yelling at it, we sang to it.
There were two very important life lessons that I learned that night. One: Anything can happen. Two: Never drink screwdrivers and Bailey's on the same night.
I'm going to vote for Nader this year, as I voted for Nader four years ago.
I know full well he hasn't got a chance in hell of winning. And I know that I'll probably receive a great deal of chastisement for "throwing my vote away." Whatever. I'm voting for the guy anyway. I like him. I like his google eye. I like that he writes his own speeches, at least for the most part. You don't keep using the same lines for twenty freaking years if you've got a professional speechwriter telling you what to say. I like that he's the underdog, and stubborn as hell. I like that he has something to say OTHER than "it's time to make a difference in this country!" -- which, of course, means absolutely nothing. I like that he had the gumption to dump his party, even though they were probably his only shot in hell of getting his three percent, or five percent, or whatever, of the vote, required for funding of his campaign in the future.
I don't like EVERYthing about Ralph Nader's politics, but I do agree with a lot of his stances on things. But besides that, I like that he's a tough old man. I mean, shit... the man's had a stroke and he's got a google eye and he's about a thousand years old, and he's STILL campaigning for president. And he's still passionate about it. Not passionate about getting the presidency, but passionate about the things he stands for. He's EXCITED to fix up the things he thinks are broken. (And most of them, I agree, ARE broken.) It delights him. Frankly, I'm pretty sure he doesn't give a rat's ass about actually becoming the president. I think he just wants the opportunity to say his piece a couple million times and hope that a few people will hear it. I think he's a HELL of a lot smarter than any of the other candidates.
I don't think I'm throwing away my vote. I think I'm giving it to somebody who might actually be qualified to do the damned job.
All this, "make your vote count" crap pisses me off. My vote DOES count. You can spend all damned day telling me to vote for Kerry, or to vote for Bush, because that's where my vote "really" counts -- and, after all, "one person CAN make a difference," and all that bullshit. And yeah, that's true, as moronic and meaningless as it is. So, I am making my difference.
It is a wettish, rainy day in Western Washington. I can't tell if it's actually raining or not. It seems to be trying to rain.
I was rudely awoken this morning by a maintenance guy who came to fix the door of the apartment, which is kind of broken. Then I went back to sleep and was rudely awoken by a phone call from the John Kerry campaign, checking to see if my room-mate D. had cast his absentee ballot yet. I don't know if D. actually filled it out and sent it in, but what the hell does it matter now? It's too late to send it in NOW, isn't it? By midnight tonight, Dan Rather will have counted the votes (I'm convinced he does the job personally), and que sera sera. The U.S. Postal Service is fast, but maybe not fast enough to race my roomie's ballot to Dan Rather in the next eleven hours...
I'm going to go shower, change, and wander on down to my polling place. Then I'm going to attempt to start a party. No alcohol for me this year, but I think I can start a party anyway... I wish Aaron were here.
Remember: don't mix Bailey's with orange juice. In ANY way. Nasty.
~Helena*