A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 179A~ I Can Has Voting

"Voting for the lessor of two evils is still voting for evil. Next time, go all out and write in Lucifer on the ballot."

~ Jarod Kintz, 99 Cents For Some Nonsense

I created this graphic for the 2008 Presidential Election. It made me smile back then because things seemed fun and exciting, and there was a real passion for voting in America. You could feel it everywhere in the days leading up to, and especially on, Election Day. The news talked about a record turnout in California, and it was true. And while there has been a good bit of malarkey surrounding elections, we don't talk about the 2000 election, or Gore v. Bush in our house, in 2008 it seemed as if the stealing of an election was all but gone from the landscape.

But here we are in 2012, and on American soil more than one American governor, is actively working to make voting in their states historically difficult. Americans denying Americans the most basic of rights is shameful on any level. I voted by Absentee ballot a week ago, and I did so with pride. But shame on me if I hadn't! I am lucky to live in a state that supports its citizens. Not all Americans do. For me to ignore voting, when I know some folks have been waiting in line for hours, if not days, to exercise that same right is morally wrong! So, if you can go vote today, please do.

Vote Democrat
Vote Republican
Vote Green
Vote Independent
Vote Libertarian
Vote Freedom
Vote Whatever Your Conscience Tells You To Vote
Vote In Honor Of Those Who Have Been Denied That Right

JUST VOTE

Okay... done now. One more politically themed post to come, then it's back to our usual fun.

I hope.

I am pretty sure anyway.

;)

~Me :)

PS Here is a link to the FactCheck Awards For for this election season! Go have a look see! You'll LAUGH. You'll CRY. You'll wonder WHY?! WHY? WHY? WHY? LOL.

Go say HI to my pal JR. He is a kind man who puts up with me. He is also a talented photographer! He's AWESOME!

JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/11/apadf6-177.html

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 179~ LIES AND RUMORS OF LIARS

"Freedom isn't free. It shouldn't be a bragging point that "Oh, I don't get involved in politics," as if that makes you somehow cleaner. No, that makes you derelict of duty in a republic. Liars and panderers in government would have a much harder time of it if so many people didn't insist on their right to remain ignorant and blindly agreeable."

~Bill Maher

The sentiment in the above photo is a blatant, ignorant, LIE! Obama isn't Hitler. Hitler killed over 6 million people. Obama hasn't. And to the best of my knowledge, he bares no real comparison to Hitler in any way. This is a LIE made up by a sick mind. You think there might me some kind of 9/11 conspiracy? I am willing to listen, but not when this kind of destructive bullshit accompanies your theory. Don't do this. You look stupid. I think you are stupid. Anyone who can still think clearly thinks you are stupid. If you want to work for the country you say you love, help others get to the polls on Tuesday. If you want to work for the country you say you love, work to help America overturn Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission. Individual states have already made some headway toward lessening it's power. I think the Disclose Act is a good idea... don't you?

Maybe in your passion to work for the country you say you love, you could ask yourself...

 If I have to LIE. If I have to create a deception in order to see a positive change... but wait... a deception isn't a good thing... hmmm... can I fight for my principles without compromising my values?

 If the only answer you can come up with is NO...

 Get the HELL away from my blog, and DON'T COME BACK!

I don't even want to know a coward like you!

If you can find the courage to commit yourself to working with others in honesty.

THANK YOU for making the world a better place. I am proud of you!

With this election, like no other I can remember in my lifetime, it's about dispelling the lies and the fear and the bullshit.

Choose with courage.

Lies are Lies no matter who tells them.

 "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies."

~Groucho Marx

~Me


Today's links comes to us by my friend JR. He is an excellent photographer, and a loyal participant in my APAD project. Go say hello!

JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/11/apadf6-176.html

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 94~ What The Duck?

"With a rubber duck, one's never alone."

~Unknown

"She's a few feathers short of a full duck."

~Unknown 

The presumptive GOP nominee, Williard "Mitt" Romney has chosen Paul Ryan for his V.P. pick. So? So, I thought I would care more than I do. Paul Ryan, who is plenty polarizing mind you, just doesn't bring out the same kind of ire Sarah Palin did in me. I know. I know. Give it time. It's not like Ryan hasn't pissed me off from time to time. YES HE DID, and while it's there, there is also a strange kind of ... of... competence that he exudes that makes me at least a little less frightened that if Mitt Romney is elected, and God forbid should pass away in office, that we would be thrust into an apocalyptic mood swing of a crazy person. Ummm... woman. Ummm... person.

Is it possible for women to be sexist against her own gender?

Hmmm.

I wish I knew what to think. In August, 4 years ago, I was still smarting from Hillary Clinton's primary loss to Barack Obama, when along came Simple Sarah. I believe I described John McCain's choosing her as...any old vagina in a wind storm... or something to that effect. I didn't come to that conclusion on the first day of her introduction to the national political stage, it wasn't even after the interview she did with Charlie Gibson of ABC News. No, it came somewhere around her disastrous interview with Katie Couric. Who knew Katie Couric would be the one to ask the toughest question of the presidential campaign...

Katie Couric..."And when it comes to establishing your world view, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this — to stay informed and to understand the world?"

Sarah Palin... "I’ve read most of them again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media, coming f—"

Katie Couric... "But like which ones specifically? I’m curious that you—"

Sarah Palin... "Um, all of 'em, any of 'em that, um, have, have been in front of me over all these years. Um, I have a va—"

Katie Couric... "Can you name a few?"

Sarah Palin... "I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news too. Alaska isn't a foreign country, where, it's kind of suggested and it seems like, 'Wow, how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, D.C. may be thinking and doing when you live up there in Alaska?' Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America."

That was it. Right there. Sigh.

"Not the cry, but the flight of the wild duck leads the flock to fly and follow."

~Chinese Proverb 

Barack Obama was spreading HOPE. Who couldn't use a little hope after enduring 8 years of the Bush presidency?

Barack Obama was spreading CHANGE. Who didn't want that, after the incompetence of 8 years of the Bush presidency?

Barack Obama was spreading the possibility of the country being whole again, and who didn't want that after 8 years of the Bush presidency?

Obama had a lot to spread. And while it felt like a huge stone was being lifted off my shoulders, I wasn't ever particularly impressed with him. Our house had solidly supported Hillary Clinton, but when Hillary lost the nomination to Obama, she asked her supporters to get behind Obama... and we did. Hope sounded good. Change sounded especially good. And competency would have been especially good... if only it would have actually happened.

Don't get me wrong. No one in the Obama administration is Bush level incompetent, but I have some serious questions about how Obama arrives at the decisions he does. Shrug. Honestly, I don't know why anyone on the republican side of politics would want anyone else in the White House. Obama has caved so often, I don't know how he can still say he is a democrat. Not much of what he promised as candidate Obama has materialized. And he still seems obsessed with pursuing the fantasy of bi-partisan politics.

"Always behave like a duck... keep calm and unruffled on the surface but paddle like the devil underneath."

~Jacob Braude

It's pretty telling that the current Obama/Biden campaign slogan is... "Barack Obama... Are you in?" "Stand With Barack And Joe." "Forward."

In 2008 it was all about YES WE CAN.

4 years later it seems... NO WE COULDN'T.

What the DUCK?

~ME :(

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 61~ Black And White Revisited

"When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence."


-Ansel Adams


I am definitely in a black and white mood, both in my photography and in day to day life. I made an observation today on Twitter regarding the upcoming presidential election, and just how weary I feel about it. Odd. Most years I can't get enough politics, but this time around... well... sigh.


It all feels incredibly dismal. 4 years ago I wasn't ready to put my faith in Obama because it seemed like he had too much figured out. Its not that his theories seemed unsound, no, but rather he was so very sure that every step he had planned was going to absolutely work.


I found him to be unrealistic then... and four years later... he is unrealistic now. NO DOUBT... he inherited a MESS. He has tried in good faith to help America undo the damage left behind by nearly a decade of incompetence by the Bush administration, but I am out of patience watching Obama hope... yes... hope that the GOP will wake up one morning, ready to compromise.


President Obama announced yesterday that he wants to see the tax cuts for the middle class extended for another year. Okay, what about those fat cats who haven't paid their share? What about them? Obama says he wants those tax cuts to expire. Haven't we all been to this dance? It's Tax Cut Roulette. Is there one reason that I should expect that this round will end any different?


Its exhausting.


It makes me want to turn my head and look away.


But the resistance to that is that I have NO patience for folks who don't care enough to pay attention.


By my own standards for myself... I have to pay attention.


And I want to pull my hair out.


Vote Obama? 


I am finding that prospect nearly impossible. I don't have much faith in him. He refused to listen to the experts on how to rebuild the economy, and here we are, 4 years later, and the best we can realistically say is, we could be worse off. How sad is that? The thought that we could already be in better shape, on our way to financial and social prosperity, if it wasn't for those damn republicans. We may not have made much ground,  but at least we know... it could be worse.


Sigh.


Vote Romney? 


All I can say is... A WORLD OF NO.


Let's pretend he never strapped the family pet to the top of his car and drove to Canada. Let's pretend he doesn't seem to know what his own values are. Let's pretend he isn't indecisive. Let's pretend he doesn't have tax shelters in the Cayman Islands. Let's pretend he doesn't own 8 houses, and his wife, Anne, doesn't drive 2 Cadillacs. Let's pretend...


I would rather not thank you.
 
Shrug.

~Me :)


As always, please feel free to share your opinions. Agree? Disagree? Indifferent? It's all good. Share away. However, respect is expected and encouraged.