Yo Voté

I just a got a nifty little gift from my older sister who dwells in Buffalo. I'm sure most of you have seen those yellow LIVESTRONG wristbands promoted by Lance Armstrong to support research for cancer. Well, my sister sent my father and myself black wristbands that say I DID NOT VOTE 4 BUSH. Now the black wristbands were eerily reminiscent of Italian fascist black armbands, but the message won me over. She also included matching silver on black background bumper stickers for us. This thrilled me when I walked into my parent's house and found them. I found it appropriate and a little divisive, but very much me. The website for these nick knacks is www.nationdivided.com. Pretty true label in many ways.

I recently won a poetry contest for a poem entitled, "A House Divided," which contains certain remarks regarding the current state of the nation. I wrote it while I was in Europe prior to the 2004 election(returning specifically in time to vote). I got a lot of flack for my president, for whom I did not vote last time, either. But there were no lynch mobs waiting for me at international airports, just a lot of honestly curious and at least mildly intellectual persons whom genuinely wanted to know, what the hell the rest of us here in the States are smoking. I did my best to try and explain and at times defend myself and my fellow citizens. After all, as a public we are ultimately responsible for each other whether we like it or not, that's part of the deal when we accept all the freedoms and luxuries that come with our style of government and commerce.
Now, there are plenty of people who's politics I don't like, and plenty of them would label me insane as I would dub them fascist. But that’s fine, because we are damn lucky in this country to even have the freedom to argue over such things. As a nation we've always been divided. It’s always been us and them abroad, and back home. Whether its North and South, Black and White, Conservative or Liberal, or now Red States vs. Blue States, we've had plenty of aggressive political animosity, and healthy (sometimes ugly) competition. We need that; it keeps the ball rolling. Now, we don't need too much of it, because then we'll end up with a prime minister, who isn't even a publicly elected official, to play the role of bandleader in congress. Cooperation is just as required as competition. After all, if as a species we'd been too competitive with each other, well, we wouldn’t likely be around. Striking a healthy balance is not only the most beneficial way, but also necessary for survival. So while I dislike Bush and his cronies almost as much as I distrust them, I still respect their right to lawfully shape the direction of this country through policy and constitutionally sound legislation.

While it’s the greatest endeavor to work towards, harmony between individuals and demographics in our democratic republic is a long ways a way.

A house divided cannot stand—

However, a house united may still have many kinds of rooms and individual boarders that dwell within.