The Nature of Things

Early voting started in Texas last Monday and every day so far has been a record-breaker. People are turning out in yuuuuge numbers to vote! Amazing. We waited until today to go cast our votes, thinking the crowds might have thinned out. They hadn't. We still had to wait in line for a bit, but it wasn't too long. And it was a really good feeling to see all of those people engaged in the governance of the country and the state, making the effort to turn out and vote. It was a crowd I was happy to be a part of. What do these record numbers of people casting ballots mean? Well, we'll find out on November 8, but at least it is very promising, I think, that so many people are choosing to make their choices known. I found it interesting, also, that the early voters on the first couple of days of voting were 54% women. I haven't seen the stats since then, but if that trend continues, it could be significant. Does your state have early voting? Have you voted yet? If not, why n...

Have you? Early voting in Texas and many other states runs through Friday, October 31, Halloween. How appropriate is that? Failing to vote this year is the really scary thing. So make sure you exercise your constitutional right to cast that ballot. My vote may not change the outcome of the election. In fact, in the congressional district that I live in, I can just about guarantee that it won't. But it does ensure one thing - I will have a right to complain when the bastards who DO get elected screw up! I plan to fully exercise that right.

Yes, Americans are committing random acts of voting around the country today. Twelve states are holding primaries and they promise some interesting and, in some cases, downright entertaining, results. For example, will the "chicken lady" win in the Nevada Republican primary for Senator, or will she be defeated by the "prohibition lady"? Will the "queen of the birthers" Orly Taitz win the race for the Republican nomination for Secretary of State in California? I know I'm pulling for her! And what about South Carolina, that bastion of sobriety and marital fidelity among its politicians? Will the accused adulterer receive a majority of the vote to defeat her three opponents in the race for the Republican nomination for governor, or will she be forced into a runoff? At this hour, it is looking like the latter. And why, oh why, are the Republican primaries so much more entertaining than the Democratic ones? The Democrats are positively buttoned-down...