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>>>>>>Don't vote. It only encourages them.
>>>>>
>>>>>If you don't vote, you can't bitch about the results. You don't get to make a decision by not making a decision and then not liking the decision that was made because it isn't the decision you would have made, but you chose not to make a decision.
>>>>
>>>>If you don't vote you can still bitch about the results, the government, and anything else you wish to complain about. Abstention is also an electors opinion.
>>>
>>>Just not a useful one.
>>
>>Do as you wish. Nevertheless, people who did not vote are a statistic that is considered by the government. It does have an effect.
>
>Five generations of my family have served the United States Military, myself included, so that our citizens can vote, they tell me. Also, the politicians like to create ways for citizens to not vote. I do not like to represent that.
>
>I have a friend who served in the “Korean Police Action” (as it was called), who refuses to vote. He also will not eat meat nor go near restaurants. The reason is directly related to his experience in Korea. He told me that he cannot go near cooked meat because the odor reminds him of the burned bodies he remembers from Korea. Nor can he vote as a citizen of a country that has been involved with killing in the name of democracy. That occured 60 years ago and he remembers!
>
>You may serve your country but then your country may do as it pleases. If you have not seen the carnage of war you may not understand his thoughts. So if you do not wish to vote, don’t. If you want to vote, you may not be allowed. If you do vote your vote may not be counted. The person you vote for may not do what you think he or she stood for. None of this matters in reality except to the individual.
>
>Well, it is almost time to get ready for the next election - no not November 6th, 2012. I mean 2016. Let's do it again. It is such great fun.
I don't know if you are a baseball fan or if you watched the World Series game in San Francisco on Thursday night. There was a moving tribute to military veterans before the game, focusing on baseball players who left the game for a while to fight in WW II. There was a video on the big screen in the outfield showing some of them. They weren't all in PR roles or "rear echelon" types, either. Some of them, including Ted Williams, were fighter pilots. But that wasn't the best part of the pregame ceremonies. The ceremonial first pitch was thrown by a 22 year old Marine who lost both legs and his left arm in Afghanistan. I doubt there were many in the crowd who didn't have a lump in their throat. Even the players and managers were clearly moved. The pitch looked like a strike, too, with some zip on it. Try that sometime when all you have is one arm. He teetered a little and put a hand on Willie Mays's shoulder to steady himself but remained upright.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd09BDXYHZcThere was one light moment. Before the Marine's pitch several baseball players who served in WW II and are still alive were introduced. One of them was Tommy LaSorda, the long time manager of the hated Dodgers. He got a rousing chorus of good natured boos.
