Last bits of election stuff bouncing around my head:
People in Massachusetts must be dumb. That’s the only possible explanation for the outcome last night. So maybe I can understand about Mitt – I don’t like it, but I can understand wanting a balance of power, etc. But honestly, the results of the ballot initiatives were so skewed towards idiocy that I have to wonder.
How is it possible that we nearly voted away the state income tax? There are plenty of examples of places where that doesn’t work so well at all.
On the second ballot question, the fools in my state decided that it was okay to sue teachers and take away chances for non-native English speakers to learn the language. Simply put: would you feel comfortable in a high school French/German/Spanish/whatever class if you had only been studying the language for a year or less? I didn’t think so.
I also thought we’d covered the whole clean elections thing before.Voters voted (four years ago), the law was passed (by a 2-to-1 margin), and still the legislature balked, refusing to give out money to candidates who met the requirements. The State Supreme Court stepped in, forcing them to follow the law. Somehow, detractors of the law slipped a misleadingly worded question onto the ballot, and the public voted the law down. W.T.F.?!
So, again, in summary, people in Massachusetts don’t have a clue. Thank you for your time.
posted November 6, 2002 – 7:00 am
More election thoughts, now that enough results are in (looks like our next Governor’s name is “Mitt” – ugh!):
As of 10:48 PM, according to Boston.com, with fifty-some percent of the votes tallied, Romney is up 52% to O’Brien’s 43%. What makes me so mad is that O’Brien and Clinton (who was in town recently to stump for the Democrat) made such a big deal about votes for Jill Stein amounting to votes for Romney when the election turned out to be enough of a romp that even twice Jill Stein’s votes wouldn’t have helped O’Brien.
I’m really not thrilled at all that Mitt won, and I’ll spend plenty of time writing him strongly worded letters about what he can do as my representative on Beacon Hill, but O’Brien sorta brought it on herself. Her campaign was pretty poorly run, and I can’t say I’m shocked.
posted November 5, 2002 – 7:58 pm
I’m having a hard time with this whole voting thing. I mean, I understand the basic principle involved, but this particular election is giving me trouble. Both the Democratic and Republican candidates are, to me, unacceptable. Of course, the Green Party candidate won’t win, but is a clearly better choice. Vote for her and take away a democratic vote, or choose the lesser of two evils? Neither appeals.
posted November 5, 2002 – 2:13 pm
This weekend’s activities included a fun Halloween party at Caleb’s house (he plays on my frisbee team). Pictures are up here (you can see my costume, too).
In other news, one of my roommate’s bosses is building an airplane, and I was slated to help him wire it up yesterday. He came down with the flu, so we’ve rescheduled for next weekend, and I’m psyched!
The coffee table’s coming along nicely, and should be done in a week or two.
posted November 4, 2002 – 10:03 am
Have you ever had a persimmon? When ripe, it’s like nature’s own Jello in a thin skinned fruit. Yum.
posted November 1, 2002 – 11:01 am