11-2-2004 I voted. How 'bout you?


Guess what I did this morning? Woke up. Got out of bed. Dragged a comb across my head. Went downstairs and cracked a beer. Just foolin'. I didn't really comb my hair.

Nah. I sipped some tea, listened to Kevin Lynn insult any caller to WILK who dared to vote for Bush (his superior intellect commands that he do so), and read too many web sites to mention here. Then I got dressed and headed off to Perman Mortgage to cast my vote. After one very long month, I finally, finally received a disability check. So I figured after I voted, I could walkabout the downtown area for a spell.

I arrived at 9:30 and my polling place didn't seem any busier than usual. Although, I was able to listen in on the conservation one of those poll runners was having and according to what he was saying, the number of early voters was actually heavier than normal.

There was no intimidation. No disenfranchisement to speak of. No out-of-state lawyers sent to wreak havoc by the DNC, or the RNC. Just the usual. Plenty of seniors and me. I yapped with one of those poll card folks for a few minutes and headed inside. There were only two voters ahead of me and yes, they were asked for identification. One of the dedicated poll workers said she recognized me and I was not asked for identification. I'm not sure that I like that.

Anyway, once the curtain closed behind me, it didn't take long to take care of business. There were only about ten levers to yank on for this election cycle. I was struck by the fact that this voting machine I was standing before may have once been used by George Washington himself. That's wild. Whatever. I made my choices.

I voted for Dubya!!! And then Republicans across the board except for Bob Casey Jr. and Kevin Blaum. Oh, and I voted for Kenneth Brenneman of the Constitution Party over Uncle Paul Kanjorski. I wouldn't vote for Kanjorski if he was the only man on the planet who could save me from a rapidly approaching and videotaped beheading. I tried to strike up a serious dialog with this guy a while back. He sent me a form letter via snail mail and then ignored any further e-mail that I sent his way. He probably realized that I had never donated any money to his war chest and then quickly cut me off. F**k him. Hey there Congressman, I've seen landfills in New Jersey that would make a better place to live than Nanticoke. You're doing a wonderful job. Keep on bloviating.

I had to vote for Blaum. No, I don't live in Wilkes-Barre Township! Face it. If it wasn't for his perseverance, you'd all be driving to Pittsburgh to see any Penguins. The Arena is probably the singlemost important addition ever made to this area. I'm not excited in the least about the growing shopping district that sprang up around it, but everyone else seems to be. The way I see it, if we ever manage to attract a gigantic Saturn plant, or a gigantic IBM plant to this area; it'll be because that arena sits where it does. Apparently, those high-fallotin' corporate types are very concerned with quality of life issues when doing relocation, or expansion feasibility studies. What Blaum has done is to put NEPA on a level playing field with many other areas of the country. His opponent has gone on the record as saying that we need to expand Route 81 long after our area legislators and PENNDOT already put that project on the agenda. Hello?

There was a Nord Ender gathering signatures on a petition demanding that our neighborhood firehouse be reopened in some form. It's been reported that some folks in the Heights are doing the very same thing now that the East station has been closed. The next council meeting ought to be well attended.

I've heard some accuse the administration of closing firehouses in order to save money, and nothing could be further from the truth. If you doubt that, ask for a tour of the Northeast station the next time it rains to any great degree. Or, rather than speaking out without knowing what the f**k you're talking about; try educating yourself for once.

The fact of the matter is, the mayor stated that he'd like to build a new firehouse up here to replace both the delapidated North and the flooded Northeast stations. Judging by the petition I saw today, I'm left to assume that some folks either don't trust him at his word, or they're simply impatient as all hell. A third possibility does exist. They're just publicity whores in need of their weekly fix.

Why can't the mayor just pull $500,000 out of his ass already?


What-fargin-ever. I voted. How 'bout you? I wandered into PNC and took care of personal stuff. Then I did a bit of shopping at Boscov's and Rite Aid. Despite my obvious addiction, I managed to escape the downtown without spending a single penny at Gallery of Sound. There is some modicum of hope for me after all.

I was surprised to see so many Bush and Kerry supporters hoisting signs and encouraging horn honks from passing motorists. The Bushies even got into a minor flap with a Parking Enforcement dude after they closed off the bus lanes with orange parking cones.

Is it me? It's freakin' election day, kiddies! Will the campaigning ever come to an end? Holy frig! The folks at the Anthracite stand made their feelings known to all passersby.

No! Tell us what you really think!

Terrorists for Kerry


Check this out. This appeared on the WBRE web site last night:

Make Sure Your Vote Counts

WBRE 28 News and NBC on your side Election Day making sure your vote counts.
We are working with NBC and have set up a special voter-alert line... If you have any problem, whatsoever ,at your polling place..anywhere in our area...Just call 1-866-myvote-1...That`s 1-866-698-6831.. Your complaint or concern will be forwarded to the appropriate election officials in your community... It is a free service..availabe..all day November 2, 2004.

First off, the WBRE webmaster has never once been accused of being an astute speller of words. Secondly, this sort of thing is the worst kind of f**king nonsense. It's almost as if the powers that be in the media are encouraging complaints from folks too stupid or too completely timid to be trusted with the right to vote. If you seek out and encourage controversy, you are very likely to find some. Don't encourage the dumb pricks. That's what I say.

I stopped at City Hall and paid some folks on the fourth floor a quick visit. They, of course, were hurriedly on their way out. That's why I stopped by. Playing phone tag sucks.

I headed home and after arriving, a bunch of Kerry supporters were up here banging on front doors. It's election day! Holy friggin' Manny Ortez!!! Give it up already! Jesus! Vote and then go home. Leave us alone.

Luckily for us, they saw the Dubya banner on our porch and skipped this adobe. That's fine with me. I really don't care to hear what a bunch of college-aged kids think of the state of the country. I'll tell ya what. Call me when ya'll start shaving and then we'll talk, okay? Go help the homeless or something. Tap a barrel and start a game of quarters. Spare me the liberal drivel. Go save a whale. Hug a tree. Pray to the ozone God. Suck the brains out of a fully formed baby. Marry one of your teammates. Raise taxes so I can pay for what you can't. Just don't knock on my door.

Around this time, my sister dropped on by. She's a bigtime wealth distributor. She only votes for the presidential candidates promising the biggest and best handouts. Her self-centered voting habits have always disturbed me, but she could never be persuaded otherwise. The "Me, me, me" vote. Take money from him and give it to me! Very, very poor.

Anyway, we hung out here at the adobe and compared notes on our most recent injuries. Plus, she recently became a grandmom, so we covered the latest with the new addition. When she was getting set to leave I asked her if she had voted yet and she said she hadn't. I asked her who she was going to vote for and she floored me. She said she was voting for Bush. WOW!!! When I asked why, she said Kerry couldn't be trusted with our national security. Again, WOW! My little sister is starting to get it. It's not about me. It's about us.

Big upset in Wilkes-Barre! Sue went with Dubya. WOW!

It gets even better.

My kids are all registered to vote, but are yet to exercise their freedoms to do so. Until today. Ebon and I headed back to our polling place this afternoon and she pulled her very first levers. More power to her. She done good. It was funny, though. She was actually nervous bordering on embarrassed only because she had never voted before.

The poll folks knew I had voted this morning, so I jokingly explained to them that my deceased mom was still registered and I would cast her vote for her. Who knows, that might turn into a national news story.

The voting booth dude spotted Ebon a mile away and asked her if she had ever voted before. Nope. He explained the program to her and the curtain closed behind her. Within an instant, the curtain reopened and Ebon had cast her votes. Way cool! She was just about blushing by now and I shook her hand accompanied with a hearty "Welcome to the peaceful revolution."

As it turns out, she had pulled only two levers. The one lever was marked "George Bush," and the other being that of Kevin Blaum. She had her reasons. Her main reason was that she "didn't know who those other dudes were." Her honesty cracked me up. Hey, it's a start, heyna? She voted for Dubya for all the right reasons. And she voted for Blaum because of the arena. But she voted. Somewhat.

Big upset in Wilkes-Barre! Ebon bothered to vote. WOW!


Whatever. I voted. How 'bout you? Gonna do your part? I'm stocked up with alcohol amusement aides and I'm not going to bed until I know who wins the big race.

This freedom stuff is fun.

Later