Thursday, August 7, 2008

A vote for inner peace

Journalists are taught to get the specifics, but never forget to keep the big picture in mind as they write. In other words, don't ever lose sight of the larger fundamental issue. Of course, sometimes this approach can go a little too far.

Here's the beginning of the post-election coverage in today's Flint Journal:

"Voters are dumping elected officials in droves these days. Nine of 10 incumbent township supervisors who faced challenges were defeated in Tuesday's primary. And just three months ago, a host of school board incumbents were booted from office.

"Are voters fed up with local politicians, or are they expressing a more general discontent with their lives?"

Is your vote for township supervisor really a mirror to your inner psyche? When a Flushing voter rejects Andy Trotogot for supervisor, is it actually a reflection of deep existential angst?

Dear God, I voted for Ross Perot twice. I threw my support to Ralph Nader in the contested 2000 election. I thought it was a principled attempt to crush two-party dominance, but now I'm not so sure. There may be something really, really wrong with me.

at 10:40 AM
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5 comments:

  1. bustdupAugust 7, 2008 at 8:48 PM

    My God!! perot? twice? Nader? Geeze G! feeling a little bi-polaritical? yeah, I did the same damn thing myself. But, with Diebold...Hey! we don't hafta worry about it after all! red, blue...s'all the same. By the way, does Flint use Diebold? is, uh, that how the grand poobah of polluted political policies and purloined po-lice people pull perverse proceedures on the poor populace? aka Don the large con...? my tongue and brain hurts now. But, is Diebold the choice for Voters in G-County?

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  2. AnonymousAugust 8, 2008 at 2:49 PM

    nader? really?
    i knew about perot, but not nader. this will cost you. bk

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  3. Gordon YoungAugust 8, 2008 at 3:24 PM

    Everybody just calm down on the Nader thing. I was living in California. Gore was up 8 points over Bush in the polls. If it were closer, I would have voted for Gore, so nobody can blame me for Bush winning.

    By the way, I covered Perot announcing his candidacy in Little Rock. Got to hear Willie Nelson sing and everything. I felt obligated to cast a protest vote for him. Not sure what I was up to the second time around.

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  4. AnonymousAugust 8, 2008 at 6:51 PM

    I was living in California too but knew a vote for Nadar was really a vote for Bush. It's a good thing you have had that good Catholic upbringing to be forgiven of your sins. You are forgiven...

    Obama Mama

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  5. BlueskyjenAugust 9, 2008 at 7:42 AM

    As a good Catholic girl, I must confess my sins too. Perot got my last minute (undecided - seriously I was once undecided in NOV??) votes. I felt worse "shame" when Gore couldn't even win his home state in 2000 - I did vote for him then as a proud TN Democrat. Gordie - please abstain this time if you seriously need to throw your vote away in Nov!!!!

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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.

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