(Note: this file was the only one available to read on election day 2002) Happy Guy Fawkes Day everyone (anyone?). (Note to those of you outside the U.S.A.: You can temporarily ignore this message, our regularly scheduled programming will return tomorrow. If you get to have elections in your locale the message still applies, if not the timing. If you don't get to participate in the formation and nature of your local government institutions, what are you waiting for? Uncle Sam would love to support democratic revolutionary movements anywhere on this planet!) Democracy requires participation. While many of us are too busy, it seems, to actively work for candidates and issues we feel are important, both locally and nationally, voting is one thing that MUST be done to prevent a new rise of fascism, and oligarchy of the rich and powerful. You have one tool and one tool only to truly fight back against those who would disenfranchise you and steal your government! Vote! Vote early, and often! ... well, at least once! Unsure who to choose in some races? It doesn't matter! Leave the box blank, your vote will still count. Just make sure to pick a few races - make a difference! Or vote for marginal, "unelectable" 3rd party candidates, this country could use a little "choice" in its political marketplace, and the more votes they get the more likely they and their parties are to bring more ideas and discussion to issues in the future. I will not bore you by haranguing you over who to actually vote for in your precinct; if you are reading this you probably have a rough idea of what my political opinions are, anyway. With any luck, that also means that you have some strong, and hopefully well-informed, opinions of your own. Go out today and express them! (Um, I will say, however, that this is your only chance to make sure that the federal judiciary can't be easily packed with paleo-conservatives over the next two years! Don't vote for Republican "tax cuts," vote for a more progressively graduated income tax if you want workers to keep more of their money!) Thank you,
And, quoted without permission but much encouragement: Dear MoveOn Member, We have been required by the Powers That Be to pass on this important message (below) about the upcoming elections. You too are required to pass it on. --Eli, Wes, Joan, Carrie, and Peter
-----Original Message-----
Dear friend, On behalf of Shell, Mobil, and Exxon; Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, and GE; all the Enrons, Halliburtons, and Harkens; President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and the other CEOs of the Cabinet; and thousands of us who are working for a better life for the wealthiest Americans, we have one simple request: Could you please just stay home tomorrow? See, we have things to do. Nations to invade. Wetlands to destroy. Oil to drill. Courts to pack. Corporate taxes to cut. What's frustrating for us is that we're coming up against some pretty stiff resistance. We've spent hundreds of millions of dollars to secure the Senate, but it looks like we just may lose it. Heck, we may even lose the House. We don't quite get what it is about our agenda that you people don't like, but it's clear that this time, you may be upset enough to actually do something about it. That's why we're writing this message to you today. Please don't vote. Ask your friends not to vote. What could the harm be in sitting this round out? If you could just stay home on Election Day, we can get back to the important business of running the nation for you, and we won't have to bother you again. Thank you,
-----end of quoted material----- 
© Huw Powell
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