Friday, October 29, 2004

Accountability

Partisan Politics

NDR has voted, and he (plus brdgt in the comments) makes an eleoquent case for the virtues of thoughtful political involvement. Says brdgt: “I will never mistake carefully crafted apathy as actual political participation again.”

Earlier this week I found myself on the phone to my parents pleading with them about the upcoming election. They live at Ground Zero (formerly known as “Ohio"), and between the Presidential race, a few ludicrious Congressional races including the one in their district, and the outrageous baby/bathwater Let’s Ban Gay Marriage And Everything That Reminds Us Of It Act that’s up for ratification, the stakes are pretty high. Although I changed no minds (and found that in important ways minds didn’t need changing), I found myself, almost for the first time in the past eighteen months, discarding my “carefully crafted apathy” (which is actually more like “finely modulated disgust,” but a spade’s a spade) in favor of unavoidable facts and solid positions. As for what that means, and who I’m voting for-- not telling, and your guess is probably wrong.

See also farther down NDR’s main page for perceptive comments on the ways that regional ties (homeland-ness) hinder the democratic process. 


Posted by Johno on 10/29/04 at 02:17 PM
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