Why Vote?

I'm not a political person. Frankly, talking about politics makes my hair hurt.

I've even been known to utter "I don't know enough about the issues to cast an intelligent vote." Yeah. Right. Could I BE any more wrong? Because, you see, while I've been sitting about on my ample arse taking my liberty and my country for granted ... said country has been headed for hell in the proverbial handbasket. Everyone is busy pointing fingers these days. At the bankers. At the oil barons. At  Congress.

I've been thinking lately about a saying that I heard a lot in my youth. "When you point a finger at someone else, four are pointing back at you." Perhaps...just perhaps....my apathy and that of my fellow Americans deserves a great share of the blame for our current state of affairs.

As I already stated, I'm not a political person. I'm not a deep thinker.

But I am? An American.

And you? Are too.

It's time to remember that voting is a freedom that MUST be taken advantage of. Time to study the issues. Time to cast a vote for what you believe in. 

Here's something that was sent to me recently I'd like to share with you.

Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.

These women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote.

And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of  "obstructing sidewalk traffic. "

They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air

They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food -- all of it colorless slop -- was infested with worms.

When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/prisoners.pdf

         

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because- -why, exactly?  We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining? 

   
We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote Democratic, Republican or Independent Party - educate yourself in the coming weeks - and remember to vote.

Comments

[Mollie]

I got that email too Pattie, and it did so make me think about our right to vote ... to express just our one opinion in total privacy.

You see, I'm not political either ... not apolitical ... I just don't like to talk or think about politicians and all of the mess either. Guess that it "makes my hair hurt" too! LOL

I . always . always . always . vote, but reading the comments about the early "right to vote" dialogue really makes me appreciate the history and the privilege of our country where one vote can speak volumes.

[Kayla]

I am so voting this year - don't know which way yet - but I am voting. This is also a great link - http://vids.eonline.com/services/link/bcpid1396519019/bctid1830029460

[Myra]

This election is making my head hurt. Both candidates are frustrating me. Did you see the debates last night? rrrrrrrr.

[Scrappy Diva]

Thank you so much for this history lesson. I must admit that I was ignorant of this abuse. Bravo! to the ladies who initially suffered so we would have this right. It's still hard to believe it wasn't really that long ago. And, you are absolutely right that we owe them so much, the least of which is to get out there and excercise our right to vote at every opportunity.