Voting

“The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.”
-Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th President of the United States of America

“Voting is simply a way of determining which side is the stronger without putting it to the test of fighting”
-H.L. Mencken, Humorist and Journalist

In preparation for possible discussion in my Politics class tomorrow, and in antincipation of writing and anchoring a news update tomorrow, I'm switching between CNN and FOX News on this first Tuesday in November. The first Tuesday in November also known as election day.

All across the nation people have been given a charge. They have been asked to go out and cast their ballots. Some go to the polls knowing full well what they stand for and who they stand with. Others go not knowing much, except maybe what they stand against. Everyone who goes plays a role, and has a role in deciding the fate of the union. In a democracy as we know there are three branches of government the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary. They are supposed to make sure there is a balance of power. Locally we have a say in who serves in each branch, and nationally we have a say in who serves as members of the House and Senate, and as our President. Sometimes we feel truly contented, and other times we feel discontented. At the end of the day the right to suffrage is a right we must fight to preserve and protect. Voting makes the democracy a living and breathing thing, and not just a figment of our collective imaginations. At the end of the day voting is a right which needs exercise, like our physical body, it needs to get us moving.

As a journalist I'm watching, waiting, and intrigued by the process.

The New York Times's Elisabeth Bumiller once said, "I've said this for years if we (journalists) have any ideology, it's a love of conflict."

For journalists it doesn't get any better.

As a voter, I went to the polls today. I stood there, and tried to select people I thought would represent me well. I then read ballot measures, and hoped that I was voting in support of measures which would improve my community.

I thought long and hard about how politics has in effect become a game, but even if some choose to see it that way, there's a lot at stake.

I'm now part of the fourth estate, and I'm going to make sure the powers are balanced.