"...we esteem too lightly."

"...we esteem too lightly."
(See the full quote on the previous post.)

Somewhere between 40-50 million people who are otherwise eligible to participate in the upcoming election are not even registered to vote. Some may decide upon arising from their slumber this morning, that it is a good day to vote. Some may even avail themselves of the provisional vote now allowed under Federal law. But by and large, most of them will go about their normal day. On Wednesday, when they find out who won, they will rejoice or complain about the results, but will have no hand in determining them.

It is shameful.

When I hear someone complaining about an elected official, I am compelled to ask, "Did you vote last election?" An affirmative response keeps my attention. A negative response usually sidetracks the conversation into a discussion of why I should listen to the opinions of a person who does not participate in the process that produced the official about whom they are complaining.

You may say, "Why, GBW, that person has as much right to an opinion as you do!" Sure they do, but I don't have to listen to it.

It isn't rocket science. Even if you can't read, you can get assistance filling out a voter registration card. Twice a year, at most, you go to the polls (assistance is available there, too), flip a few levers, fill in a few circles, or whatever your ballot system requires. Why is this so difficult for so many people?

In my last post, I wrote, "...a substantial portion of our people, uneducated in the history and foundation of our country, desiring only what is easy and without personal effort or cost, no longer have the desire or will to work for what they want." Have too many become too soft, too dependent? Have the costs paid by so many brave men an women in lonely places all around the world lost any meaning? Are our wars to small to stir the patriotism and citizenship of the population at large? Do so many care so little because it has cost them so little?

I wonder how many members of the families who lost loved ones Sept. 11th will not vote today? I wonder how many members of families who have loved ones in harm's way in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Balkans will fail to cast their vote? How many men and women serving our country in uniform don't care enough to participate in the governance of the country they protect? I expect most of them will find a way to make it to the polls.

They've paid the price. They know what is at stake.

I hope the poll count proves me wrong today, but too many have obtained too much, "too cheap," and will disenfranchise themselves for petty reasons at best, ignoring the cost paid by others and having no appreciation for it.

Please vote. It is your right. It is your duty.

God bless the United States of America.