Twice this past weekend, I was asked who I was going to vote for in the upcoming presidential election. Both of my interlocutors were laboring under the assumption that I simply must choose between either the Democratic or the Republican candidate.
Nonsense. “If I actually voted,” I replied, “I’d go third party.”
Now, I figured that flirting with a third-party nominee would raise some eyebrows. But what really rubbed someone’s rhubarb was the first part of my answer: “If I actually voted….” See, the offended party subscribes to the notion that, unless I vote, I cannot complain, and that my opinions related to politics are therefore invalid.
Admittedly, I was taken by surprise. Not only was she in thrall to a logical fallacy, she’d apparently never heard George Carlin’s take on the subject:
“I don’t vote. On Election Day, I stay home. I firmly believe that if you vote, you have no right to complain. Now, some people like to twist that around. They say, ‘If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain,’ but where’s the logic in that? If you vote, and you elect dishonest, incompetent politicians, and they get into office and screw everything up, you are responsible for what they have done. You voted them in. You caused the problem. You have no right to complain. I, on the other hand, who did not vote—who did not even leave the house on Election Day—am in no way responsible for what these politicians have done and have every right to complain about the mess that you created.”
Boom.
The way I figure it, if either party wants my vote, they damn well better run a candidate worthy of it. Until then, I’ve got far better things to do with my time.
We now return to our regularly scheduled (and decidedly non-political) programming.
by Susanna