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Before I go to the polls tomorrow, I need to get a few things off my chest, a few partisan, one very non-
I am frightened, for my own safety, and for others'. I told my wife that I wanted her to stay home rather than also work the polls. To my relief, she agreed.
I am angry at Republicans, all the way up from the state legislature to the Supreme Court. It's not even the power grab, it's the sheer damn callousness of it all. They don't care that this puts people's lives at risk. They don't care how many people they're terrifying.
I will never forgive them for throwing out legally requested ballots. I will never forget how they are requiring God knows how many senior citizens to go against instinct and medical advice to exercise their democratic franchise.
There's more about unequal access to the ballot, but let's get off the subject.
More important is something I said earlier: one of the two parties in our two party system fundamentally does not believe in the right to vote, and most certainly not in a right to vote safely and conveniently.
So here's partisan thing number one: If I die of this damn stupid virus because I took part in a damn stupid ill-advised election, you absolutely have my permission to politicize my death. Stuff that down the throat of every anti-democratic politico and never let them forget.
And partisan thing two: Congressional Democrats will have maximal leverage when it comes time to pass Phase 4 of the relief package. If they don't use that leverage to push—hard—for vote-by-mail, Vote. Every. Last. One. Of. Them. Out.
If you're upset about what's going on in Wisconsin, get on the phone tomorrow morning and call your legislators to demand vote-by-mail. *Especially* if you're in a safe Democratic district.
Vote by mail will only happen by agitating Democratic Congressmembers to demand it as part of the relief package. That's it. That's the only way. So if you want it, you better push them to push for it. Call them. Tomorrow.
Please don't yell at the Congresscritters! They need your support to make it happen. Let them know where you're at, politely, and what your expectations are.
Okay, that's the partisan stuff. Now for the non-partisan thing.
I don't seriously think I'm going to die from this, but if I do, there are worse things to die for than defending the right to small-d democratic civic engagement.
I'm not putting my health on the line for Democrats. I'm doing it for Republicans, and others, for everybody.
I *do* believe in the fundamental right to vote, and that right knows no party line. That is the hill I'm willing to fight and die on, literally.
I *do* believe in the fundamental right to vote, and that right knows no party line. That is the hill I'm willing to fight and die on, literally.
I believe in your right to try to change the world, and I care about your health and safety. That's why I'm going out tomorrow.
You do your part: stay home. Vote absentee. And if you can't vote absentee, come in, cast your ballot, and get the hell out for your own good.
That's it.
