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Currents Diarists on the news. By Avery Glasser (avery@diarist.net)

About What's all this then? Archives Past Currents. Submit Suggest a link.   Talk Back: Service provided by Bravenet. Diarist.Net makes no guarantees and assumes no liability for content posted on this forum. power of the polls FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4 If you ask the average American why they think the United States is the best place to live, most would answer that the greatest benefit of being an American is the personal freedom granted by the government. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights grant every American citizen certain inalienable rights; rights that can never be taken away. However, as we all know, with freedom comes responsibility. Americans are expected to defend the sovereignty of the country, and the defense of a country comes in many forms. You can defend the borders of the nation by joining the Armed Forces. You can also defend the sovereign freedoms that this nation grants you by voting. People often underestimate the power of voting. They fool themselves into thinking that their one vote doesn't matter and that they don't have the ability to change anything. However it is the simple act of every citizen expressing their opinion and making a definitive choice that ensures our freedom and our way of life. Nita, of Tattletale.Net feels strongly about the responsibility of a citizen to vote for their local representation, because it gives the voter the right to "bitch about them while they are in office." In a more serious note, she states: "It's such a sorry middle class attitude: "Everything is going OK with me. So what if things change." You aren't disenfranchized. Your attitude isn't that romantic. Don't even claim it. YOU ARE LAZY." Though many of the senatorial races this year were not well publicized, a number of gubernatorial races and state propositions energized the voters in Arizona, Massachusetts, California and Montana. Patrick even decided not to take a sick day from work because he had to vote. Even though the new Governor of the State of Massachusetts ended up being someone other than his choice, he doesn't seem all that bitter. As he notes, "I think it's terribly ironic that the most liberal state in the union continues to be run by a Republican." However, hardly anybody had predicted Jesse "The Body" Ventura's win, making him the Governor-Elect of Minnesota. Claire mused: "i always thought minnesotans were a little odd, and i am completely taken with that strange lilting accent they've got going, but now that they have elected an independent as governor, i am even more intrigued. not just any independent either, but a former professional wrestler. i can't wait until he puts someone in a headlock." In more current news, another famous wrestler, Hulk Hogan has announced his bid for the Presidency. This writer gives him 3-1 odds over Al Gore in a steel cage match any day. In less amuzing news, by a margin of less than 30,000 votes, Proposition 10 passed in the state of California. This proposition, authored by Rob "Meathead" Reiner, raises the tobacco tax by 50 cents on cigarettes and by 97 percent on pipe and cigar tax. Avery and Janet of Scowl, have been active in the anti-prop 10 campaign, writing about it regularly on their website. The passage of this measure means a certain closure of a number of local tobacconists. Jan Yarnot also wrote about Proposition 10, noting, "I wonder what happens when the smokers get taxed into quitting: are Our Little Children going to be deprived then, or by some chance am I going to get a huge tax to cover these Terribly Worthwhile programs?" Still for every good reason that there is to vote, Kalamazoo Days' Rob Rummel-Hudson quite possibly found the only valid reason not to vote. Rob just moved to a new state and found himself "completely in the dark about the candidates" and didn't want to make an uneducated choice. It's easy to say that if you don't vote, you don't have the right to complain. But in the wake of Thanksgiving, think about all of the rights that you are thankful for. Don't you have the responsibility to defend them?