Tag Archives: elections

What’s In a Fist Bump?

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This past Tuesday night Barack Obama received the Democratic party’s nomination for President and when he walked up onto the stage he gave his wife, Michelle, a “fist bump”. Already there is a ton of buzz in the air from media outlets and various blogsites. In what was an unorthodox move, for any political figure, Obama showed the public how he doesn’t put on an act to be too prim and proper. He showed that at the end of the day, he likes to be silly with his wife and be hip at the same time.

There is no doubt that the “fist bump” was intentional and planned as they both looked directly into each other’s eyes, after the ‘usual’ hug routine, and gave each other a “pound”. Obama also apparently gave her a little pat on the butt, something that Clinton can at least respect. Nevertheless, the “pound” was the image that was taken away from the night. By giving his wife the “pound” Obama sent a message to all that he is young, fresh, and ready to take on the world. In what could have been a negative media frenzy over the “fist bump”, Obama has gained more positive feedback from the people and the media. He did something that could have been perceived poorly and now he is just reminding the voters of his humility and his sincere desire to do things differently.

If You Don’t Vote You Don’t Deserve To Call Yourself American

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In the last decade the voting rates during a presidential election have increased by 5.4%. Sounds great right? And if I told you that in the 2004 presidential election 126 million people voted, that’d probably sound real nice, too.

Real nice until you realize that 36.2% of the population never made it to the polls that year. Despite these numbers, I have no doubt that over 90% of Americans complained about decisions that were made during that presidency.

It begs to be asked – are we allowed to complain about the decisions a president makes when we have taken no part in electing them? Well in my opinion, if you are under the age of 18, or you are not yet a citizen, then yes, complain to your heart’s content. However, if you are over the age of 18, and you have not taken the time to a) register, and then b) vote, well then I’m sorry, but you have forfeited your right to complain.

I recently had a nasty argument with a friend over just this topic. I asked him if he would be voting in the primaries on Super Tuesday. My friend responded,

You must be kidding. I don’t know what anyone stands for and so instead of being like most people who don’t know the whole story but talk like they do, I’m not going to act like I know what’s going on. I don’t, so I won’t vote.

I then criticized him for not taking the time to research the candidates, but told him that if he had an hour he could do a cursory review of what each stood for, and make a judgement about who’s platform seemed most in-line with his vision of America’s future. To this he responded,

It takes a little more than one hour. You have to understand that TV and most newspapers are extremely biased. If I was to fully get an unbiased opinion it would take me most of the day.”

Excuses like this are ridiculous, and ridiculous excuses seem to be the only responses non-voters can give to justify their behavior.The question remains – how do we get that other 36.2% to get their bodies off the couch and into the polling stations? How do we convince them that voting is not just a privilage, but a necessity.

When voting for anyone we are essentially making a character judgment. But, when voting for the President of the United States, that character judgement can mean the difference between war and peace. It can mean the difference between certain domestic policies being vetoed indefinitely during that given term. It can mean the bolstering or the steady desecration of our economy. There is so much on the line that any argument against voting can only be the result of miseducation.

My fellow Americans, the next time you have the opportunity to vote for the leader of your country, don’t take it for granted – and please don’t make excuses. In the end there really are no excuses. To not vote is to disown the future of your country and to potentially contribute to its deviance from progress.

Basically, if you don’t vote, you really don’t deserve to call yourself American.