Election Day Coverage

Earlier today I voted at the Precinct 1 polling place in my town. The crowd was above average for a big election, if memory serves. The kids in the school had a bake sale, which I thought was a clever way to raise money. One had to walk past sticky buns and hot coffee to vote.

This being a predominately white area, there were no lines and I was in and out in fifteen minutes. Reminds me of when I lost my virginity. The picture box reports long lines, and the people waiting in those lines (in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Florida) are mostly brown or black. I'm one of about 100 people in the whole country that thinks this is a national disgrace. It was just reported that 500 voters in an "almost all African American district" in Virginia were told to come back later, since the electronic voting machines were not working.

This may sound like hyperbole, but (mistake or not) these problems are dangerous. If Obama loses, these "kinks" will be seen very differently by various segments of the population.

Anyway, I'm beating away suicidal thoughts with drugs, the kindness of strangers, and the affection of my love. It has nothing to do with the election. I'm confident about every victory except for Question 3 (dog racing ban). For reasons that are unclear to me, vast numbers of people who wouldn't be caught dead at Wonderland Dog Park are defending dog racing. It's on the same level as cock-fighting, and I've been to Wonderland countless times. Even before I could bet, my father would take my brother and I to the races all the time.

That's how I know that Wonderland is NOT a wonderland. It feels as if it were built on an ancient Indian burial ground, next to a slaughterhouse or rank paper mill. It's the most depressing place on Earth, except for Twin Rivers in Rhode Island. That's because of what I witnessed there...a woman trying repeatedly to get a cash advance on her credit card so she could go back to the slots. I imagine that she is still there now, trying to get that cash advance. But the atmosphere is no better than Wonderland. Despair. Poverty. Terrible food. Animal abuse for fun and prizes. The patrons lurch around like those demons in Jacob's Ladder, and 3/4 of the people are wearing sweatpants.

So Wonderland is a Void, and it needs to be closed. It's fine to be pathetic, I'm all for that, but don't hurt animals or other people when doing it. My brother and I worked on the Grey2K campaign back in, of course, 2000. It failed, which shocked me, then Bush won, which shocked me. Within three years, I was at McLean's Hospital in Belmont literally getting electroshocked. It's been a shocking decade all around.

Tonight, and in the coming days, I'd like to medidate over all the right choices people made, from gay rights to marijuana legalization to the presidency. That would be nice. If McCain wins, I'll just take a deep breath and join the riots if there are any. If not, I'll enjoy watching McCain and Palin take this country right off a cliff, like Thelma and Louise.