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Before you start reading, please listen to this song:Hallelujah,
and read the lyrics posted next to it. I suggest listening to it again
as you read...
This morning, for the first time in
my life, I voted in a presidential election.
I had been
looking forward to this opportunity since about my Junior year in high
school - I was really excited about getting to participate in choosing
our nation's next leader when I realized during the time of the 2004
elections that I'd be old enough to vote in the next presidential
election.
Towards the middle of my Senior year in high school,
I began to consider libertarianism,
and currently consider myself a "classical
liberal."
For Halloween this year, I dressed as
Ron Paul,
'cause what could be scarier to the entrenched political regimes?...And
'cause I didn't get around to buying a Guy
Fawkes
mask.
A few years' worth of anticipation, and then
the candidates for the 2008 election. I could have voted the
Libertarian ticket, for Bob Barr and
Wayn Allyn Roote, but Barr's too extreme for my taste. Obama, I've
already written about (here),
and for McCain, I've no faith in his campaign with the joke of a
running mate he chose (putting aside the continued policies of the
Republican Party "Maverick").
All this to say, I
couldn't find an appealing, or even a suitable option to vote for as
the next president of these United States. So, during the summer I
decided to go ahead and write in Ron Paul. He was the one candidate I
actually agreed with on policy, and I liked his demeanor as I got to
see him in the primaries.
Some would call this a wasted vote;
I contend that it was an exercise of my constitutional right to vote
and a fulfillment of my civic duty, as a protest against the (in my
eyes) very poor "options" we had this year (don't even get me started
on how screwed up I think the right to vote is...).
So, I go
to vote. Walking out of the polling station, I am extremely frustrated
as I realize just how uneffective my action was.
A solid 4
years of anticipation, met with two equally bad
choices.
Hurrah for real life.
The desert of the real
(recognize the quote?).
And, since I don't intend on being a
political
candle or lighting any
gunpowder any time soon, the futility of my protest really
got me down.
I expressed this to a good friend, who
suggested that I get over it. After being all angsty for a few hours, I
started listening to Derek Webb's re-released-for-free album,
Mockingbird,
especially "A King and a Kingdom." I'm starting to feel better
now.
Having Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah" stuck in my head
since Sunday night hasn't helped much. Other than that it got me
thinking about the only genuine "Hallelujah" I should be pursuing is
Christ.
So now I'm listening to a different Hallelujah.
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| | Posted 11/4/2008 4:53 PM - 9 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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