NO ! - I JUST CAN'T DO IT !

Normally I try to avoid any mention of politics ...aside from our troll road issues and the slithering skunks who create them for their personal profit. But yesterday was the big day for 'Taxes' primary elections, and that uneasy situation for me meant that I had to do one of three things before the end of the day:

* Vote for my candidate of choice, (of which I have none).
* Ignore the process and hope that everything turns out okay.
* Take the advice of so many fellow conservatives nationwide, who were calling upon us (me) to vote FOR the "Queen of Mean", because she would be much easier to defeat against anyone with any true conservative values .. of which she and her party have none.

So I got up early with the intention of fulfilling that request. Drove over to my local polling station, wandered in to an otherwise empty room, and was asked upon entering, "Republican or Democrat?" "Independent", I answered, confidently.
Sorry, there's no table to represent "Independent", I was informed. "Gotta be Republican or Democrat".

"Huh ? What if I came in to vote for the 'Green Party' candidate ?" I asked.
"Well, we could give you a paper ballot, & you can 'write in' your choice", I was told by the two Republican table judges. ....."OR - You COULD just vote the Democratic ticket", the two sweeties at the Democratic table suggested.

Surprisingly, the Republican guys just rolled their eyes and made no comment.

And that's when it hit me ...

I know I came in with an agenda. And I want to do the right thing for my family, my country, and my ancestors.
But if I was to sign on to that 'Democrat' book, and vote for a woman who despises everything my parents believed in ... and that my Dad fought for in WWII, a woman who despises all branches of the military, and has publicly condemned them in the current Iraq war, and espoused to dishonor them by forcing defeat upon them before they can finish the great job they've done for us there ..... If I was to show the least respect for her ambitious goals of destroying everything I stand for personally, and for her desire to turn the United States of America into a socialist state, dictated solely by her endless mandates and power hungry Big Government programs .......

.......Well, no matter how many times I showered, or for how long, for the rest of my life I could never remove the stigma of that decision I might have undertaken. So as I stood there, I thought "Come on, reality ... let's get unified". "Let's get it together". And the skies opened, the light came down, celestial choirs were singing, and it seemed that everyone in the great beyond knew that I was about to do the right thing. And the world, while not perfect, was now brighter.

So I signed into the 'Republican' book, got my little "I VOTED" sticker stuck on me, and was handed my usual little "Clave de Acceso" access code number slip to sign on to the electronic voting machine.

And with one turn of the selection wheel, and one click of the ENTER button, evangelical candidate Mike Huckabee came (supposedly) one digit closer to at least letting fellow Christians know that he was still supported and loved in 'Taxes'.
And on top of that, I was given a Hershey's Kisses treat for my efforts ... which beats any government sponsored insurance plan or other tax and spend program I would have been offered on the opposite side of the room .....any day.