Absentee Ballot

 

As you can see, Ellie is riveted by the soccer game between USA and Iran.  

Alison and I have become devoted soccer fans (or what is known everywhere else in the world as 'football'). We love Atlanta United in the MLS and the Portland Thorns in the NWSL. We are thrilled to have a competitive USA team in the World Cup/

But that's not my only reason for following the sport. It's a way for me to communicate with my far-flung older boys (Greg in Pasadena, California, and Doug in the Catskills of New York State). It gives this aging introvert a chance to text each other while we watch the games. I get to know more about their lives and just share everyday bonding. Do I love soccer? Yes. Do I love even more being able to share time with my boys? Absolutely!

Here's a picture of the celebration as America goes up 1 to 0 (the final score). Christian Pulisic dramatically gave up his own body to score the goal, colliding with the goalie, injuring himself, and was out the second half.  

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Oh yes. I forgot. The title of this post is Absentee Ballot.

We have a crucial election coming up. Georgia has a runoff and must decide between the professional and highly competent current Senator, Reverand Raphael Warnock, and Texas resident/Trump sycophant Herschel Walker. Seems like a no-brainer, but given the MAGA impulses that overrule common sense among many in this state. and the blind partisanship that leads people to vote for people THEY KNOW THEY SHOULD NOT, this election is much closer than it has any right to be.

Georgia Republicans, in a fit of voter suppression frenzy, have changed the runoff from nine weeks to four. They originally had scheduled only five days of early voting, with no Saturday voting (a big ef you to working voters). My son, Benjamin, is away at school and will not be here for the initially scheduled voting days.  

He started filling out an absentee ballot request form online a couple of weeks ago but hit bureaucratic snafus when it required steps that he could not readily complete. By the time he came to visit us for Thanksgiving, he had completed the form but had yet to mail it.

MEANWHILE...Georgia courts ruled that Saturday voting could not be barred. I read that some Georgia counties were now offering Saturday voting.  

We went to our county election board and discovered that our county was NOT offering Saturday voting. Okay, fine. Benjamin turned in his absentee ballot request. They looked at it, said it was fine, and that they would mail him an absentee ballot to his college address that day. I thought they could just give it to him, but that is not allowed. It has to be mailed. Fine.

I'm not trying to say anything negative about the election board. They have been friendly, polite, and helpful. They understandably have to follow the rules. They were also frustrated that the legislature had created such a tight turnaround time.

I checked with Benjamin this morning. He had yet to receive the absentee ballot. Look, Benjamin is very busy right now. He is trying to prepare for some very stressful finals and end-of-the-semester projects. He is trying to do the best he can.

At this point, if he gets the ballot, he'll have to overnight it to be sure it gets back in time. Do I hate the idea that he has to, in essence, pay to have his vote counted? I'm not thrilled, but the vote counting means more to us at this point.

Benjamin is not alone in this. Post-election analysis shows that GEN Z (Benjamin's generation) had an outsized effect on the election. Young people made a difference.  

So, this runoff will be hard for many college students to turn around in time.

But that's not a bug of the Republican election changes. It's a feature. They want to minimize the youth vote, and this is a wicked clever way to accomplish that.

I wish Georgia would go to an instant runoff system like they have in Alaska and Maine. Then we wouldn't have to go through this mess.

But Georgia probably won't do that. It makes too much sense.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

Proud Warnock Voter

Unextemporaneous Speaking

 I'm going to speak at the Library today. This will be a follow-up to last August's speech defending the rainbow display at the Library.

Yesterday, I spoke as part of the church's stewardship campaign. I talked extemporaneously, very unusual for me, to see if I could pull it out. I had a few notes but basically spoke off the cuff. It was scary because I usually like to plan out every word. But nevertheless, the speech was successful. People laughed "(in the right places), and they listened, they 'got' the message and seemed to enjoy it.

The main speaker for our side at the library meeting is Ken Taft. He is a lawyer who attends our church. The other side has upwards of 14 speakers. I told Ken how it might affect his speech if they talked about things his planned speech might not cover. He said he would adjust his speech accordingly, answering whatever challenges they may have brought up. I'm not sure I could do that. Well, he's a lawyer used to the back and forth of the courtroom - I'm an actor used to having his lines written out.

I would rather try to speak extemporaneously again, but I only have one minute to speak. That's not much time. So, unfortunately, I probably shoulda oughta write it out, partly to ensure I could be somewhere around the time limit.

Anyhoo....here's my first draft.

At August's local board meeting, I spoke about how the Library is for everyone...every single person. In that regard, I am grateful for the Libraries are for Everyone mural in the entryway.

In the spirit of Libraries are for Everyone, I want to encourage everyone to come. Come visit the Library. 

If you see a book you don't like, don't take it out  If you see a book you like, take it out  If you can't find the book you're looking for, ask the library staff - they can find it for you, and even check to see if they can get it from another library and bring it here for you.

If you see a book club you don't like, don't join it. If you see a book club you like, join it. If you want to start a new book club, ask the library staff, and they can help you create a new one.

Everyone here has an equal right to the Library's resources. But no one here has the right to base their participation on the exclusion of other people - the people themselves, their books, their clubs, or their displays. Because the Library is for everyone. Every. Single. Person.

Thank you for your patience,  I think I've got it down to one minute and five seconds.  Hopefully, they won't give me the hook for that.

And yes, I had to do a lot of editing.  There is so much to say and so little time to say it.  I'm sorry for all the stuff I didn't get to say, but on the bright side, we have eleven speakers.

November Seconds

 

Just a short one today, and thematically unsound to boot. Feel knee twinges, so I need to make my desktop time short.

It's November already. I didn't write Monday or Tuesday - involved in Church Treasury work that disrupted my schedule. I know I'm writing less, but maybe next week will be better. Yeah, right.

With Reverand Kit retired, there's more to do now. We have to cover more bases.

I'm preparing for two speeches. One as part of the Church Stewardship campaign this Sunday. And then Monday at the Regional Library Board. I will do my best to adopt an extemporaneous style and not write everything down. It's a risk, but it may help the speeches seem more natural.

We distributed candy on Halloween night. We had a good crowd, but it was down since the last time we did it. There were a wide variety of costumes, although Harley Quinn and Spider-Man had a slight edge. Harley Quinn's history is varied. Sometimes she's a villain, sometimes a hero. There is an all-age version, a teen version, and an adult version. I'll have to do a blog story about it sometime.

Time keeps on slipping into the future, although there is a slight blip as we repeat an hour to adjust back into standard time (bye, daylight savings time). Someday we'll end this mess, as whatever point for it has long since passed. But that would take an act of Congress. Good luck getting those people together.

Seeing examples of it in France and now Brazil, I like the runoff system of electing the President. It guarantees whoever wins will have the majority of votes (at least 50% plus). Yes, I know. Our constitution is not set up for it. But it should be. It helps diminish the possibility that extremists can capture the Presidency. 

I posted this meme yesterday on Facebook. To clear up any confusion, this is meant to warn you to vote against fascists and fascists-wanna-bes in November's election. And by that, Rev. Pavlivitz and ME are referring to NOT voting for Republicans who are MAGA, deny the 2020 election outcome, deny teaching the truth about history, deny the LGBTQ+ their rights, want to cripple democracy and move towards a Christo-fascist state. To think anything else is delusding yourself and misconstruing what facsism is.

Knee twinges.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait