Political Content

[Eliphalet R. Moderator]

We know that current events cause emotions to run high and hot.  But, turning the SASS Wire Forum into a Facebook page is not allowed.   Y'all agreed to the terms of use when you signed on.  SASS is made up of people from all political and social views.  Some may not like that, but it is so.

 

It matters not whether the moderators agree with your political views or not.  We are here to keep the SASS Wire Forum "neutral ground", and a place to get away from politics and the entanglements of the "real world".

 

Private Messages have been sent to some of you over the past weeks to keep it "clean" and keep it non-political.    Some haven't gotten the hint.  Please don't make us remove your posting privileges. 

 

At the same time, we urge you all to exercise your right to VOTE.  If you don't, then whatever happens in the elections, you are a hypocrite when you complain.

 

For those who feel the need to post political threads, memes, or cartoons, get a Facebook page, or set up a blog and write to your heart's content.  This is not the place.  

 

Political content will be deleted without notice.

[Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L]

so no cheering on the Bull Moose Party of T.R.?

[Blackwater 53393]

19 minutes ago, Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L said:

so no cheering on the Bull Moose Party of T.R.?

Nor the Whigs or the Know Nothings!!

[Alpo]

My in-laws were not registered to vote. When I found this out, I asked them why not. Jury duty is taken from the voter roles, so by not registering to vote they would not be called for jury duty.

 

But they would sit there and complain about this politician and that law, and never seem to get it when I told him that it was their own damn fault for not voting, and if they had not voted they didn't have the right to complain.

 

I was watching a George Carlin routine one time, and he said that he did not vote, and therefore he was one of the only ones that DID have the right to complain. He said that it was the fault of those of us that voted that so-and-so got into office. So we had no right to complain it what he was doing, because we put him there. He, on the other hand, I had nothing to do with that guy being in office so he had the right to b**** about it.

 

Interesting outlook.

 

November, 1996. I had just got home from work and changed clothes. It was about 5:30 and the polls closed at 7:00 so I was going to go vote. And the young lady that was staying with me - I asked her if she had voted yet. She had not. I told her she needed to vote, and to get in the truck. And we go vote. I do not remember who I voted for. I do remember who I voted against - Slick Willie.

 

So as we are leaving, I asked her - snickering knowingly - who she voted for. She said Clinton.

 

Clinton!!???! Why in the world would you vote for Clinton?????

 

She said she didn't know who to vote for, but all of her friends were voting for Clinton.

 

All of her friends were voting for him. I saw that attitude all the way back through school. All of my friends were voting for Steve for student council president so I voted for Steve too. Steve was a lousy president but he got elected. Because "all my friends voted for him".

 

And it occurred to me that if I had not pushed her to go vote, that's one vote Clinton would not have gotten.

 

So now I don't urge people to go vote. If they're too lazy to get out and go to the polls, they probably would have voted for the wrong person anyway. Vote for some jerk that their friends were voting for.

[Pat Riot]

Yes, Mom. Okay, I’ll be good. 

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

I know that I sometimes push things on the political front. If I ever do go too far, I will completely understand if you need to delete something I've said.  

[Rye Miles #13621]

There used to be a political forum on here. It got heated at times but mostly it was okay. I wish we could have that back especially in these tumultuous times! We’re slowly losing this country!

[Injun Ryder, SASS #36201L]

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Oh, is it junk mail season again?

[John Kloehr]

1 hour ago, Alpo said:

... I was watching a George Carlin routine one time, and he said that he did not vote, and therefore he was one of the only ones that DID have the right to complain. He said that it was the fault of those of us that voted that so-and-so got into office. So we had no right to complain it what he was doing, because we put him there. He, on the other hand, I had nothing to do with that guy being in office so he had the right to b**** about it.

He had no right to complain.

 

I do have a right to complain. I wrote this 18 years ago for an English composition class:

 

Don’t Waste My Vote

 

            When the forefathers founded this great country, only the “landed gentry” had the vote.  This meant educated male landowners.  Over time, the right to vote was extended to all male citizens, and finally to all citizens.  All now have the hard won right to vote.  If all citizens do have a duty to vote, it is a duty to vote responsibly.

            A writer should avoid first-person personalization, and should always show respect for all readers.  Sometimes rules need to be broken.  This is a personal issue.  I do not respect certain voters.

            I vote.  I vote in every election.  There was a time when I didn’t.  Back then, I had a number of reasons for not voting.  I did not know, or care about the candidates.  I did not have an opinion about the ballot measures.  I did not feel I had a stake in the community or that the outcome of an election would affect me.  I trusted the citizens that did vote to properly decide all of the measures before them.  In retrospect, that was naïve.

            I vote, but some citizens should not.  All citizens have the right to vote, some say it is a duty.  However, on Tuesday I saw someone trying to decide how to vote on an issue at the voting booth, reading the arguments for and against it when he was standing at the terminal.  This voter was not casting an informed, reasoned vote.

            Senator John Ashcroft said "Nothing is more noble than to say you can make a difference, while nothing is less noble than to say you can make no difference."  What difference are such voters making?  Certainly, if they stayed home on Election Day, they would be throwing away their votes.  But by showing up, they are throwing away mine instead.  Only about two thirds of those eligible to vote actually register to do so.  This year, about half of all registered voters turned out to vote.  This means that one third of the population decided the election, and two thirds threw their votes away.

            Now, I’m not saying that any vote that differs from mine is wrong, measures and candidates are up for votes since there are differing opinions.  I accept and respect those differences.  I understand and respect a well-reasoned, informed vote different from mine.  I also understand and respect a decision to not vote.  I do not, can not, and will not respect a vote cast without information, without reason, without due consideration.  The ballot box is not the place to “flip a coin”.

            To vote in such a manner is to fail to give due respect to the progress this country has made.  As one of the one in three voters that decided this election, my vote is too valuable.  I hate to see someone else waste it.

            I read the initiatives.  I study the voting records of the candidates.  I keep abreast of the issues facing our society.  I encourage others to do the same.  If you can’t, or won’t put in the time and effort required to vote effectively, then please stay home on Election Day.  Throw away your vote if you must, but don’t throw away mine.

[Eliphalet R. Moderator]

2 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

There used to be a political forum on here. It got heated at times but mostly it was okay. I wish we could have that back especially in these tumultuous times! We’re slowly losing this country!

 

The Political Forum got so hot at times that it seemed like one long Facebook argument.  Not a good look for SASS at all.  The Wild Bunch wisely decided to remove it, and ban politics from the Wire completely.  There are many, many, "social media" sites with freewheeling political and religious "discussions".  SASS decided not to be one of them.

[Alpo]

2 hours ago, Injun Ryder, SASS #36201L said:

 

2 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Oh, is it junk mail season again?

There was a saloonatic - Deputy Marshal, I believe. Seems like he was a West Virginia cop in real life. And in the adventures in Toostone he rode Unick, the Wonder Mule. Occasionally he would go down to the livery stable and get Mun-ro the rental hoss, but generally he rode Unick.

 

And when the Bush/Gore election came along, he had these bumper stickers printed up. And he mailed them out to anybody here that wanted them. I used to have a couple of them but they kind of disappeared over the last 25 years.

 

I'm s'prised Injun Ryder still gots one.

[sassnetguy50]

4 hours ago, Alpo said:

My in-laws were not registered to vote. When I found this out, I asked them why not. Jury duty is taken from the voter roles, so by not registering to vote they would not be called for jury duty.

 

But they would sit there and complain about this politician and that law, and never seem to get it when I told him that it was their own damn fault for not voting, and if they had not voted they didn't have the right to complain.

 

I was watching a George Carlin routine one time, and he said that he did not vote, and therefore he was one of the only ones that DID have the right to complain. He said that it was the fault of those of us that voted that so-and-so got into office. So we had no right to complain it what he was doing, because we put him there. He, on the other hand, I had nothing to do with that guy being in office so he had the right to b**** about it.

 

Interesting outlook.

 

November, 1996. I had just got home from work and changed clothes. It was about 5:30 and the polls closed at 7:00 so I was going to go vote. And the young lady that was staying with me - I asked her if she had voted yet. She had not. I told her she needed to vote, and to get in the truck. And we go vote. I do not remember who I voted for. I do remember who I voted against - Slick Willie.

 

So as we are leaving, I asked her - snickering knowingly - who she voted for. She said Clinton.

 

Clinton!!???! Why in the world would you vote for Clinton?????

 

She said she didn't know who to vote for, but all of her friends were voting for Clinton.

 

All of her friends were voting for him. I saw that attitude all the way back through school. All of my friends were voting for Steve for student council president so I voted for Steve too. Steve was a lousy president but he got elected. Because "all my friends voted for him".

 

And it occurred to me that if I had not pushed her to go vote, that's one vote Clinton would not have gotten.

 

So now I don't urge people to go vote. If they're too lazy to get out and go to the polls, they probably would have voted for the wrong person anyway. Vote for some jerk that their friends were voting for.

You're supposed to ask that before offering the ride.  No sense in canceling yourself out.

[Rye Miles #13621]

1 hour ago, Eliphalet R. Moderator said:

 

The Political Forum got so hot at times that it seemed like one long Facebook argument.  Not a good look for SASS at all.  The Wild Bunch wisely decided to remove it, and ban politics from the Wire completely.  There are many, many, "social media" sites with freewheeling political and religious "discussions".  SASS decided not to be one of them.

I don’t think it was that bad myself but that’s HMO.