What The Hell? You Mean It Might Matter?

Apparently the North Carolina primary, dispite its May date, it going to count. That means I must come up with a real reason for my vote. It's possible my lone vote might determine the next occupant of the Oval Office.

I'm not used to this. My vote in the primary has always been a throwaway I could use to signify my disagreement with the choice already made. Bill Bradley in 2000. John Edwards in 2004. That won't work this time.

But, really, my decision was made 2 or 3 years ago, I forget when exactly. There was a Constitutional Amendment bill up for vote in the Senate to change the 1st Amendment so that it would not prohibit prosecution of people for "Desecrating The Flag". Sen. Clinton voted for this amendment.

Now we must understand that the bill itself, much less the amendment, had zero chance of passage. Her vote was meaningless. It was meant as a sop to the far right when she (inevitably) ran for President. You could practically see the wheels turning in her head. When they accused her of not loving the US like they did, she could point to that vote.

I've been around the block. I've been around local politics all my life. In my childhood I ran vote totals from the courthouse to party headquarters and I came of age fighting Jesse Helms' Congressional Club. I know damn well that you must protect your right flank always.

But, still...

Any Constitutional Amendment that stifles our right to free speech in order to protect a piece of cloth that is the symbol of that right is just so wrong on so many levels that I cannot believe anybody that would even consider voting for it really understands what this nation stands for. I just cannot get past that vote.

I will vote for Obama.