Study: American public has ‘virtually no influence’ over politics in face of wealthy interest groups

[merrily]

77. Meh. Where you live is not a huge barrier to voting.

I once met a woman in her 70s who became a naturalized citizen of the US, thanks to her employer's helping her out and, maybe also her daughter. The daughter had married an American serviceman very briefly and become a US as a result of the marriage. She still lives in the US and her own daughter was born here. The status of her daughter and granddaughter may have weighed in on someone's heart strings, but I don't think has anything to do with the older woman being legally entitled to citizenship. So, I think it was the employer.

Anyway, this older lived in the US all of maybe 3 years out of her entire life, years ago, while allegedly doing work here for her employer, which may, at that time, have been a US corporation. For all the rest of her life, she lived in the Middle East, mostly Lebanon. She never intended to remain in the US permanently--and her employer knew that. So, I don't know why she didn't get a work visa instead of citizenship.

Nonetheless, she has, for years, voted Republican in every election by absentee ballot. Her daughter is winger, too. Both have very harsh things to say about liberals, Israel and Jews, etc. (and the Gore Lieberman ticket, but they were Republican long before that).

I wanted to spit nails when she told me she always votes Republican by absentee ballot.