Central Park Protester said SHE IS NOT VOTING!!!

[in_cog_ni_to]

The only reason she protested was because she felt it was her "voice"....she has decided it doesn't matter if she votes. So, she's staying home? :(

On CNN interview at Central Park.

[Davis_X_Machina]

1. Numerus stultorum infinitus est.

"Infinite is the number of fools" Ecclesiastes 1:15

[Zeke]

13. Better English Translation...

What a dumb bitch!

Hope she never needs an abortion if * gets selected again.

[bluestateguy]

2. Then she is basically voting for Bush

A non-vote, or a vote for anybody other than Kerry is a vote for Bush.

[in_cog_ni_to]

5. I agree.

I'm still trying to pick my jaw up off the floor! Man, I hope SOMEONE slaps some sense into her before November! :grr:

[MagicBoy]

8. Have to disagree

A non vote is a vote for nobody. Not for Bush, not for Kerry. A wasted opportunity to be sure, but stiil, just a non vote.

I'm sure there are Bush "supporters" who will also not vote ... would you say their vote is a vote for Kerry? How about a Nader supporter who doesn't vote?

Very foolish not to take advantage of the Right to Vote, agreed.

[Droopy]

15. Welcome to DU, MagicBoy

Ever here of the old saying, "When Democrats vote Democrats win?"

[krkaufman]

48. Disagreement noted, and tallied in the "wrong answer" category

For US Presidential elections, not voting is acquiescing to the plurality of opinion of those who *do* vote within your state -- so you're effectively voting for whomever wins the Electoral Votes from your state.

A non-voting New Yorker effectively voted for Al Gore in the 2000 Presidential election, while a non-voting Montanan effectively voted for Bush.

[mandyky]

37. Bullcrap!

If Kerry cannot persuade folks to vote for him over Bush, it is not the voters' fault.

People like you and me realize Bush has to go at any cost, but there are days when I think to myself, Kerry better not take his election as a mandate for much. Kerry needs to listen to Dean and Kucinich and Mosley Braun and get back to being a real deomocrat.

The reason I am voting for Kerry is that I do not think the US can survive as a democracy under the bush regime, but that is not a vote of confidence for Kerry.

[Selwynn]

44. Bullshit.

If my parents, who traditionally vote republican, don't vote at all, that's not a vote for Bush, that's two votes out of Bush's pocket. I'm more than happy that I've helped get them disillusioned enough to not vote for Bush by not voting at all. Getting them to swing to Kerry would just be icing on the cake to a mission accomplished.

Not voting is not necessary a "vote for bush."

[fujiyama]

3. Did she say which state she was in?

I have a friend here in MI (a Kerry leaning swing state) and he refuses to register to vote. Talking to him is a frustrating experience. He dislikes Bush but claims he doesn't care what happens. At the same time he has a Sierra Club sticker! I've discussed the issues with him before. I have until 30 days before the election to get him registered! :crazy:

You want to just smack these people sometime!

[Karenina]

46. *Media manipulation

WHY was this woman "featured?" :think:

[Pot Kettle Black]

53. Tell your friend

the things that Bush has done that will piss off any Sierra Club member. Anything he's done for the environment would be a start. If the power trip of maybe being the one vote that saves some Michigan wilderness doesn't do it for him, then maybe something about clear air, Alaska, clean water, overfishing, or anything else environmental (Bush probably has the worst record of all 45 presidents on the environment, and certainly the worst since McKinley).

I suspect that the Sierra Club probably has a list of shit Bush has done that they don't like that is prbably long enough to sway any member.

If that doesn't convince your friend that he needs to vote and Vote Kerry, s/he is hopeless, and you should dump them as a friend if they don't just take your word for it that it is vitally important to the things that are important to them.

[WLKjr]

4. bet she was an implant

paid GOP operative.

[blm]

6. CNN interviewed a GOP plant there to discourage voting on the left.

How unoriginal. Don't they realize that we know they use operatives to suppress voter turnout on the left and we have KNOWN it for a few decades already.

How "lucky" for CNN that they found that nonvoter, eh?

[K-W]

7. I wish people would understand

the incredible amount of power a vote is. How many people in the world and more importantly the history of the world have struggled desperately to get the kind of power in government that people in our nation mock and ignore.

But the spoiled people of America dont think its good enough, so they choose not to use it... One can only hope they dont have to relive history to learn the lesson again.

[iconoclastic cat]

9. Not to mention that a lot of people died--and still die!-- for that right.

[AG78]

12. Well considering

they have machines that can make your vote disappear, and have groups of people that can take your vote away by saying you're a felon, my guess is that we're beyond a history lesson.

Who knows if any vote counts any more.

"the incredible amount of power a vote is"

And that's why.

[K-W]

14. Thats horrible logic.

"Ah well, it may not count, so I wont vote"

Thats aweful, yah it may not count, but it might count, in which case you just screwed yourself. Why dont we just make George Bush King then, lets just not bother trying because it might not work.

Yes, there are, and should always be concerns about election fraud. Whether it be electronic voting machines, corrupt election officials or whatever. This isnt a new issue. This issue has existed since the very first time a group of people voted on something. It doesnt mean you dont vote. It means you vote and fight to make sure your vote counts. And if you wait for a 100% garunteed clean election before you vote, you will probably never vote.

Once again, people have no idea how much power thier vote actually is, they want us to live in a utopia, and when they find out we dont, they get frustrated and give up. Its a major problem in our society.

[in_cog_ni_to]

18. Giving up is exactly what

the repubs are hoping for. She's playing right into their hands.

[ecstatic]

21. Truthfully, I could envision myself giving up if W. steals it again nt

[ecstatic]

20. I know a lot of people who feel that way

They honestly don't believe the votes are counted anyway. Then add to that the fact that some of the voting districts around here are understaffed (meaning a 3 or more hour wait in line), it's no surprise that many people just don't bother.

[AG78]

22. I never said give up

I'm just saying I can understand where someone who doesn't want to vote might be coming from.

As long as someone has a decent reason not to(and there can be, I think anyway), I couldn't call them stupid. If they gave it thought, over a long period of time, and came to their conclusion, what can you do?

Want to change their way of thinking on the issue? Great. Don't call them stupid(I'm not saying you did). Just talk to them.

I know people died for their right to vote. Might have to go down that road again with the stunts they can pull these days.

[K-W]

34. But dont you see how it is stupid?

Im sorry, I dont like using that word, and I dont mean that the people are stupid, I dont believe that at all, but the logic is, in fact, stupid.

By not voting you accomplish exactly what those who try to destroy the vote want. If you dont like that people try to make your vote not count, why on earth would you do thier job for them?

[AG78]

40. Good point

But what if the job has already been done?

With voting, we have e-voting machines made by corporations who are owned by Republicans. Maybe if more people voted in the past, that wouldn't have happened. But we all have to work so much just to get by, how can you stop corporations who's only job it is is to gain more and more power? Go hungry, poor?, and homeless? Maybe.

I just heard Bush on C-SPAN say that choices are good. The more choices consumers have, the better the product, at better the price.

Yet, in the political system, we have only 2 choices.

Maybe people that don't vote feel that the political system has let them down.

Is voting for Kerry going to change that in 2008? Is he going to uproot the current system? The corporations that pay for the Democratic Party don't want that. Does he have the will to go against that? Does any politician have the will to go against that?

[Pot Kettle Black]

55. If someone thought long and hard on it and came to that conclusion...

they started with bad assumptions or worked with bad information. At some point, there is always a difference between the candidates that will have some consequence in each and everyone's day to day life. If everyone made an economically rational decision in the next two or three decisions, we'd have a Democratic majority everywhere. Sadly, economics is a flawed science because of the bad assumption that everyone acts rationally.

I wouldn't say they are stupid. I would say that they have bad assumptions. Like that one vote doesn't make a difference. That's classic difusion of responsibility. The end result of that is low voter turnout, where one vote really can make a difference.

Or, they have bad information, like that there is no difference between the two parties. I saw that maybe this woman was anti-war and feels that both candidates are pro-war. Even if that were true, they have difference economic policies about how to pay for the war, they have different social policies, they differ on a woman's right to choose, they differ on environmental policy. They even difer on the first amendment. Bush, given full reign, probably wouldn't let that woman march and compain about his war policy crapitude.

If someone were to consider all of that, deeply, and still come to the no-vote conclusion, then they are stupid, and we're probably better off without their vote.

[Classical_Liberal]

27. Both Candidates are prowar and she is antiwar

The system discourages people. When the prowar people stacked both sides they took some of our power away from us. The two party system in itself does this.

[K-W]

30. Two points

1. That isnt true, both candidates are not pro war.
2. This isnt a democracy. You dont get to vote on the issues. You get to vote for people. Those people will never be perfect and wont always reflect your viewpoint very much, but that isnt the point. The point is that we, by virtue of people sacrificing thier lives and generations and generations worth of progress have gotten this little bit of political power. And to choose not to exercise it because you wish history had provided a different system is idiotic.

[Classical_Liberal]

36. Your first point is just wrong

Kerry said he would have voted for the war anyway even knowing what he knows now. He just thinks Bush botched the war.

I vote for issues, and if a person doesn't represent any issues I care about I wouldn't vote either. I doubt anyone would expect me too. What do you want me to vote on his hairdo?

[shawcomm]

10. WTF is the point of protesting then?

Just to get on camera?

[in_cog_ni_to]

11. Beats the hell out of me.

The CNN lady interviewing her, asked her that and she said she protested because she felt like it was the only way to have a "voice" because it doesn't matter who you vote for these days. :grr:

[Cush]

16. I saw trhat

very skeptical of that woman, could be a plant like someone else said

[ParanoidPat]

17. Why the surprise? You know that 1 out of 2 eligible voters doesn't vote.

How hard can it be to find someone who doesn't vote with odds like that? :shrug:

[in_cog_ni_to]

19. At the protest?

My first thought was...."Then WHY are you there?" Makes no sense to me. :shrug:

[ecstatic]

24. Because it's cool and fun to protest! :-) nt

[in_cog_ni_to]

28. Aaaaaaah, I see.

I thought it was to let Bush know that he's not wanted as our leader. I thought it was to protest the lies about WMD, 911/Saddam connection, and the yellowcake? AND, underfunded NCLB, lost jobs, lost unemployment benefits, lost overtime, lost Veteran benefits, republicans turning the environmental policies on their head, GMA, corporate greed, and to protect abortion rights?

If she doesn't vote.....she is complicit in furthering their agenda.

[Classical_Liberal]

29. Both candidates are prowar so why the hell are you surprised?

?

[K-W]

31. Please stop spreading this lie. EOM

[Classical_Liberal]

35. Kerry even admits it.

He said he would have voted for the war even knowing about the WMD lies because Hussien was a tyrant. He said he would have gotten more ally support but Bush botched the war. Well that is just the truth. So why should someone who thinks the war was wrong altogether get enthused? Maybe that is the one issue she cares about and if it is she has no reason to vote. The rest of us who have other reasons are just significantly less motivated.

[ecstatic]

38. WHY oh why did Kerry say that?!!

He's so worried about looking like a f*$#%@ flip flopper.

[Classical_Liberal]

39. Being able the change your mind vs stubborn like Bush would

be an advantage in this particular election. Anyway, most of that antiwar people emailed telling them not to vote for it because it was a blank cheque. Most of us knew not to trust Bush.

[Djinn]

42. OK he's not "pro-war"

but he gave the authorisation, says now that he'd do it again AND wont be pulling out of Iraq anytime soon.

Oh and keeps forgetting what he once said about Vietnam - ie that it had NOTHING to do with protecting/defending America - by waffling on about how he "defended" America once before.

If I could I'd vote for Kerry but if someone didn't want to I wouldn't instantly assume they're a GOP plant, maybe she lives in a safe Dem or Republican state and there really isn't much point??

[Cha]

23. Thanks a whole hell of a lot. Then she has no reason

to complain.

[Classical_Liberal]

32. Wrong. She antiwar, and neither candidate reflects her views

you would bitch if she voted for Nader too, but as we all know third parties are worthless in this country.

[CitySky]

25. how I remember the power of voting

You know we celebrated the birthday of the 19th Amendment this week? I'm too young to remember when women couldn't vote in this country, but I do remember casually asking an elderly neighor of mine if she planned to vote in a local election in '92 or '93 -- she looked me square in the eye and said, "I voted the first time women could vote in 1920, and I haven't missed an election since!"

I'm too young to remember when African-Americans were getting blasted with fire hoses, attacked by dogs, and locked in jail for that same right. But I've seen the footage, and I listen to those who were around.

I'm NOT too young to remember the first day that black South Africans could vote after apartheid. Some waited patiently in line ALL DAY for their chance to cast that ballot. The newspaper showed a picture of one elderly disabled woman crawling up the stairs of the courthouse.

These are the images burned in my head.

[in_cog_ni_to]

26. Welcome to DU, CitySky!

:hi: I CHERISH my right to vote. For the mere fact that I like to complain about what our elected officials do wrong. If I don't vote, I have no right to complain. THIS election is SO important, I am mortified that an anti-Bush person would stay home. It's shameful. :(

[Retrograde]

33. there are other issues on the ballot

besides president. Living in California, I feel that my vote in the presidential race makes little difference, but I still intend to vote 1) so I can complain afterwards and 2) because there's a senate seat up this year, plus the congressional elections. Plus all of the local elections, which do affect me directly.

[Christof]

41. So she woulnd't care if Bush got in for four more years?

[Djinn]

43. maybe she does care

but doesn't see that there'd be enough difference between the two on the issues she cares about.

NB- I'm not saying I think that but she might and in a democracy that's her right

[genius]

45. There are too many like her.

[Piperay]

47. This nitwit can take the time

to be out for hours in the heat but can't be bothered to vote and I'm sure she is not the only one out there protesting that is not going to vote, STUPID. :silly:

[flaminbats]

49. I have known several protesters who don't vote..

these are the same boneheads who give us the middle finger when they march, throw bottles and rocks at the police, and just have sex for fun. These people have no grasp of responsibility, discipline, or love. The only reason they are protesting is for themselves and to have a little fun..but screw everyone else!

If there wasn't a war or a recession some of these jerks would probably only protest in Boston, not NYC! Probably that was the minority of protesters, I was very impressed with the flag draped caskets and the signs being carried. It is unfortunate that all of these protesters are not registered to vote, hopefully this will change by the end of the week..:hippie:

[noamnety]

50. what's that documentary about women's suffrage?

Teresa Heinz Kerry was talking in Southfield Michigan last week about a movie about women's suffrage, and what women went through in the jails to get the right to vote. Does anyone know the name of it?

I think this would be a good time to push to get that movie shown on tv.

[Minimus]

51. movie "Iron Jawed Angel"s on HBO

about Alice Paul. Is that the one? Good movie!

[noamnety]

52. it's an HBO movie?

That sounds like it might be it ... but does this mean it can only be shown on HBO? (and only those that pay for the channel, which isn't me, can see it?)

[Minimus]

54. It is an HBO original movie - it was on HBO last year

so they might have a dvd/video out now.