VOTE!!

This is a non-partisan, non-political blog. But it's hard to ignore the elephants and donkeys in the room today. I doubt many of us are thinking about baseball, so here are some election day thoughts which I hope are non-controversial.

Voting has always been extremely important to me. My mom is an immigrant and a naturalized American citizen. She grew up in a war zone and lost everything she knew and had at a young age. She (and my father) always emphasized to me the duties of citizenship as well as the benefits. Since casting my first ballot in the off-year of 1986, I have missed exactly ONE election, the 1990 congressional elections, and it still bothers me that I missed that one. Presidential years, non-presidential years, local elections, primaries...I never miss an election.

I won't tell you who to vote for, and I'll delete any comments here today that sound like electioneering. But the thing that angers me most politically is when someone says that voting doesn't matter. It damn well DOES matter...even if you are in a state that is "safe" for one party or another it matters, certainly in local and state offices. If you don't like any of the candidates....vote third party, or write someone in.

Try telling a veteran that voting doesn't matter, or someone like my mom who grew up in a place where people can't vote. The bottom line: people DIED so we can vote. To throw that right away out of apathy is, in my view, the most unAmerican thing you can do.

Vote.