Mrs.D Again

Mrs.D.PNG, originally uploaded by Reva49.

This is a better pic of my best teacher, which I "watercolored". One of the reasons I'm posting her photo again is because, this being an election year, I think she might like to be remembered as a staunch advocate of voting. I'd be flabbergasted indeed to learn that she'd become lackadaisical about elections, considering she's now a lawyer. Frankly, if she were to run for office, I'd be tempted to move so I could vote for her.
That said, I'd like to remind everyone about this election. Whether or not you support Bush or the Republican agenda, NO president can effectively govern without a mandate from the electorate, and our current history of less than 50% of the electorate bothering to vote is disgusting! If this election is anything like LAST time, one vote could decide it---maybe even YOUR one vote. Forget about the conspiracy theories, the shameful partisan intervention by the Supreme Court, or those "pregnant" chads; if more of us had voted, and been more careful about marking our ballots (yes, I know those "butterflies" were confusing, and I'm sure that SOME hanky-panky occured in black districts, as I lived in Florida for 3 years under Democrats, and it was just as crooked then as now) we might have had a president who WASN'T so stubborn and self-righteous about his decisions. I don't mean Gore, either. After all, can you BLAME Bush? If he thinks we don't care what he does, why should HE care what we think. As far as HE'S concerned, since we didn't bother to vote then obviously we need to be told what to do, what to think, and when to shut up. Face it, people, if we act like children we're going to be TREATED as such by our leaders. Democracy can't survive when the electorate is too complacent to bother pulling a lever every four years, and governments (whether Democrat, Republican or Totalitarian) are basically in the business of staying in power---forever, if possible. Bad enough the endless partisan bickering and mutual sabotage between our two parties in Congress, but for "WE The People" to just let it all happen, clucking our tongues in disgust while our government goes into gridlock over such petty squabbles, stupidly refusing to do the ONE thing that might break this stalemate, then we might WELL "[get] the government [we] deserve", and sooner than we think, too.
Remember, as Mrs.D was wont to warn US some 37 years ago (in a far more "gentler, kinder" America, DESPITE the Cold War and Vietnam)"If you don't vote, then you have no right to complain." She also reminded us that governments always exempt themselves from the Rule Of Law, that they lie as a matter of course, and that we can only know what they allow us to. I thought her cynical back then, but now I know she was right. Democracy might not be perfect (no form of government ever is) but if we're too lazy to DEFEND our Constitutional rights, we will have no one to blame but OURSELVES should we lose them. Think about that.
Thanks again, Mrs.D, for all you taught us. I haven't forgotten, and I haven't missed an election since.