Apathy. Cynicism. Ill-Informed Electorate. Why can't they hear our message?

[Emit]

I was sitting in the x-ray waiting room with my son yesterday - for a long while. We were there under anxious circumstances to rule out some horrendous childhood illness that may be the culprit of his sudden onset of pain and resulting limp. The room was full, and I assessed the situation to see who else was sharing the wait room with us, wondering how long we'd have to wait.

Faux News was on, as usual. Why do places like this always have these teevees turned to Fox?

My son, a talkative, innocent, outspoken boy with a booming voice said, "Look, it's Fox Nooze! We better watch to see what they're saying." Lol. Yeah, he's my son. At that, the man with the crew cut sitting across from us with the "10 Reasons a Handgun is Better than a Woman" t-shirt on peered over his newspaper. I couldn't help but think, in my libra'l Democrat, elitist way, "I'm surprised the guy can even read..."

"Shhhh, let's be quiet here," I suggested to my son. But, his enthusiasm to see what the enemy was up to did get me to tune in to Faux Nooze a for bit, much to my regret.

Ugh, it was Neil Cavuto slandering Obama. "WHO SAID SARAH PALIN NEEDS TO WOW THE U.N. CROWD THIS WEEK?" "She can snub the U.N. all she wants, it's not gonna hurt her, it's gonna help her, among core Republican voters and among independents who aren't wild about the U.N... blah, blah, blah..."

Cavuto's nasally voice pressed on, "I'm just wondering whether you take a gamble when you say I am not part of that crowd that says we have to WOW foreigners ... The democrats are saying 'yeah we have to make good, improve the U.S.'s image' ... What Sarah Palin is doing today is just the opposite -- sending a message it's not crucial to be liked ... "

"Yeah, right," says the the insignificant other talking head, "I mean, contrast that to Obama's trip to Germany ... Speaking at mass rallies in Berlin, oh wow that's ominous ... He's meeting our allies of 1945, and our former enemy of 1945, Palin is meeting with our allies of today... fighting for their own interests as well as America's interest in the war on terror today ... So Obama was all about the past, about showiness, about trying to impress people who were fundamentally anti-American whereas Palin is reaching out to people who are pro-American, who share America's foreign policy beliefs about spreading democracy, about defeating terrorism -- a much, much harder task, and a much more adult one. The contrast between her and Obama is really revealing... blah, blah, blah..."

Puke.

I glanced around to see who was paying attention to this Nooze. A family of three was sitting to my left, watching intently but flatly as the Faux Nooze talking heads catapulted the propaganda. They were blithely accepting the message, unconcerned and detached. I overheard one of them mention Palin's name. "She's gonna draw both male and female voters, I'll betcha she will," the lady says. Her husband mumbles something. The daughter nodded. Dad mumbled something more. They were only a few feet away, and I looked in their direction and caught the mother's eye. "Well, she's not getting my vote," I said kindly but matter of factly.

"These politicians; they're all alike," the woman responded in a cynical, but friendly enough manner. "Dare they be Obama supporters?" I wondered. After a few weeks of canvassing, launching walks and examining walk sheets, it remains a mystery to me who will be the likely McCain supporter versus who will surprise me with the jubilant "I'm an Obama supporter, too!" You can never really tell from the outside, or even from these kind of cryptic one liners.

I decided to test the water a bit. Nothing to lose. They'd call my son's name soon, and I could do some unscientific polling of the waiting room in the meantime.

"McCain scares me, and Palin scares me more," I said with a smile. "They both scare me!" She exclaimed. "McCain/Palin?" I asked. "NO! That Obama scares me as much as McCain or that woman." "Really?" I asked, genuinely surprised but with a hint of sarcasm. "He's the better candidate by far, if you ask me." Mr. '10-Reasons-a-Handgun-is-Better-than-a-Woman' abruptly turned to look at me, but said nothing. But he didn't need to; his body language said it all.

Well, interesting, I thought. More ill-informed, cynical or apathetic voters in Nevada. Take your pick. Welcome to the 35% turnout in the hardest hit, lowest socioeconomic neighborhoods in the city. I have an idea! Let's continue to vote against our best interests just for the f%#king fun of it all, shall we? Welcome to the battle ground -- a red state, who despite going for Clinton, couldn't be convinced that 'tax and spend libra'ls' wouldn't take their guns or that Kerry wasn't a lying traitor in 2004.

Yeah, it was a long, stressful, worrisome day, and night, with a sick kid. Worrisome not just because I was sitting in the hospital waiting room concerned about my son; but worrisome for our country -- 8 years of Repuglican rule, destroying democracy while claiming to spread it -- that we have had weeks of dire news about economic crisis, unprecedented bailouts, Republican lies and half-truths, blaming the Democrats, blaming minorities, blaming illegals and poor whites -- watching our country be destroyed, worrying for the future of our children. And this woman doesn't like Obama, the most positively hopeful presidential candidate I have seen in my lifetime. I wanted to get up and scream, "Why aren't you all paying attention!? What is WRONG with you all?!"

My mind wondered more. How can I be so different from these folks who aren't paying attention -- these people who are obviously negatively impacted but who, for whatever reason, whatever selfish reason, don't feel the urgency of this election? People who can't see through the charade, who JUST DON'T GET IT?

I remained silent for a bit longer while my son looked through old magazines asking "What's that?" every so often. He was nervous. I held his hand. It was warm, soft and moist from sweat. "Promise me you'll never enlist for 'more wars'," I pleaded with him in my aching heart. "But, promise me you will be strong and brave if you have no choice in the matter."

Then, I caught the woman's eye by accident, and I jolted back to reality. Impulsively, and with a bit of irritation in my voice, I asked, "So, when you're not so thrilled with either candidate, who do you vote for?"

The woman laughed, as if it all were just a big joke, and said, "Maybe I'll just wear a blindfold," and she punched at the air as if to mimic voting on a machine. I chuckled politely, not really appreciating her attempt at humor. Still curious though, I continued to look in her direction, sort of pressing her silently for an answer. I'm bound and determined to somehow encourage others to vote, to feel the need to vote. No, the pressure to vote -- the responsibility of voting.

Finally, she relented, "I'll probably vote for a third party." Her husband shook his head, as did her daughter. "Really?" I said. "Nader?" They all laughed. "No, not likely." "Barr?" I asked. "Who?" she responded. "Bob Barr. He's running on the Libertarian ticket." "What happened to Ron Paul?" she asked. "Now there's a man I coulda' voted for."

The x-ray technician called my son's name and we gathered our belongings. I nodded in their direction. Another likely wasted vote or two, I thought sadly. Why can't they hear our message? To me, it's palpable.

[Beregond2]

1. I see no point in worrying about people like that.

They have always been in the minority. The problem is getting the majority to vote. It is THEIR complacency that bothers me.