Rock the No!

Today is Election Day. In my beloved Alabama (that would have been a sarcastic statement when I was in high school), we get to choose our new governor, a product of the Alabama Democratic Machine and some old fucker that looks like Mr. Burns and insists on having "Doctor" added before his name on the ballot.

I'm tired of this. I've been getting mailings at least 4 times a week from Phil Poole and Gerald Allen about which one is more of a son of a bitch and doesn't deserve my district's seat in the Alabama senate (I'm registered to vote in Tuscaloosa). I really don't like knowing that the Alabama Republican Committee has my mailing address. Same for the Democratic Party.

Here's the honest truth. Regardless of who you vote for, nothing is going to change. They can talk about how much they plan to do for your city/county/district/state/country/whatever but once they're elected and most of the times even before, there are interest groups with money talking in their ears saying that they will help finance their campaign if they do them some favors in the legislature or give them a few kickbacks. The people running for office don't give two shits and a bucket of piss about any of us.

I remember 5 years ago when I registered to vote. I was 18 and surprisingly, not as bitter a person as I am now. I walked into the Etowah County Courthouse upright with my head held up because I was doing my patriotic duty of registering to vote, goddammit! The first time that I voted was the next year, in the primaries for the 2006 midterm elections. My grandmother was still alive and working as a poll sitter at my voting location. I walked in, was given a ballot, and watched her smile as my name was marked off of the ledger of people that had voted. When I put my ballot in the machine, she walked up to me and put the "I Voted" sticker on my shirt. I still have that sticker, but it's stuck to my laptop now, and covered with a Lucero sticker.

That said, I'm not voting today and probably not ever again (with the exception of the Sunday alcohol sales vote in February). It just doesn't change anything.

That's enough of that. I'm gonna get off of my high horse now and find something to do that doesn't involve drinking. I'm drying out this week, at least until this weekend.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit "Cigarettes and Wine" from Tugboat Productions on Vimeo.