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- Jul 26, 2003
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Welcome to Golden Skate!
Johnny talks about Voting
- Thread starter Arianne
- Start date
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2009
Misha Ge again tried to get an empty spot at GP and got denied by ISU for the second time: www.twitlonger.com/show/k10hgr
I hate the electoral college because it does alienate voters. However, Johnny could have volunteered his time in a battleground state if wanted to make a difference. Johnny Weir-Voronov obviously enjoys the benefits of gay marriage, but he's unwilling to lift a finger to protect the right that those before him fought for. Granted, congress did everythiing they could to prevent Obama from implementing his platform; nonetheless, a women's right to choose, insurance covered contraception, acknowledgement of climate change, don't ask don't tell repeal, women's equal wages, and other issues important to rational westerners have been preserved.
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- Aug 18, 2010
I didn't hear anything. I asume he's healthy. But will anyone like to bet he has no falls? - I thought this topic is much more closer to the thread topic than Obama, electoral college, and gay marriage.
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- Joined
- Jan 23, 2009
The link to Johnny Weir's "My Right to Vote" doesn't work anymore, and it looks like it was taken down from his blog series, Johnny's World. Google didn't cache it either, I'm afraid. What did his blog post say?
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2004
This. Anyone copy it before it was taken down?
Voting is not an obligation. It is a right. Nobody should be feeling forced to exercise any right.
I dont feel the same way as Johnny, but I understand where he is coming from. Voting for somebody on one issue? you do that on a referendum. You may feel that voting for US president is a referendum, but it is not.
Democracy has failed so many and yet we still have it and support it even when things do not change for better for a long long time. Maybe because nobody has come up with a better system, but more and more people are login faith in the system itself and that is what Johnny's column made clear.
I dont feel the same way as Johnny, but I understand where he is coming from. Voting for somebody on one issue? you do that on a referendum. You may feel that voting for US president is a referendum, but it is not.
Democracy has failed so many and yet we still have it and support it even when things do not change for better for a long long time. Maybe because nobody has come up with a better system, but more and more people are login faith in the system itself and that is what Johnny's column made clear.
I understand the frustration with democracy, but it truly is better than whatever is in second place. The challenge in this country is that there are 300 million people, and many of them have not just diverse opinions but also diverse cultural assumptions. A less populous or more culturally homogeneous country probably has less chaos and more "consumer satisfaction" with the process. It still is worthwhile. And the more of us who vote, the more responsive our leaders will have to be. The thing to remember is that voting, while crucial, isn't the end of our role in the process. There have been many times during my life that my preferred candidate didn't get the job. I still have the right to remind the leadership that I am part of the country. Democracy and majority rule are not synonymous. This is how minority groups—certain racial groups, gays, people with disabilities—get legislation enacted that benefits them, even though it has no clear benefit for the majority. (There are often hidden benefits, of course. For example, the Americans with Disabilities Act mandated that public transportation and certain buildings be accessible to the disabled, and that they couldn't be discriminated against in the workplace. As a result, the disabled could gain greater economic independence and didn't require support from Social Security. Good citizenship can indeed be good business.)
It's easy to give up because stuff is frustrating and messy. I still think about my grandparents coming here instead of remaining in one of those more efficient countries, where they would have been put to death in mid-century if they'd stayed. Thanks, I'll take frustrating and messy. It saved our lives.
It's easy to give up because stuff is frustrating and messy. I still think about my grandparents coming here instead of remaining in one of those more efficient countries, where they would have been put to death in mid-century if they'd stayed. Thanks, I'll take frustrating and messy. It saved our lives.
It's still up: http://fcnp.com/2012/11/06/johnnys-world-my-right-to-vote/
If that doesn't work, go here: http://fcnp.com/category/s1-news-display/c17-national-commentary/ and look for "My Right to vote."
As always, Olympia, great thoughts.
I agree with Johnny that sometimes voting appears pointless because it doesn't feel like it will make a difference. And I am of the school of thought there are other things one can do to make a bigger difference than voting, but that isn't a reason not to vote at all.
But I think one must remember how valuable the ACT of voting, not who or what you vote for, matters just as much. Consider that in other countries people get killed to vote.If there was only one reason to do so -- it's simply that it's a good reminder, as Olympia pointed out, of the freedom we have in this country and how thankful, regardless of the result, we should be to be in a country that allows for free speech, press + debate.
Is this the only place the article was posted?
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
I'm more upset that Johnny didn't take the time to educate himself on the issues TO vote... that he refrained from voting because he didn't know enough about it is better than just blindly following "your team". It doesn't excuse it or give him a gold (silver?) star, but at least he isn't sitting there going "all I did was go eenie meenie minie mo!"
(and isn't it "absentee"? I voted that way until this year due to school)
(and isn't it "absentee"? I voted that way until this year due to school)
I meant that he was very socially liberal on some issues relating to gay rights and women's issues and then said he was pro gun as well. I also was thinking of his stance on that living in a state where the democrats always win and it's electoral votes are all locked in that candidates never visit it and take all the voters if that state for granted it disillusioned him a little. So much that he doesn't fell like voting for president now even though he believes in things but his vote is taken for granted.
