Back in November of 2014, George Lakoff wrote a diary entitled Democratic Strategies Lost Big -Here's an Alternative
I began to write a response to the first strategy Lakoff suggested we enthusiastically embrace as we engage the public and encourage one another to actively participate in self governance:
"Voting (Rights): Without the ability to vote in free elections you are not free."
My notes, as of today, were still saved in a word document, but were vividly recalled when I received an email from Daily Kos to sign on as a
Citizen Co-sponsor of the “Right to Vote” constitutional amendment today.
The right to vote is fundamental to our democracy, but there is no affirmative right to vote in the U.S. Constitution.
Congressmen Mark Pocan and Keith Ellison have introduced a constitutional amendment that reads simply:
"Every citizen of the United States, who is of legal voting age, shall have the fundamental right to vote in any public election held in the jurisdiction in which the citizen resides."
Help Daily Kos and our partners protect the right to vote. Click here to sign on
I did sign on, and encourage you to do so as well. Below the bifurcated orange cloud are my reasons for doing so, my delayed musings to Professor Lakoff's challenge...
They won’t let you vote in the USA
There’s not enough time, your name is spelled wrong,
You’re not from around here, you don’t really belong. . .
. . .they won’t let you vote in the USA.
You live on campus, not at home, so, what’s the catch?
Or in a senior home, well, your info doesn’t match. . .
. . .they won’t let you vote in the USA.
You might be a veteran, you may even have ID,
But just cause you do, it doesn’t guarantee. . .
. . .that you’ll get to vote in the USA.
Are elections are free? Or are they bought and sold,
In secret transactions we’ll never behold. . .
. . .your vote is being stolen, in the USA.
You’ve got to beware, the rules change overnight,
You have to take care to stand up for your rights.
. . .because they won’t count your vote in the USA.
We must disable these obstructions, clear these hurdles to vote. . .
Move forward, rise up, create a tidal wave of hope. . .
Only then can we elect freely those who speak in our names,
And break the moneyed power that keeps us in chains.
Only then will we vote, and our votes they will count
When we speak up for our rights, in the USA. . .
*****************
Please click here to sign on
as a co-sponsor for this most important right...
If we can't vote, if we are prevented from voting for whatever reason, we are deprived our democratic right to participate in our government. Speak up, speak out, spread the word! This essential democratic right is crucial if we are to progress as a nation.
Please feel free to add your own 'verses' or thoughts on our right to vote, in the comments below. . .