Tomorrow is Not a Given

On the eve of the 2008 election, there are so many thoughts going through my mind. This campaign, more than most others, has caught my interest and I feel personally invested in this elections outcome. I did not campaign for any candidate. I did not volunteer. But If asked, I tried, as diplomatically as possible to sway people to my way of thinking. Don't get me wrong. I sincerely believe in each persons right to choose who to vote for. But, unlike in past presidential elections, something more seemed to be going on. Time after time I talked to people who had no idea what either candidate stood for or what there plans were if elected. They were simply swayed by a slogan, a look, or the party they always voted for. When pressed to tell me what made them select a particular candidate for the highest elected office we have, they could not name any policy or agenda that made them select that person! Are we a country of morons? Our country's men and women have fought for our most valuable right to vote! Our sacred freedoms and rights have cost countless people their lives. And yet, so many of the eligible voters are willing to throw it all away on a two minute thoughtless trip to the voting booth without any research or thought! Others still proclaim that they are too busy to bother and that it doesn't matter in the long run because government is too messed up already. This is not the attitude we need to foster. I say to you, anyone who will listen, that this is the way to the path of loss of rights and freedoms as we know them. Please do not waste this right that so many in the world would literally give their lives so that their children would be able to vote and choose their government leaders. Stop taking your freedoms for granted. These freedoms that we so enjoy and overlook can errode very quickly. We cannot afford to be disinterested citizens. Pay attention fellow citizens. It is not a given that tomorrow will be like today.