Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Election

I always get excited when the elections get near. Whether it is a local election or the presidential election, I can hardly wait to go to the poll on voting day, and cast my ballot.

Call me a geek, but I cherish my right to vote.

Many have heard me tell the story about growing up in a country where the people were not allowed to elect their president. I vividly remember the election of 1989 in Panama, when the candidates of the opposition party were beaten with metal pipes by military officers during a peaceful protest against the government.

That's the reason I don't take my right to vote lightly. So many people in the world do not have the power to elect their governments, yet here in this country so many people are so apathetic about the opportunity to make their vote count.

But it takes more than just casting a ballot on election day. You have informed yourself on the candidates, on their records, on what their plans are. Voting for a candidate simply because your family has always voted for that candidate's party, or because they seem "nice" on TV defeats the purpose. Of course, many will show up and vote on Tuesday without having any idea what any of the candidates stands for.

There is one election on the ballot this year that really has puzzled me from the beginning. We are electing someone to be on the MS Supreme Court. This is quite an important election, if you ask me. So many things are decided by the Justices of the MS Supreme Court, I think we should all take the time to do our research on the candidates. I've done mine.
So being this is my blog and all :-) I would like to ask you take a minute and read up on what Jim Kitchens stands for. I have had the pleasure to meet Mr. Kitchens in person, as well as his mother, wife, and son. They are excellent people and pillars of our community. I believe he would an excellent choice this election. http://www.kitchensforjustice.com/ is his website.

So, that's that. The only endorsement I will publicly give for this upcoming election. I personally can't wait to cast my ballot. How about you?

6 comments:

Deanna said...

I am with you. Election day is a very special day. I always take my boys with me when I vote and I let them push the buttons for me. We discuss it in depth and we pray before we walk in. My Dad and several of my uncles served in Vietnam and one of my dear high school friends died a year ago in Iraq. Another dear friend is now a quadrapligic because of a sniper's bullet in Fallujah. I owe it to each of them to vote.

And I completely agree with you on Mr. Kitchens.

From the Doghouse said...

It's good to hear the perspective of someone who appreciates what many of us have grown up taking for granted.

Nicole Bradshaw said...

Girl, I am with you. It's tough and time-consuming to educate yourself about the candidates with all the campaign noise going on, but if you don't, you deserve the government you get.

Chicago_or_Bust said...

I have to agree with you about the importance of the "right to vote". I am very disturbed by the large numbers of people who vote based on what someone else tells them to do, or vote according to the wishes of the people who bus them to the polls. No idea of the issues !

On Kitchens, I agree his ads and presentations show him to be a good person. But, if you notice, the tort reform so viciously fought for here a few years ago, has cleaned up the courts, improved the State's image of runaway lawsuits and has dramatically lowered insurance costs for doctors, hospitals, businesses.
Unfortunately, Mr. Kitchens doesn't tell in his ads that he is a trial lawyer/plaintiff attorney with thousands of dollars of support from local and out-of-state trail lawyers. The trial bar is fighting hard to recapture a majority in the Supreme Court and that will NOT be good for this State.
Mr. Smith has done a yeoman's job of clearing up backlogged cases and seems to make FAIR decisions, neither leaning too far in favor of business of medicine, but FAIR, and that's all I ask of a S.C. Justice. We did not have ANY fairness before.

thanks for considering this issue, and I again applaud you for your thoughtful consideration of all candidates.

Hope to see you at the Blues.

Clark

Sandi said...

I wish that none of our judges were elected. When you run for office, you have to raise money from a variety of sources, and it's rarely (or never) with no strings attached. Judges should not be part of that system. They should not be beholden to any special interests, in the interest of fairness and justice.

Chicago_or_Bust said...

i couldn't agree w more with Sandi. I wish there were a better way to select our high court judges. Appointment by the Govenor, and even if ratification by the Legislature, would be extremely fraught with political-ness, much like the US Supreme Court appointments.

BTW, I talked this morning with a colleague who is cousins with Kitchens. He agreed that Kitchens and his family are really nice people, but due to Kitchens' plaintiff lawyer background he could not vote for him. That said a lot to me.

Clark