Pubdate: Wed, 20 Oct 2004
Source: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (AK)
Copyright: 2004 Fairbanks Publishing Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.news-miner.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/764
Author: Karl Hough

REMEMBER TO VOTE

To the editor:

Show them you are watching. Show them you care. Show them that you are
willing to get off the couch every year or two for a few minutes to
make a statement.

I know, when you look and listen they seem like mostly liars and
thieves. And unfortunately, they are. The system promotes that
behavior. And those liar and thieves have and continue to pass new
laws designed to make "them" stronger and "us" more subservient. So,
even if you can't bring yourselves to join in the election of liars
and thieves, please, please, spend the time it takes to vote for your
personal freedom.

Marijuana was never criminalized for health or safety reasons. It was
criminalized nearly 70 years ago to promote development and production
of petrochemical synthetic products to the exclusion of hemp products
which were competing with them. Prohibition was wrong then and is wrong now.

I urge you to vote for any of the candidates you might favor but if
you don't favor any of them, at least vote for Proposition 2. This is
not about electing someone who might make a change. This is about
making a change. Furthermore, if 10, 20, or 30 percent more people
vote for Proposition 2 than vote in the other contests or in other
words if more people vote on the ballot measures than vote for the
candidates, perhaps next time, the candidates will make more effort to
reach out to disenfranchised voters.

We need to take back our government and our elections. We need to do
it at the voting booth. Look around the world and see what happens
when elections aren't fair and don't work. We are not immune to this
kind of decay. While we have a choice, let's choose a voters' revolution.

Karl Hough

Fairbanks
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake