While in Costco the other day, I saw a book called "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult. I didn't buy it, nor have I read it, but the title got me thinking. Here is my slightly altered version of the book's intro:In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, or watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist. You can fold laundry, dust the bookshelves, or wash the dishes ... It's the length of a half-hour sitcom minus the commercials ...
In nineteen minutes, you can order a pizza and get it delivered. You can read a story to a child or have your oil changed. You can walk a mile. You can select a button from the button-drawer and sew it on that coat with the vital missing button which has been letting in all the cold winter air.
In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it. In nineteen minutes, you can VOTE!
Yes! In most places, that's all it takes -- nineteen minutes to vote!
Super Tuesday is February 5th. Twenty-two States will be voting: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and UTAH.
Even with so many democratic delegates at stake on this one day, the likely democratic nominee will still be unknown until later in February or March. The republicans, on the other hand, will most likely emerge from Super Tuesday knowing their nominee, and can therefore proceed to line up behind him beginning their presidential campaign in earnest.
Click here to see the 2008 primary calendar. This site also has other interesting information on campaign fundraising, expenditures, donors and demographic statistics.
A Chinese Proverb is quoted at the beginning of "Nineteen Minutes":
"If we don't change the direction we are headed, we will end up where we are going."
Take a look at this map. Notice anything odd? (click on the image to get the full-size effect). That's the kind of change I'm talking about! A world turned topsy-turvy, an inverse universe, a bizarro world. We need to change direction NOW. We can't just stand by, watching the end, complaining that we have no power, but doing nothing.Really, what else can you do in nineteen minutes that will make as much difference as voting? Even if it takes a little longer than nineteen minutes in your area, JUST DO IT! This is your country! Don't make lame excuses afterwards. If we turn out to vote IN FORCE, nothing can stop us! Overwhelming numbers of voters can overcome electronic bias and even overturn entrenched power.
Feel free to leave me a list of other things that can be done in nineteen minutes. Go ahead, be risque! But remember how quickly nineteen minutes passes when you're having fun.
