Man, what a blow to the civic ego!
Living in Michigan, I got used to being courted by the candidates. Wooed, stroked, and enticed at every turn. Barry and Johnny were in Michigan so much that they can probably claim Michigan residency on their taxes next spring. Until McCain recently threw in the towel in my former home state, Michigan was considered a major battleground. Almost evenly-divided electorate and 17 electoral votes hanging in the balance. Throw in the crappiest economy in the nation and Michigan was big news. Even when the candidates themselves weren't there, they sent their surrogates. The national news media kept a close eye on the Michigan economy and relentlessly polled Michigan voters for their up-to-the-minute opinions.
Then I arrived in South Carolina.
No candidate visits. No national news media. No polls. No one gives a toot what South Carolinians think. The Dems don't care because they figure it's a lost cause and the GOP'ers don't care because they just take S.C. for granted. Plus we've only got 8 electoral votes - big whoop. What a let-down! I feel so insignificant these days. Hmpf.
The politics down here are so screwed up, I would stay away too if I had the choice. For instance, look at the race for the U.S. Senate. The incumbent, Lindsey Graham, is a Republican, a major FOJ (Friend of John McCain), and a guy, despite being named Lindsey. His opponent, Bob Something-or-another, is running as a Democrat, but the S.C. Democratic Party wants nothing to do with him. He's a carpet-bagger from Indiana who ran (unsuccessfully) for public office as a Republican in the Hoosier State. The Democrat is so far right, he makes the Republican look reasonable. What the heck kind of state is this, where the Democratic candidate is further to the right than the Republican? Oh good lawd.
As if that wasn't enough, my local area has all kinds of strange races, including several where candidates are accused of switching parties just to get a spot on the ballot when their own party rejected them. Then there is the race for probate judge where one of the candidates is a real estate agent who needs a new job since the real estate market is so slow. She's running for judge, but she's never actually been to law school or anything. What kind of screwed up state lets people be judges without any sort of legal background? South Carolina, apparently.
Like several other bass ackward states, South Carolina also will let just anybody be a coroner. One needn't be a doctor, physician-assistant, nurse, or anything to be elected coroner. Nope. Whoever gets the most people to vote for them gets to determine the cause of death of you or your loved ones. Doh! I'm with the folks who find the whole "coroner" idea completely outdated and think all counties/states should have a medical examiner to determine the cause of the death in cases of unexpected death. I'm just all science-y that way. Call me crazy, but if I die unexpectedly, I'd like someone with "M.D." or "D.O." after her or his name determining my cause of death, not a taxidermist who has watched a lot of Discovery Channel and has every season of CSI on DVD.
9 comments:
Call me crazy, but if I die unexpectedly, I'd like someone with "M.D." or "D.O." after her or his name determining my cause of death, not a taxidermist who has watched a lot of Discovery Channel and has every season of CSI on DVD.
LMAO!
It's true though.
Hey, did you see ads on TV before you left Michigan about The Sleeping Judge? I just saw that one the other day.
Good for you for finding out ASAP what there is to vote on down there. Interesting stuff. The only Coroner I've ever heard of practiced in Munchkinland:
"...and she's not only merely dead,
she's really most sincerely dead!"
:)
Nobody pays any attention to Massachusetts either (though we do get some of the spillover from the ads running in New Hampshire). The Obama campaign would have us make calls to swing state voters, but I'm not sure that's a good idea. Who in Ohio wants to hear my hoity toity elitist east coast liberal opinions? It could backfire.
Grrrherhahahhahahahhahaha. Have you learned about "boneheahs" and "cameheahs" yet?
Lots of places have archaic governmental things besides SC, though.
Pretty sure Michigan still has "townships".
We're BOMBARDED with Obama advertising here. And all four Potus and Veep candidates are here constantly. Biden has taken to speaking with a Southern Accent that's quite comical.
Where I live is staunch GOP. Has been before the War of Northern Aggression. Since I'm from another part of the state (which is staunch Democrat), I find it interesting.
All I can say is welcome to the South, baby! I realize a lot folks from Michigan have culture shock upon arrival. Be careful. Southerners do not like someone from the North telling them they are doing it wrong. Although the war has been over for nearly 150 years, it still is a sore point. Once you get past that, you will probably like the South. I couldn't live anywhere else, but I'm kind of strange.
Welcome to lovely SC where the unofficial state motto is "Thank God for Mississippi and Alabama; without them we'd be last in everything."
In another part of SC, I knew the coroner. He was a mortician. No conflict of interest there!
And did you know Charleston doesn't have roaches? They're called palmetto bugs.
Its not like dead people are going to get any worse and a lot of judges who are qualified are arseholes, who are they to judge anyway?
I lived in New Hampshire for five years. It is amazing how politics is the lifeblood of the state. Because of its first in the nation primary, residents get to see all of the candidates multiple times for the months leading up to the primary.
In 2004 I was privileged enough to meet every Democratic candidate personally. You can't find a better place for politics than New Hampshire. I was always interested in it, but that is where I found my passion for it.
In California it's always the same: the candidates completely ignore us except to demand money. The Democrats use the Bay Area as an ATM, and the Republicans go to Orange County for their cash fix.
We have a lot of electoral votes out here, but we don't seem to see any campaigning.
Adding insult to injury, the media often calls the election long before our polls are closed. I find that maddening beyond belief. It definitely affects our elections, as people on the losing side don't feel like going to the polls and therefore don't vote on the propositions and local contests.
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