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Full disclosure: I'm on the last glass of a bottle of Gewurztraminer from a Virginia winery. I suppose you might think that since I can still spell Gewurztraminer, maybe I'm not really drunk. Well, then, you don't know me.

PROMPT May 5th

Find a local news story that makes you feel something. Share the story along with your opinion on it in your blog.

So.

I live in Charlottesville, VA. Most of you already know that; it's not like I've been trying to keep it a secret or anything.

A couple of years ago, my small (~40K, give or take, depending on whether UVA is in session) town made the international news for all the wrong reasons.

The reasons are wrong because in order to protest the removal of a certain traitor's statue from a local park -- and by "park" I mean a one-square-block piece of downtown -- the fascist nazi confederate KKK scum had to import a bunch of people from all over the country, because while there certainly are racists in my town just like there are anywhere, they're far from a majority.

The guy you've heard about? The one who killed a girl and injured a bunch of other people? He was from fucking Ohio. You know. Yankee territory. And he was tried locally, convicted, and, last I heard, sentenced to a long goddamned time in prison.

Anyway, like I said, I'm drunk, so I'm probably rambling, and I'm also probably getting closer to actually coming down on a particular political side, something I've always tried to avoid in this blog, but it's getting harder and harder to do so.

So to address today's prompt, I actively looked for a piece of local news, which I don't usually do, even though one of my closest and oldest friends is a local journalist.

https://www.nbc29.com/2020/05/04/charlottesville-election-officials-offering-sel...

Charlottesville election officials offering self-addressed stamp to encourage voting by mail

Both political parties are holding primaries on June 23 and the registration deadline is only weeks away, but election officials are already seeing activity that suggests the virus will not stop the vote.

At first, this news confused me, probably because of the Gewurztraminer. Before my state -- which, incidentally, has a goddamn medical doctor for a governor -- instituted a lockdown of sorts, I distinctly remember going to the actual voting poll location and voting in the Presidential primary. No. I'm not drunk enough to tell you who I voted for. Yet. Point is, I thought the primaries were done?

But no, these are the other election primaries. Okay. Fine. Moving on.

Why does this make me feel something?

Because I'm an American. And a Virginian.

The most basic, the most fundamental, the most important right that we have as Americans, is the idea that our opinion matters. And voting is the most immediate exercise of this right. And so, anything that helps people, of whatever political orientation, exercise this right, I consider to be a positive thing.

Other localities haven't done this. Other places have put restrictions on remote voting. They've effectively disenfranchised anyone who understands that going out in public and mingling with other people doesn't just affect an individual, but has repercussions that interfere with everyone else's right to personal autonomy.

And that's what it boils down to, in my opinion: it's not about your right to get a gods-be-damned haircut. It's about my right to stay alive because after you catch the covid at your barber, you might come in contact with me. You'd think that the people who are always screaming about "right to life" would understand this basic principle, but that turns out not to be the case.

Either way, though, they have just as much right to vote as I do, or any other citizen does. Again, that's basic. That's what we're supposed to be about: everyone gets one, and only one, vote. Even if an election goes against what I believe in, I want to be able to at least think, "Oh, well, it was a fair election."

I can't think that if there's obvious bias in who can and cannot vote.

Now, I'm not one of those who proclaim that if you don't vote, you don't get to bitch about the outcome. Nah. This is America. You get to bitch whether you voted or not. But for shit's sake, don't try to suppress the votes of others. That's unAmerican.

Sigh. I guess I can expect a lot of shit from the other side on this one. And I've been so careful to be neutral, up until now. But, whatever. You have the right to your opinion. And I have the right to ignore it.

Damn. Finished that last glass. Guess I'll open up another wottle of bine. It's not like there's a shortage.