My plan for tomorrow is to go to the polls first thing in the morning, then spend the rest of the avoiding the fuck out of the news. I don't want to know, I can't bear to speculate, until it's done and dusted and completely out of my reach.
I cannot accurately describe, let alone overstate, the degree to which we have been inundated with advertising about this election. For the last two weekends at least, on free-to-air and network TV, both college and professional football games' ad breaks have been taken up entirely by ads for (or more accurately, against) candidates, with maybe a truck ad thrown in for good measure, or something for one of the colleges playing in the game, or a station promo for an upcoming program. That's IT. And of course, it's not just football; all TV is like this at the moment, but it's during sport that I notice it most because that's the only thing I watch live. Thank fucking god for TiVo.
Two billion dollars got spent on this election. Two billion dollars. Do you know, can any person actually comprehend, the good that could be done for this country with two billion dollars? And the truly insane thing is that no one wants this - literally not a single voter wants this - but we also refuse to cap campaign time or spending. So this is what we get, and grossly, this is what we deserve. I have been sickened by this entire process; I get nauseated just thinking about it; I hate the whole pack of bastards, all of them, on both sides.
I will vote, of course; I did my due diligence, of course, and looked up information on the candidates and on the ballot questions, of course - state and local, binding and non-binding, of course - because the one thing that none of this constant, unavoidable electoral advertising provides is actual facts, of course. And of course I'm trying to convince people that as hideous as it all is, it's still critically important to vote; and I'm having to work very hard to do that because all this slimy commercial bullshit makes it very easy for the real slime to hide - you hate all the candidates enough, you stop noticing that some of them are sociopaths whose main concern in life is making sure that I never, ever feel the tiniest bit safe in my own body. And not just me, but your mothers, and sisters, and daughters, and partners, all of us: if we get raped - if we get as cruelly and painfully and thoroughly violated as is physically possible - and get pregnant, we're lucky! That baby is a gift from God! And conversely, it's also our bodies' fault for not shutting down correctly! These are the words of people who might be heading my fucking government. And here's the thing: it's a real and legitimate fear right now. From this excellent article by Julie Rovner of NPR.org:
"According to just about every court watcher, thanks to two appointments to the court by George W. Bush, there are almost certainly four justices on the court right now that are prepared to either reverse or significantly modify Roe [vs Wade]," Kilgore said.
And with four justices older than 70, it's considered highly likely that the next president will have at least one chance to appoint that pivotal fifth vote.
I'm just so fucking disgusted by it all.
