Value (non) Voters

"I'm gonna fix that last joke by taking out all the words and adding new ones." - Mitch Hedberg

I just had to comment on the absolutely pathetic voter turnout last Tuesday here in Fairbanks: something less than 10% of registered voters got off their asses and did their civic duty.

I mean, whichever way you feel about Sarah Palin, she owes her career to being elected mayor - and if that hypothetical domino-effect doesn't motivate ya, I give up.

Then after perusing the comment threads on various local stories I got even more pissed at the prideful ignorance on display by folks who chastise us about how we owe soldiers respect because they are over there fighting for the rights we enjoy in America.

You know, the most important ones, like owning guns.

Just not the right to vote, obviously.

Took a few false starts to realize this concept, maybe the passion and anger clouded my thinking, coupled with not being good enough. But the writing, the oh-so delicate phrasing here was crucial, and that took much pondering, sketching and editing. One of my problems with editorials is taking on too much, and there certainly are many, many satellite issues orbiting around the core of this idea. But I think the symbols of handguns + a ubiquitous "support the troops" ribbon hit on two both very vocal and visible demographics to get the point across. Of course, odds are that those particular issue-oriented groups probably comprise statistically higher voter turnout than the average person...



And yeah, it's a calculated risk insulting 90% of folks in the community (it's a lonely job), but in a couple months I always suggest that they can walk across the ice from Alaska over to somewhere else. Jeez, I almost sound patriotic. In fact, I often mull over the anarchistic instinct to wish a true dictator upon America, just so our "citizenry" can enjoy a refreshing change of lifestyle. Of course, half of us thought we were headed in that direction under the previous administration, and now the it's the other half's turn. And by "half," I refer to the tiny fraction actually paying attention.

Lastly, here's an initial failed attempt that somehow managed to entirely miss the point of poking fun at non-voters, or at least didn't make it clear enough to be understood (especially, eh, the target audience). Plus the couch I originally drew didn't work, so I tried going with just a suggestion of armrests, which resulted in this weird jet-pack element that threw people off even more. Back to the drawing table...

"Ridicule is one of the most potent weapons which we can use." - J. Edgar Hoover