I voted in Waxahachie today, I took advantage of the early voting to cast my first ballot since 1972. I'm not telling you how I voted, I'm just telling you why I did. And if you've been paying attention at all for the past 20 years or so, you probably know anyway.
I voted for George McGovern in '72, and then thought anyone dumb enough to vote for him shouldn't be allowed to vote again.
But I think history has proven it was the right vote, but until today, I hadn't voted in 46 years for a lot of reasons, and some I still believe.
I don't like the electoral college, because my vote never counts in too many states. I don't think I have some civic obligation to vote. And every American has the right to complain about their government, whether they vote or not.
You send me a tax bill to pay for it, I get to complain about it.
And I never wanted to be that person who voted for the lesser of 2 evils, but I've learned now that if you don't vote for the lesser of two evils, the most evil person can win.
We don't have kings in America. We don't even have a crown prince who can cover up the murder of an American journalist. We have a system of checks and balances that has made us the shining beacon to the world. There's a reason people will walk across a desert to live in America, because we are the country where everyone has a voice, and everyone plays a role.
But we're starting to lose that now. When people marching under a Nazi flag and chanting "Jews will not replace us," are described as some good people. No one who should, objects.
A Senate that argues about the Supreme Court's ninth vote, because we already know the other eight, and our political debates have been replaced by TV ads that should embarrass us all.
No one ever gets everything they want, and probably no one should. But we have to be better, and we can be.
I don't know if my vote will make a difference, I doubt that it will. And it won't fix everything that I think is wrong. But I know I have to try, and you should too.
Thomas Jefferson said the government you elect, is the government you deserve. I think you deserve better. And it only gets better, when we all play a role.