![content.cartoonbox.slate.com.gif](http://www.trevorhoppe.com/blog/images/content.cartoonbox.slate.com.gif)
And here we see CNN of course spouting out the same tired rhetoric that gets recycled every election season. Today we have Donna Brazile rehashing the cliche, "If you don't vote, you have no right to complain later" rhetoric. Her article actually doesn't make a lick of sense. She says out of one side of her mouth, "You're not allowed to complain if you don't vote," and out of the other side wants to complain about how "Resources, both human and material, are scarce and may not be equitably distributed" at polling places. Um, who forgot to edit this story?
I thought for some reason that we had moved past this idea. Of course, I encourage everyone to vote -- don't get me wrong. But with news reports pouring in over voters being purged from the books, it becomes increasingly hard to argue this line.
It also presumes that everyone is able to, you know, take a few hours off of work to go down to the voting booth. This is actually going to be a problem at -- of all liberal places -- the University of Michigan. My day is packed with activity from 9 AM to 8 PM. None of my classes have been canceled. I'm not at liberty to cancel my sections. What am I supposed to do? I have two one-hour breaks, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the line to vote here in this huge college town will be more than one hour long. My polling place is also off campus, at least a 10 minute walk from my department building. It's a dilemma. I don't doubt that I will find a way to get there -- but this should tell you something: if a graduate student at the University of Michigan is having a hard time getting to the polls, you bet there are countless working Americans whose jobs totally prevent that possibility.
So I say this loud and clear to Donna Brazile, CNN's "Democratic strategist" (whatever the fuck that means): you should know better. After all, you're a member of the DNC's "Voting Rights institute." So I'm sure you're well aware of all the ways that people get disenfranchised in America.
Which brings me to my last question: Why the fuck are elections in America not either: 1) On a national holiday where everyone has off work; or 2) Less equitable, but better, on a Sunday, when many more people have off of work?