and it was awesome

Is this your first time voting?

I did, too. Felt kinda nice, although it wasn't my first time.

I never voted( too young last time) but it explains a lot about why there is no Heroes and Pushing Daisies this week.

I voted but there was no option for mass suicide so it was kind of pointless

No, I've voted a few times, well every time I've been able to. But, it's awesome every time
Actually, this election is much more exciting than last time. We're finally getting someone new... but the question is, will he be able to salvage the economy and stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons (those are my two biggest concerns)!

cheers,

-avatar!

ps And by stopping Iran I don't necessarily mean militarily.

I voted today and had jury duty last week, so I've been full of civic pride lately.   It was definitely great to see everyone so enthusiastic. I saw one woman taking pictures of herself next to "Vote Here" signs, obviously proud of voting for her first time.

How were the waiting times for everyone? The whole process took 15 minutes for me, though lines were starting to build up as I left.

I voted today, the first time I've even bothered to, at age 31.

I don't see our country doing any miraculous turnarounds soon, but hopefully our sinking ship won't be springing even more leaks.

shdwrlm3: No waiting line, 10:30 was a pretty good time to go.
The staffers said it'd been a steady stream all morning though, and that they were surprised by having used up 1/3rd of their ballots already, so a high turnout in the AM.

Voted last week via absentee ballot.  I'll admit it's not as exciting.

if you're in California, vote for that awesome bullet train between San Diego and San Francisco! 

I went during my lunch break and voted around 1:00 this afternoon. There were no lines and I was in and out within about four minutes. Quite a pleasant experience, actually.

Yeah, it's pretty scary when a country led by a nut job has nuclear weapons.

I voted too, and there was no line at all.  I think that's the first time I've had no wait whatsoever.  Apparently about 50% of the people around here did early voting, but still…  Also of interest, I hear places like Starbucks/Krispy Kreme/Ben & Jerry's are giving away free coffee/doughnuts/ice cream to people who show their "I Voted" stickers.  In some ways this is cool and I personally would be keen to partake of those products if they were anywhere around here, but at the same time one wonders if this will encourage people who don't care about voting just to do so in order to get free stuff.  The last thing we need is random voting inspired by gluttony.  Presumably this isn't all that likely to occur or would have an extremely minimal impact in this case, but it's an interesting dilemma.  Offering tangible rewards for voting -- no matter how small -- seems pretty iffy to me.

Hahahaha ='D

not bad

I've noticed that everyone's gone the "secret ballot" way in this thread.  No one wants to say who their boy is?

BAM!  And that's all she wrote.

^

I'll give up my vote if you give up yours.

I thought I just did?

Ugh taking a look at the early, early preliminary results just now just stressed me out big time.  Am gonna just avoid the headlines for a while and hope for some happy news when more of the votes are accounted for!

Oooh, I see what you did there.

I voted for Obama.

.

i think it would be cool if Obama begins next year's state-of-the-union address with "..'scuse me while i whip this out"

First-time voter here.  Pulling the big, red, clickety-click lever was a pretty satisfying tactile experience, although I was disappointed that I didn't get an "I Voted" sticker.

Dude, rein, I just bought a roll of them (for those folks around me who cast absentee ballots and didn't get their stickers).  It might not be quite the same, but I could send you one.  PM me if you're interested... no charge or anything dumb like that.

My voting was on a touch screen-- I would have preferred the lever.  It turns out that the computer thing-y was making weird noises when I tried to cast my ballot and there is some confusion on whether it actually printed a physical ballot for me.  It shouldn't matter unless someone orders a manual re-count, but if it does turn out that way then my vote is possibly down the crapper.

I, however, wasn't leaving without my free sticker, however many I may have on the side.  All in all it was a good experience and the line consisted of just a couple of old geezers who didn't *quite* get the notion of a touch screen.  Good time, good times.

I feel like I should vote somehow, but I'm Canadian.

So you wrote in Emeril?

I voted for the winner.

It seems that only Starbucks required the sticker. Krispy Kreme and Ben & Jerry's gave out free stuff to anyone who requested it. Starbucks was later forced to do the same when they were told it would be illegal to give goods in exchange for a vote.

Speaking of the sticker, I didn't get one either.

I voted, and it was just as boring as it always is.  At least I was smart enough to go late.  My total time spent was around seven minutes.  My co-workers came in late to work this morning boasting of how they waited from 30 to 105 minutes to vote.  Way to go, them.

For the record, I voted for Mario.  He's not a socialist like Obama, and he doesn't have one foot in the grave like McCain.  He may not be real, but he's a hell of a lot more real than the diarrhea coming out of the real candidates' mouths.  I'm sorry, I don't think either of them are fit to be president and I simply don't know enough about the minor candidates like Bob Barr, etc. to make an informed choice about any of them.  Maybe I would if they were actually invited to debates, but our two-party system won't allow for any of that so we're stuck with the choice between Jack Johnson and John Jackson.  Too bad Morbo's good friend wasn't running. ;-)

I take it you're trying to be sarcastic and say that Bush is a nut job? Well, he's not. He's actually quite clever. I personally think he's a terrible president, but nevertheless quite clever, and I really do believe that deep down he has good intentions. You can argue all you want about it, but in my opinion Bush is not a good leader, rash, but definitely NOT a nut job.

Ahmadinejad on the other hand has promised to wipe out an entire country (Israel) and strike the US and it's allies. Does it not worry you that a leader of a country that is trying to develop nuclear weapons has promised to murder millions of people? Do you think it's just rhetoric? That's exactly what the Europeans said about Hitler...

-avatar!

edit: Oh, and when I went to vote, it took me no time at all! I went at noon, no lines, in and out, the way it should be! I've hard horror stories of people waiting hours...

I voted at 7-o-friggin-clock in the morning because I had an unusually long workday scheduled. Plenty of presidential coverage going on but trying to find info on state ballot questions was like pulling hens' teeth.

If you're curious, Massachusetts kept its income tax, turned an ounce of pot to a civil fine, and junked dog racing. Did California choose to let its prostitutes unionize, incidentally?

As for my vote-ee, I've stopped discussing such things online. Politics, religion, and The Great Pumpkin.

That your country is in ruins would have me arguing otherwise. The death, illegal imprisonment, invasion and torture during his time would have me arguing that he should be pulled up in an international court and, if he didn't have such a strong military and nuclear weapons (which gives no right to decide who else should have them), he probably would have been. But, hey, that's the danger of having a rogue state with nuclear power, eh?

But then I can argue all I want about it...

Iran, on the other hand, has been fairly benign the last while, as much as you may want to buy into the scaremongering. Like Iraq before it, this is all just building excuses for an invasion, something you've well and truly bought into. And please let's not try to paint Israel as a victim.

But, hey, I think there could be a slightly better road ahead now that Obama is in. Baby steps but, still, encouraging. Good luck USAers! You deserve the best.

I voted for Obama. I like how he says exactly what is on his mind and what he's going to do to fix problems. I don't recall one instance from Mccain where he did the same thing and the only time he wasn't dancing in circles wordwise during the debates was when he was attacking Obama (or pretending to be hurt from something Obama said...aww).

Just one thing bugs me: The instant Obama won, every news channel I could find was suddenly doing a story on the "first black president". Guys...I know you want awards for your cutting edge journalism, but it's silly when you all hit the same predictable angle at exactly the same time. I respect Obama enough that I hadn't even been thinking about his color the whole night (well, other than the fact that Lincoln was, ironically enough, a Republican)

I'm GoldfishX and I approve this message.

By what means do you prefer? Ten story defenestration? Upside down exsanguination? Dull knife decapitation? Household chemical asphyxiation?

Well that Suicide Circle train jump looked kind of cool. But then I'd be worried about ending up like that guy in that episode of Homicide who got all twisted up on the tracks. Anyone remember that one? It was quite horrific.

Wow, I so disagree with you on just about everything you said...
1)The US is definitely not in ruins. Yes, our economy is in a horrible state (relatively speaking), but the same goes for pretty much all modern economies at the moment. Or is the economy in Ireland booming?

2)You mention death, illegal imprisonment, invasion, and torture. Now, I'm not going to defend the war in Iraq, but I wonder if you have any idea of how many people Saddam Hussein murdered? The number of people killed by the US military since the invasion is a small fraction of those killed by Hussein. Again, I'm not defending the war, just giving facts.

3)Iran is benign? Well, I guess you could argue that the Nazis were benign when they were coming to power too. So I guess it doesn't bother you that Iran is the largest sponsor of terrorism in the world? That they have some of the worst human rights violations in the world doesn't bother you either? Lastly, that they have pledged to murder millions doesn't mean anything?!

4)I've noticed that when people don't have any real evidence to back-up their claims, they just say "you've bought into all the scaremongering"... etc. If you have real evidence to present (maybe some statistics) please do so. But try to refrain from the "you just don't understand" argument. That being said, you're entitled to your own opinion of course.  Yes, I can back all my claims with statistics and numbers and websites if you really want.

5)I never said Israel is a victim. However, I don't see how any decent human being can not care when one country decides it's going to wipe out another! In fact, it almost seems hypocritical how someone can say "the war in Iraq is horrible, so many innocent people are dying, but hey lets not worry that a madman has promised to murder millions of innocents"...

6)Your last line, I actually agree with

edit: Oh, and I pretty much agree with everything Goldfish mentioned! I think that the racial divide in America is slowly seeping away. It may never go away completely, because that's how people are, but the mere fact that we've elected a black president shows that the American dream is still alive ...

No, the economy in Ireland is not booming. But, given the size and potential of the country, the US should be in a far, far better position than it is now.

You don't have facts to give here, Avatar, because the US has blocked every inquiry into the number of casualties. It bulldozed Abu Ghraib like a criminal dumping evidence, only one spot that happened to hit the headlines. And using someone you perceive to be worse as a justification for death, illegal imprisonment, invasion and torture doesn't cut it for me.

Largest sponser of terrorism? I don't know. Does that come from the same people who said that Iraq had WMDs? As for human rights violations, yes, they're pretty bad. Worst in the world? Hmmm, no. And this is a 'those in glass houses' situation. When Gitmo is shut down, then we can talk human rights. When Israel, who the US is supporting and you are advocating being their knight in shining armour, aren't being constantly condemned for their violations and aren't forcing people out of their homes, then we can talk human rights. Bush levelled two countries during his reign and set up the invasion of a third. Who should I fear most?

Evidence? Do you need evidence that the Iraq war wasn't a complete f----up from day one? That there weren't and aren't human rights abuses being commited in the name of 'bringing democracy' to a country? That the big worry here is a country that, right now, doesn't have nuclear weapons and yet the one country that has actually dropped them on human beings is the one dictating who should and shouldn't have them?

Like Palestine?

But, hey, Avatar... ultimately here's what's important -

We clearly come from two completely different points of view on where things have been the last few years and there's nothing wrong with that. But that was Bush. Now, there's a new US President. It could be exciting times. However things were, there's a new direction. And it could end up going in a direction that suits both of us. I'm all for leaving the past behind and moving forward for a better, peaceful and happy world for all of us.

And this...

...I totally agree with.

Is this rosy view of suicide we hear from some people the conservative equivalent of "That's it! I'm moving to Canada!" ?

LOL! What would his version of the "Candygram for Mongo"-scene be? Maybe diplomacy to curb Russian expansionism or something.

I know I'm beating a long-dead horse here, but I actually think he's a pretty dumb guy in most meanings of the word. The thing about a political office is you can obtain it and fill it without being very smart, as long as you have a good supportive structure (well executed political campaign, skilled staff, etc.). I'll grant that Bush seems to have a certain degree of shrewdness, but it seems more instinctive than not.

avatar!, you seem like a smart and thoughtful guy, but I get the feeling that you've been receiving pretty one-sided information about Iran. Yes, Ahmadinejad has said a lot of crazy stuff, but nothing that goes beyond what most leaders in many Muslim countries (with some exceptions, like Turkey) say all the time. As far as Holocaust denial and threats against Israel and it's supporters go, that's very common in Muslim political discourse, and certainly nothing that singles out Iran. In fact, in most respects, the staunch US ally Saudi Arabia is a far more brutal and repressive dictatorship than Iran has ever been. So why single out Iran? Because it has a leader who's said he wants to get nuclear weapons? I have 2 things to say about that: 1) Iran is, by any assessment, far from achieving that capability, and its gonna get harder with the tougher sanctions placed on it, and 2) if Iran would even try to make reality of Ahmadinejad's lofty rhetoric, Israel (a country with a far superior military to that of Iran) would nuke them into oblivion in thirty seconds. Iran is not a threat right now and will probably never be, its a terrified regional power that has seen neighbouring countries on both sides of it be invaded and subjugated by the world's superpower. If you were the president of Iran facing that situation and hearing the US president label your country "a threat", what would you do? Ahmadinejad is trying best he can to persuade the world that an attack on Iran would cost dearly, and his nuclear rhetoric is part of that package. He's kind of like a little frog in the world jungle who knows he may be about to be squashed and tries to use his bright colours to convince the attacker that he's poisonous and thus not much fun to eat... Comparing him to Hitler is beyond the pale, the only thing they have in common is antisemitism, and they are hardly the only offenders in that category.

Like Jay pointed out, all this hullabaloo about Iran is just building excuses for a possible future invasion. Its the exact same shit they pulled with Iraq, another country that had a leader using the same anti-Israel rhetoric as Ahmadinejad. Weren't we told he was developing weapons of mass destruction as well? How quickly people forget...

None of us know who the largest sponsor of terrorism in the world is. Tell me, are you just taking the media and the current administration's word for it, or have you formed your opinion using other sources? Personally, I think Saudi Arabia is probably a lot more responsible in this area (homeland of bin Laden, where he got all his funds to set up his network). I hardly think Iran is saintly in this aspect, but I'm trying to critically view all the propaganda that we constantly get spammed with on this issue. I'm sorry to insinuate this, but I get the feeling that you have swallowed a very one-sided view on Iran.

Excuse me avatar!, but who are you referring to? Has the Iranian people "pledged" to murder millions? They happen to have a complete turd for president, a guy that blabbers on about any "threat" and "enemy" at every chance he gets to disguise the fact that he's deeply unpopular in his country and probably won't last much longer, and that his policies have been crap. In this respect, yes, he does actually resemble Bush, a lot. There's a lot of scaremongering (sorry for using that word!) going around on all sides right now, because the world has been unfortunate (or careless?) enough to get really shitty leaders that legitimize their own crappy policies by constantly reminding their peoples that they're being "threatened". I hope you'll excuse my doubting your assertion that "they" want to "murder millions" as much as I doubt "them" when they call all of America the "Great Satan" based only on a very biased and narrow selection of reports they hear from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Last, about the topic: I didn't vote, since I'm not an American. I've had many serious doubts about both major candidates, but all things considered, I'm happy about the outcome. For all his faults, Obama seems like an intelligent guy that thinks before he acts, and that is a plus in any leader.