I had a conversation with a 30 year old that doesn't care today.

[DUlover2909]

Pasadena, TX -

On our way to work in the company truck I was listening to NPR and he was listening with me, since he's forced to because I control the radio. All Things Considered ran a story about the presidential race. He asked, "Who's winning that now?" I said, "Obama, by like 15 points, McCain 36% and Obama 51%, last I heard." He said, "Some guy told me I should vote or else we'll have a n***** as president. He told me, "I've never voted before and I don't care who wins, Obama a black or Hillary a woman or whoever, because it doesn't matter one way or the other."

I didn't argue with him. He said, "If Obama wins he'll be assassinated." I said, "They can try, but they'll fail."

This was my first encounter with this particular coworker (my regular coworker started out this way, but I have her voting Obama now. I even printed a voter registration form for her and bought the stamps). He is not a racist himself, but he falls under the influence of alot of racist people. I later learned that through other conversations. He is an idiot though. This is what we are up against. The pukes have people brainwashed into believing that all politicians are the same. The fewer people that turn out, the better the pukes results on election day.

I have a college education but I work in a blue collar industry. I run into people like this sometimes. It's just exasperating. I feel like screaming into their ears, "YOU IDIOT! HAVEN'T YOU BEEN PAYING ANY ATTENTION FOR THE LAST 8 YEARS?" But I don't. I know the answer to that question.

The mainstream media isn't doing its job. It isn't their fault. These people haven't heard of Keith Olberman or Cenk Uygur or Rachel Maddow or Lara Logan, or well, anybody that tells the truth. They think their troubles are just part of their reality and the people in power have no hand in their lives and the government is what it is and nothing will ever CHANGE. They aren't happy but they don't understand that the source of their unhappiness comes partly from the policies of government. If they do understand this, then they don't see any distinction between the parties that control the government. That is what needs to CHANGE. I am glad Al Gore said repeatedly, "Elections matter."

Obama has made CHANGE central to his campaign. I think we need to work hard at explaining what that means to these people. They are the undecided voters and non-voters that tip the scale. Not wasting money on senseless defense budgets and Iraq War spending means less deficit. A lower deficit means a more powerful economy and a more powerful dollar. A more powerful economy means people are employed and our money is worth something again and we can afford the things we need easier and we can afford more of the things we just want to have.

These people need to understand that a billion dollars is A THOUSAND MILLION DOLLARS! A billion dollars spent in Iraq in a week (or whatever it is) could make a thousand people in America millionaires! The trillion dollars over a couple of years could make a million millionaires. This might sound elitist, but the truth is, many people don't comprehend these numbers. When I look at my paycheck stub and see what the Iraq war is taking from me I get mad, every two weeks. I am paying for this shit. This charade. This lie. And people are suffering. We need to make people like I mentioned understand the REAL BOTTOM LINE. Otherwise they will remain apathetic and stay away from the polls. They don't see any HOPE.