Lee Nau

Around the United States, people gathered at polling stations (or at their absentee ballots) to vote for various ballot measures and municipal officers. I understand other states had state-wide referenda. Here in California, it was just a municipal election.

I live in Sunnyvale, California — the home of large technology companies and no downtown to speak of. The only thing on this ballot I cared about was a local measure to fund an expansion of the public library. Public libraries are important for communities, particularly in a time when there is a dwindling sense of community (especially in places that are as unhip as a bedroom community in the sprawl of corporate campus country). The Sunnyvale Public Library is a beautiful library full of works in lots of languages, a huge music section, and a large historical collection detailing the history of the Santa Clara Valley.

I really hope it passes. I’m always for increasing funding for public services and the public library in any town is a public resource that is educational for everyone. I’m frankly surprised when my friends tell me that they don’t use their library (and many don’t even know where their nearest one is). That’s virtually the first thing I look for when I move to a new town. It’s one of the last civic services that everyone can use for their entire lives.

The rest of the ballot in my community consisted of picking four city council members and a bunch of language changes in the city charter. Reading the text of these was an exercise in self-disciplined concentration. They were incredibly boring.

Update: Residents of Sunnyvale are selfish pricks. Measure B failed. It required a 2/3 majority, but 40% of the voters thumbed it down. Assholes.

Today, I got a spam on my gmail account from Beth Myers, campaign manager for Mitt Romney, that talked about how great this last weekend was — that the former governor got an endorsement from the Family Research Council. Whoopty doo.

It’s bad enough that my snail mail box is stuffed full of political arguments ads and other bullshit nearly every day—all from the campaigns and issues that I care the least about, from a controversy about a bridge to various people running for City Council.

But, in honor of the spam, I’ll give you ten reasons I would never vote for Mitt Romney (Wiki: his positions).

1. His campaign manager spammed me.
2. He is a conservative.
3. He is for abstinence-only sex education.
4. He supports drilling for oil in ANWR
5. He is against equal rights for gays and lesbians.
6. He supports the atrocities happening in Guantanamo Bay.
7. He supports censoring the internet.
8. He opposes federal funding of stem-cell research.
9. He advocates a repeal of Roe v. Wade.
10. He falsely mentioned his sons in the military (none of the five have ever served).

The fact that he’s Mormon? I could care less. I’m an atheist. The whole argument about what kind of Christian he is strikes me as ridiculously irrelevant. It’s like arguing whether or not his tie should be red, crimson, scarlet, or rose.

Beth Myers, shame on you for sending spam. I’m looking forward to watching your candidate’s sobbing concession.