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Q:If you can not, in good conscience, vote for either the Republican or Democratic nominees, is a write-in vote, even if it is for someone not on the ballot, a total waste?

I mean, obviously, if it’s not going to be counted, then in one sense, it’s a wasted vote. But why should I (or anyone else) be required to vote for a candidate that we do not feel is qualified, or do not feel will be a good leader?

I know I am an idealist. I know I am. But I have always had this independent streak to me. When I feel, on a level of conscience, that i am right, even if I am the only one in the room who feels that way, I cannot (okay, I have, but I always regret it) make a statement in the affirmative towards that which I do not believe.

I have paid more attention to this election than any before. I have watched more cable TV than I care to admit. I watched as much of the debates as I could. And this morning, when I woke up, I still did not feel that either of the two candidates was someone that I could fully endorse. Yes, I thought that I more closely aligned with one than I did the other. But each of them had their sticking points in my mind.

Even when I walked up to the voting booth, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. Was I going to abstain? Was I going to compromise and vote for the candidate that I felt I most closely aligned with, even though I had serious doubts about their ability to lead the country? Was I going toblindly select one of the anonymous third-party candidates, just to prove my point?

Then, in a moment of inspiration, I remembered the face & name of a candidate who had been eliminated in the primaries. Someone I really felt would have been a good President. He wasn’t on the ballot.

I know (Because I got an e-mail) that writing in someone who is not on the ballot meant that the vote would not be counted. But my conscience aligned with him. On a smaller scale, I felt like a martyr who, with his last breath, chooses to remain silent and die rather than say something that violated his conscience. Okay, I know it’s not that stoic or heroic or anything-else-oic, but IT FELT THAT WAY (sort of, on a smaller scale).

So I wrote in the candidate that I would have voted for. And (admission) should have voted for in the primaries).

I have caught a lot of flak for this. A vote for (the candidate I wrote in) is PRETTY MUCH A VOTE AGAINST (the nominee of that party).

And, on a practical level, that may be true. I may have hurt the party that I most closely align. But to me, on a completely idealistic level, it felt like the right thing to do.

Am I lazy? passive aggressive? am i just making it easier on myself when the elected president screws up, so I can say “I TOLD YOU! MAN I AM GLAD I DID NOT VOTE FOR HIM”?

Maybe? I don’t feel that way, though. I am legitimately disappointed that i am not behind one of these candidates. I wish that I had an eligible candidate that I could be excited about, and give an official endorsement. Hopefully that day will come. But this year, I just don’t.

And, while we’re looking at the big-picture ramifications of my choice, let’s be honest: the electoral college isn’t going to come down to one vote. Neither McCain nor Obama will truly suffer at the hands of my write in vote. There are more people voting this election than ever before.

And with that in mind, I think I did the right thing. I have considered how I would feel if I had voted for either candidate. One, then the other. I would feel like I had compromised, either way. (obviously moreso on one side than the other, but still.) And with the vote that I made, I feel … good. Even to know that it went to waste. I would rather feel like my conscience was clean.

Am I contributing to a victory for the side I support less?

Am I being a counterproductive American?

I don’t think I am. Though I can certainly see that argument.

Yeah, so the good news is that my license is working. That all got sorted out a few months ago.

Today, however, the consequences are more than I’ve had to pay before.

(I’ll make this as short as possible, because it’s 3am, and I need some sleep.)

Matthew was driving today, en route from the worst show ever in Pawtucket, RI (i don’t mind saying that - if you’re from Pawtucket, and you’re offended, then maybe you should have come to the show. I know you didn’t, because the grand total in attendance was nobody.) … where was I? oh yeah. we’re driving. and the speed limit goes from 60 to (SUGGESTED SPEED FOR A TURN) 45, then almost immediately to 25.

a couple of factors you should know:

1.) the road was really wet. Slamming on the brakes to get down to 25 in time would have been way more dangerous than taking the turn at, say, 30.

2.) the state trooper was far closer than 2 car lengths. tailgating. So slamming on the brakes, let’s reiterate, would have been a really bad idea.

so we get through the intersection, and on come the lights.

his excuse for pulling us over: we were “Clearly” over the speed limit. (the ticket he wrote matthew lists the speed as “estimated 30+” (not radar-clocked, timed, or anything, just “estimated”)

the real reason was - we had out of state plates. from Texas. and a lot of stuff in the back seat.

After being subjected to about 30 minutes of questioning in a thick Massachusetts accent (think Mark Wahlberg in “The Departed”) about who we were and what we were doing (”you boys, ah, you got any drugs in there? eh? any, ah - any weed? any pills? ah? anything you shouldn’t have? tell me now if you do. if you have it, you tell me now.“) he eventually figured out that I wasn’t ever going to find that missing registration, and pulled us out of the car.

Have you ever had to put both hands behind your back on the side of the road while an officer goes through your pockets?

i have.

Have you ever, after months of being on the road and stuffing countless earplugs, show bracelets, receipts, and minutae into your various pockets, been asked to give an inventory of what is *IN* said pockets?

i have.

have you ever been snidely commented to about your clothing accessories? “yeah, well.. we don’t get too many folks up here who wear GUNS for belts.”

i have.

have you ever watched your car loaded up onto a tow-truck, not being allowed to get out the equipment you needed to do your job that night? dropped at the nearest gas station, just because it’s illegal to walk on the highway & illegal to leave us there?

i have.

ever had $2 in your pocket and $5 in your bank account, and realize it’s going to be a good $300 before you can even get to your own toothbrush?

yep.

and i’m not indignant about the ticket or anything. it’s my own fault. i should have renewed it a LONG time ago. But there’s no need to be a jerk.

The good news in all of this was that Ali McGinley was kind enough to loan me her guitar. We took mail orders for the… CD… that we sold tonight, and the lack of pedals forced me to be creative - by the end of the night, I had unplugged the guitar, and had all 20-30 people in the bar humming along to “Which Drink?”.

It was a beautiful end to an otherwise awful day. One of the most enjoyable nights, show-wise, since… well, since last tuesday night, actually.

I’m all about being a law-abiding citizen, but this seems like taking it a little overboard, you know? I thought Massachusetts was all about being liberal. Maybe I should just tell them that I have $8, and Barack Obama Hopes that I get my car back.

at very least, I should have brought my Red Sox hat.

I kept it a (kind of) secret for awhile, but I’m going to make it full on and public.

I have a TUMBLR account, and I’ve been blogging there.

Here’s why i am telling you:

A.) I don’t want to let this blog just inexplicably go away, and have all you guys wonder “Why did Levi stop blogging?” While the whole time I still am.

B.) I can send pictures directly from my phone to the Tumblr account, which is really cool. Throughout the day when i see something cool, you can also see it, assuming I can get a good picture on my little crappy pink phone.

C.) You can RSS feed it easily, if you’re into that sort of thing.

I will still post here sometimes. These blogs (i say “these” because I double-post to myspace and leviweaver.com with the same entries) are still the official ones. But it’s good to have something I can write to without any comments enabled or anything - just writing whatever I want, whenever I want, with no expectations. If I post 20 things a day, who cares? if i don’t post for 2 weeks or a month, no expectations.

That’s all - this has been your public service announcement.

-Levi

Oh man. I’m going to start with the least important and work my way up.

1.) Did you know that if you get a package that someone sent to you Priority, and you need to send some stuff out the next day, but you don’t have a box, that you CAN NOT just put red duct tape over all the places that it says ‘priority’ and send it regular mail. no sir. you can not disguise a priority box. Because the USPS can’t get things sent to the right address, but they definitely know a priority box when they see it, even if it’s blatantly taped up to “regular.”

1a.) If you didn’t know that ahead of time, and you walked into the Post Office at 4:45, and you didn’t have enough money on you to send it priority ANYWAY, they will make you buy a new box and BUY YOUR OWN TAPE and re-package it (still cheaper than priority, i added it up.) and then they will sit there and sigh at you when it’s 5:08 and you are still writing the address on the new box. FOR CRAP’S SAKE I DIDN’T MEAN TO COME UNPREPARED, I THOUGHT THE RED DUCT TAPE SPOKE FOR ITSELF.

next time i will use black, and just cover the whole thing.

B.) If you are in Indianapolis, Philly, or New York, you have shows this next week. Pretty much everywhere in the Northeast, and also some of Canada, you have shows before Christmas. Not all of them are booked. Help me? Please?

C.) So today, I was hanging out with Heather, downtown, and this woman comes up to her, and starts talking to her. And in her hand, she has a tube of this like… gel stuff? it looked like hair gel, i don’t really know what it was.
Anyway, so she starts talking to Heather, and then just all of a sudden, mid-sentence, she takes this tube and squeezes it onto Heather.

seriously.

just takes this tube of gel.
sprays it on Heather.

then seemingly out of nowhere, she takes this… THING? this like… it kinda looks like a WII controller, but round on the bottom. and she puts it up against Heather’s stomach.

and she’s all “so, you guys are having a boy!”

by “downtown” i mean “at the hospital”
and by “this woman” i mean “a nurse”
and by “out of nowhere” i mean “from behind the hospital bed”

Holy Crap, y’all, we’re having a baby boy.

Sorry guys.
I hate to not blog here for awhile and then the first thing I say is HEY SORRY THE SHOW TONIGHT IS CANCELLED.

i’m really bummed about it. it wasn’t my decision.

The good news is that I am actually having a fantastic time on the road getting to meet all of you this week. Really. I feel like my vigor for life has been restored. Not just from being on the road, but it helps.

If you haven’t checked out Jimmy Brown (on my top friends) you ought to. Now. Specifically the song: Under the Sun. I’ve been humming it constantly the last few days, and have been lucky enough to hear it live.

Norfolk, Charlottesville, Lynchburg, I’m coming for you this week.
-Levi