A message from David Byrne
I just got this email from my fellow Scot, David Byrne. Yes, he of Talking Heads fame.
He speaks, in effect, for me:
Pardon the bulk mailing. I Can’t Vote. I am an immigrant with a Green Card and, therefore, I am not eligible to vote in a federal election. FYI – I can get drafted (luckily, Daniel Berrigan burned my draft board’s records) and I pay taxes, yet I cannot vote for President. On Election Day, I see my neighbors heading to the nearby elementary school to cast their ballots. The voting booth joint is a great leveler; the whole neighborhood – rich, poor, old, young, decrepit and spunky – they all turn out in one day.
But most of you can vote. What can I say? The Republicans have made us less safe than before 9/11, bankrupted this economy, started an illegal war they can’t – and don’t intend to – finish, removed what sympathy (after 9/11) and respect the world had for the US, and have robbed US citizens of many of their basic rights. Global warming? What’s that? Science and education? Investment in our future? No, thanks – we’ll stick with a good ‘ole hockey mom. Ignorant, and fucking proud of it, as is always the case.
Although it looks like a shoo-in, it ain’t over ’til Florida. And there are plenty of racists in this country who will vote against their own best interests. So please, get to your local elementary school, post office, town hall, or whatever, and cast your vote and make this a country we can all be proud of. We can get out of this mess, and life can be better than it is.
David Byrne
NYC
2 Responses to “A message from David Byrne”
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You’re currently reading “A message from David Byrne,” an entry on Bodhipaksa's blog, bodhi tree swaying
Published: Nov 03 2008
Tags and categories
Tags: bush administration, David Byrne, election campaign 2008, Talking Heads
Category: Politics
Nice one, Mr Byrne. If you live there and pay tax to the government there, you are an integral part of the economy and therefore, you are a citizen. But, it seems, a disenfranchised one. Bah.
Well, legally neither of us are citizens. Most of the time there’s not much difference between being a citizen and a resident alien, but today is one of those days when the distinction is painfully clear. I think his point is really to urge citizens to appreciate and exercise their right to vote rather than to complain about not being a citizen. He could be if he wanted to. There’s a process that we are entitled to go through to apply for citizenship, and I’m surprised Byrne hasn’t done that given how long he’s lived in the US. But he must have his reasons. Shrijnana and I value my British citizenship because it allows us an escape to Europe if things ever get really bad here. Perhaps Byrne feels the same way.