What's Going On: I’ll take the apathetic voter over the traitor any day of the week

Apathy and treason.

This most recent presidential election has somehow spawned both reactions, seemingly polar opposites.

On one hand, an estimated six million fewer voters participated in this election compared to 2008. That’s a lot of people, especially considering the seemingly increased animosity in this political climate.

Ironically though, some political analysts believe intense political divisiveness that plagues this country is what caused some voters to throw up their hands in disgust and collectively say “enough.”

Then we have the 21st century traitors who are petitioning the federal government their respective state be allowed to secede from the union.

Every state in the union is represented with a formal petition on https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/. This government-sponsored website allows citizens to petition the president, and any petition with 25,000 or more signatures is guaranteed a response.

Several states have already exceeded that number, but fortunately, Iowa is more than 19,000 away.

I say fortunately because this “movement” is childish at best and treasonous at worst.

Anybody else remember the last time a group of states seceded from the United States? A little thing called the Civil War resulted from those efforts.

While this effort to secede may purely be symbolic, I consider anyone who would endorse such an effort as someone who is willing to disrespect the sacrifice of our millions of veterans who have defended this country.

Destroying this county simply because a specific candidate won, or lost, is idiotic.

In the irony of ironies though, is the same election that spurned this kind of extreme reaction in some also resulted in the same aforementioned inactivity.

One chorus I hear after many elections is “I voted for the lesser of two evils.”

My question is why?

If you consider both mainstream candidates as “evils” why would you endorse either?

As I grow more and more disconnected with both major parties, I’m finding myself more and more likely to vote for “fringe” candidates, or no candidate at all.

With about six million fewer Americans not voting in this election, I’m not alone. (I also can’t help but wonder if the most popular third party candidate, Ron Paul, had been on the ballot, how different that six million figure would have looked.)

Another commentary I frequently hear around election time is “if you don’t vote, you don’t have the right to complain.”

Horse-hockey.

No where in the constitution does it say the “right to complain” is contingent upon exercising your right to vote.

As an American, you have the right to complain, period. There are no other qualifications. That’s one of the things that makes this country great. No matter how much money I have, property I own, or elections I’ve voted in, I have just as much right to complain as the next guy or gal.

In fact, I would argue the person who chooses the inaction of not voting instead of choosing the lesser of two evils has more of a right to complain than the person who signs a petition to secede from the union.

Gregory Orear is the General Manager/Editor of the Red Oak Express and Glenwood Opinion-Tribune. He can be contacted at publisher@redoakexpress.com.