You can't complain about the payouts...

[Chainmeister]

...if you didn't play in the tournament.

Well, the same thing applies today.  You can't complain about [insert the political party that you do not like] if you didn't vote.  Regardless of your politics, get out and vote today.  That way you will have the right to complain if things don't turn out your way. That being said, its highly unlikely that the candidate you don't like is as evil as portrayed in the political ads...or is he (or she)? :

[Jon Brakel]

I only voted for one candidate that ran attack ads. I hate the attack ads, so I voted with my vote! If people wouldn't vote for candidates that ran attack ads, then there wouldn't be any attack ads anymore.

[Tom McManus]

I only voted for one candidate that ran attack ads. I hate the attack ads, so I voted with my vote! If people wouldn't vote for candidates that ran attack ads, then there wouldn't be any attack ads anymore.

If people didn't vote for people who ran attack ads there wouldn't be anyone in office.

[Jon Brakel]

I only voted for one candidate that ran attack ads. I hate the attack ads, so I voted with my vote! If people wouldn't vote for candidates that ran attack ads, then there wouldn't be any attack ads anymore.

If people didn't vote for people who ran attack ads there wouldn't be anyone in office.

I found plenty of candidates to vote for!

[Chainmeister]

I only voted for one candidate that ran attack ads. I hate the attack ads, so I voted with my vote! If people wouldn't vote for candidates that ran attack ads, then there wouldn't be any attack ads anymore.

If people didn't vote for people who ran attack ads there wouldn't be anyone in office.

I found plenty of candidates to vote for!

I am not sure you could cast  a vote for one either the Democrat or Republican for either Governor or Senator.  You could vote for one of the other candidates as they did not have enough money to run TV ads. .  Also, there are a lot of bad attack ads that were not sponsored by candidates but were sponsored by either one of the parties or an interest group. These were amongst the most strident ads. There were ads such as this that attacked both Democratic and Republican candidates. The Daily Show (so you now know which way I lean) had a great parody of attack ads with two of the reporters attacking each other with one of them accusing the other of being a person who has sex with chickens. He used a more graphic term.

[Jon Brakel]

I only voted for one candidate that ran attack ads. I hate the attack ads, so I voted with my vote! If people wouldn't vote for candidates that ran attack ads, then there wouldn't be any attack ads anymore.

If people didn't vote for people who ran attack ads there wouldn't be anyone in office.

I found plenty of candidates to vote for!

I am not sure you could cast  a vote for one either the Democrat or Republican for either Governor or Senator.  You could vote for one of the other candidates as they did not have enough money to run TV ads.

I mostly voted for Green Party candidates. Congressional vote had no alternative though. So that was my one main stream vote.

So there's the Tea Party and the Green Party...I think I should make my own party since I feel so under represented by the main stream parties. I think I'll call mine the Green Tea Party! 

[Bruce Brakel]

I voted for about 12 candidates who did not run attack ads.  I always vote for the Libertarians for the University boards of trustees.    

For the local school board I did not know whether Diana's friend was Seeterlin or Seiferlein, and it was vote for three, so I did the only logical thing.  It would be funny if a lot of people did likewise and they both got elected.  I was surprised by the number of people who wanted to be on the local school board. 

For state supreme court one of the candidates once discriminated against me in the hiring process due to my race and gender.  I voted for her because I'm pro-discrimination.    

[airspuds]

voted

[Ron Huebner]

Suffering suffrage!

I find it increasing difficult to find any meaningful difference  between the donkey and the elephant. Both are solely focused on getting elected and to do that it is best not to take a stand on any issue. They excel at fund raising but not addressing the peoples business.

Coming to understand this has freed me from any concern about voting for candidates that have a chance of winning so I am able to consider those candidates that have something to say that is interesting and constructive. At this point the Green, Independent and Libertarian candidates don't need to run attack ads, as this is done by others. They can state positions that are derived from philosophy not polls. Kind of sad that the American "two party system" has reached this point.

[damonshort]

An unpleasant time, with unpleasant choices, but I made sure I voted.

I skipped all the judges in Cook County since I didn't read up on any of them and I forgot if Barish recommended anyone  , and it was hard to differentiate between Patrick Timothy Murphy and T. Patrick Murphy....

I've never understood exactly what the Water Reclamation Board does or why we vote on it, but since it appears to deal with natural elements I voted for the Green Party. 

Otherwise, even though I was impressed by almost none of the candidates, I supported the general concept of trying to avoid driving back into the ditch again. We shall see. 

[Jon Brakel]

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (of which we elect the board that oversees them), has been responsible for such historical projects as the reversing of the Chicago River and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

When I worked for a food processing company in Wheeling the MWR vehicles were often at our plant making their measurements of our waste water. I think they measured both volume and solids in our waste water. When we were out of compliance they could issue fines. We tried to capture as many of the solid wastes from entering the waste water as possible. A hog farming collective used to pick up our solid wastes to feed to the pigs. I was told that they actually paid a small amount of money for this. Our waste made for good hog slop. That was good for us, the hogs and the waste water!

[damonshort]

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (of which we elect the board that oversees them), has been responsible for such historical projects as the reversing of the Chicago River and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

When I worked for a food processing company in Wheeling the MWR vehicles were often at our plant making their measurements of our waste water. I think they measured both volume and solids in our waste water. When we were out of compliance they could issue fines. We tried to capture as many of the solid wastes from entering the waste water as possible. A hog farming collective used to pick up our solid wastes to feed to the pigs. I was told that they actually paid a small amount of money for this. Our waste made for good hog slop. That was good for us, the hogs and the waste water!

Thanks for clearing that up, Jon. I think I'll pass on that ham sandwich today....

[jasonc]

Suffering suffrage!

I find it increasing difficult to find any meaningful difference  between the donkey and the elephant. Both are solely focused on getting elected and to do that it is best not to take a stand on any issue. They excel at fund raising but not addressing the peoples business.

Coming to understand this has freed me from any concern about voting for candidates that have a chance of winning so I am able to consider those candidates that have something to say that is interesting and constructive. At this point the Green, Independent and Libertarian candidates don't need to run attack ads, as this is done by others. They can state positions that are derived from philosophy not polls. Kind of sad that the American "two party system" has reached this point.

I am also sick and tired of the "2 party system".  I voted for the Independents (no relation to Scott Lee Cohen), Green Party and the Libertarians wherever their names appeared.  Until further notice, all of my votes are going against the Democrats and Republicans.  At least from my point of view, all political issues can and should be seen in multiple shades of gray.   I think this is what makes voting today so difficult.  How can you vote for someone because you agree on 1 issue if you disagree with the candidate on everything else?

I know several people who claim to be strong supporters of the donkey and the elephant, respectively.  However, I do not know any 1 person that completely agrees with their party on every issue.  I think we should toss out ALL political parties and make every candidate run as an independent.  Maybe the candidates will actually earn a vote or 2. 

I also think that all current elected officials should be paid by the hour for actual work completed.  It is absolute horsecrap that they are able to earn a paycheck from our tax dollars while they are on the campaign trail.  How much actual governmental work is being accomplished while they kiss babies, shake hands with Joe the Plumber and collect "campaign donations"? 

[Bruce Brakel]

Speaking of payouts, my secret one-man grand jury handed up indictments yesterday and Drudge linked the story on his site:

http://detnews.com/article/20110317/METRO02/103170380/1409/2-ex-Dem-leaders-charged-in-fake-tea-party-scheme

I've been keeping secrets about this for months.  Now I'm available for interviews.  

I was the secret one-man special counsel to the secret one-man grand jury.  So I suppose all the good stuff is attorney-client privileged.  That privilege is sancrosanct unless I'm just shooting the breeze before or after a tournament.