Today was primary day here in WA. I was kind of sad because when I went to the polls, there was no voting going on. I hadnt realized that the absentee ballot we got in the mail was the only way to vote this time. Apparently neither did allot of people ,and we had to go home a get our ballots and bring them back and drop them in the box, at the polls. I never liked the idea of absentee voting unless there was a reason you could not get to the polls.Besides the many scandals that mail in voting has had I like to pull the lever and get my I VOTED sticker. Ive always felt proud to show what a priveledge we have in this country to be able to vote. I really missed seeing my neighbors ,showing up to support their candidates, and how they all walked out smiling with their heads held high after participating in our system. A mail in vote is completly without nuance, and I think it really detracts from the process. I went knowing that I would have to swear an oath that I was affiliated with one party or another if I wanted my vote to count.. Since primary votes dont count for the democratic party, I toyed with the idea of becoming a republican for the day, but since early states have determined that McCain will be the nominee , my vote for a different candidate( R.P.) would also be a waste. I will never understand why people in the early states completly negate who the rest of the country can vote for. I think people in all states should have a choice of who leads this country. Since my vote wouldnt matter anyways ,I did what thousands of Wa. voters did and refused to swear alligence to either party . This protest vote is in hopes to change this states policy to force voters to declare party preference. Tonight Wisconsin -the state that invented the primary election over 100 yrs. ago ,to give the peoples voice a chance to be heard instead of just the wishes of a few caucass voters-----did things diferently. They had a open ballot where voters could register ,on the spot, and vote for any candidate without swearing to be one party or another. This allows independants and people, that just want to vote their minds, to vote. I think this is the true meaning of democracy, instead of the watered down version so many states are forced to keep doing. Why one state has this priveledge and other states dont ,I dont know. As I understand it, this is set by the parties and the voters cant change it. It seems like political engineering to me. In national matters we should have a standard in voting that is fair to all. There is some talk about addressing some of these issues (like regional primaries) in congress, but thats like asking children to freely give up thier candy. Still more and more people are seeing the flaws in this antiquatted system, that is badly in need of reform.Yeah in my opionon!! Wait till the democratic convention, it promises to be a real fiasco if they dont fix the florida michigan thing. Two million voters being excluded with no way to fix it except spending 30 million on a second primary .Both candidates basically agreed with the party to not count the votes from these states . -- Obama and McCain won in Wisconsin . Michelle Obama really made a huge mis-statement saying she was never proud of America before. We will hear those words on McCains commercials for nine more months . Look to Ohio to make or break it for Clinton. She thinks she will win there ,but Im betting Obama takes it, even after his wifes blunder. In fact the entire staff here at Bucksnort central thinks its bye bye Hillary . She will have to get real nasty before then to hold on . Not much for pictures, but this ant hill, I walk by every day.Today was the first day I saw them come out, and all kinds of birds are showing up lately. I think that groundhog blew it ,at least for us here in Wa, spring is creeping in. ---"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." --- Will Rogers