If you care about democracy, you'll print out this sticker and hand out at polling sites.

Posted by Xeni Jardin, November 4, 2008 12:07 PM | permalink

Here's an election sticker for ya, by Ian Wolterstorff, via John Walsh and los del Bush League. Here's a related video for ya.

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Older Harper's Weekly for November 4, 2008

Newer Funny gadget -- the Elect-o-meter

Discussion

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#1 posted by cavalier , November 4, 2008 12:22 PM

Petty and Juvenile trivialization of our electoral process! Way to go!

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#2 posted by autobulb , November 4, 2008 12:29 PM

I'm a go out on a limb and say that this sticker is accurate. Voting has the same effect as farting: very little to nothing. This democracy we have is a farce.

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#3 posted by Rosscott , November 4, 2008 12:30 PM

I had a similar idea, for people who wanted to show their support but had actually voted early. Here is the "I voted absentee" sticker: http://www.notquitewrong.com/rosscottinc/2008/11/04/go-vote-like-right-now/

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#4 posted by pork musket , November 4, 2008 12:31 PM

Awesome. Buddy icon: set.

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#5 posted by Anonymous , November 4, 2008 12:31 PM

I totally thought of this idea this morning... good to know there's like-minded people in the world. :)

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#6 posted by Takuan , November 4, 2008 12:32 PM

must be a new model machine. (Comes with a tube?)

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#7 posted by Robbo

, November 4, 2008 12:36 PM

Yes - but is it "scratch & sniff"?

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#8 posted by TEKNA2007 , November 4, 2008 12:38 PM

Love it!

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#9 posted by minTphresh , November 4, 2008 12:45 PM

unfortunately, in my case it's true!

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#10 posted by Anonymous , November 4, 2008 12:48 PM

I was thinking this same thing earlier, it's sad how people seem to feel the need to announce that they voted when it's something that they should do anyways.

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#11 posted by Gadgets123 , November 4, 2008 12:50 PM

I heard lots of "cell phone electioneering" this morning. Women pretending to be on the phone on the pretense of saying, "Oh Janet, just a reminder to vote Yes on Prop 8" and so on.

Ah, the cell phone. We will look back on it with the same loathing as most now look back on cigarettes. Selfish, disease causing, obnoxious to everyone else but yourself.

BTW, I hate all the smoking bans, and enjoy a cigar at least weekly. But speaking sociologically - hard to miss the similarities.

Wait and see.

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#12 posted by Steaming Pile

, November 4, 2008 12:51 PM

#2 - The reason voting tends to be about as effective as farting is because not enough people are doing it. Too many people are content to leave such matters to the religious right, the gun bunnies, and the dittoheads. It's called complacency, and it is the enemy of democracy.

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#13 posted by Cowflop , November 4, 2008 12:52 PM

Well, you normally have to hold your nose to vote anyway, so why not?

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#14 posted by caldrax , November 4, 2008 12:52 PM

"Petty and Juvenile trivialization of our electoral process! Way to go!"

Everything must be taken completely seriously at all times, and this joke will stop people from actually voting, obviously!

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#15 posted by dbarak , November 4, 2008 12:55 PM

I wonder how many who farted had problems with "hanging chads?"

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#16 posted by OM

, November 4, 2008 12:57 PM

...Actually, if you voted for either Obama or McCain, that's apropos. Which is why I voted for Pat Paulsen.

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#17 posted by Cowflop , November 4, 2008 1:01 PM

Are those the "winds of change" I smell?

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#18 posted by dbarak , November 4, 2008 1:02 PM

#15 posted by OM

Pat Paulsen... I thought he was dead...?

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#19 posted by ethancoop , November 4, 2008 1:02 PM

#2 - You may think this democracy is a farce, but the stench is very real.

#11 - What if all those groups you mentioned are the majority? You prepared for that little slap of reality?

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#20 posted by Antinous , November 4, 2008 1:06 PM

Petty and Juvenile trivialization of our electoral process! Way to go!

I thought it was a compliment.

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#21 posted by ivan256 , November 4, 2008 1:06 PM

#11: So people who disagree with you, or let people you disagree with win are enemies of democracy? Are you implying that democracy is broken if it doesn't produce a result you approve of? For most people, not voting is just as much of a choice as explicitly picking one of the options. Those who don't care leaving the decision to those who do is a feature of democracy. Not a problem.

The problem with our democracy is how it is determined who is allowed to participate. Not that people choose not to.

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#22 posted by FoetusNail , November 4, 2008 1:08 PM

Change is in the air.

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#23 posted by ivan256 , November 4, 2008 1:08 PM

What is now #12 used to be #11. #10 got shoehorned in there some how... End result: Myself and ETHANCOOP are now referencing the wrong comment.

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#24 posted by Antinous , November 4, 2008 1:11 PM

That's what happens when anonymous comments are approved. Referencing numbers doesn't work.

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#25 posted by FoetusNail , November 4, 2008 1:13 PM

Anonymous comments are posted in the thread by the time they were posted, not the time they were approved. An anonymous post could be approved 2 hours after it was submitted.

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#26 posted by Enormo , November 4, 2008 1:15 PM

God damnit! That's brilliant!!! Why didn't I think of that first????
Sincerely,
Enormo
Hall Monitor, Highland Park Elementary

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#27 posted by Vash Aurion , November 4, 2008 1:17 PM

Just not funny... Not even in an ironic way.

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#28 posted by dbarak , November 4, 2008 1:18 PM

#22 posted by FoetusNail , November 4, 2008 1:08 PM

>>"Change is in the air."

Hence the phrase "I Farted."

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#29 posted by ivan256 , November 4, 2008 1:19 PM

Makes sense.... Threaded discussions are wonderful things.

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#30 posted by ethancoop , November 4, 2008 1:19 PM

Henceforth #2 shall be known as Gadgets123. Please adjust your reading accordingly.

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#31 posted by Enormo , November 4, 2008 1:20 PM

@#27
You are obviously either a retard or a poopy-head.

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#32 posted by grimc , November 4, 2008 1:20 PM

Petty and Juvenile trivialization of our electoral process! Way to go!

Yes! Because there's nothing petty or juvenile about a free sticker (that has just the right adhesive to stay on fabric for all of ten minutes, or until you brush against something).

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#33 posted by grimshaw , November 4, 2008 1:27 PM

@#20 - I read it as a compliment at first, too. In last months election up here in Canada, a record number of of us pretty much stayed home and did just as the sticker pronounces (not me, although my trip to the ballot box didn't help much unfortunately). Some may find it juvenile and not funny...while others may see it as inspired, on some level, by the Situationist International.

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#34 posted by Chocolatey Shatner , November 4, 2008 1:30 PM

I'm Chocolatey Shatner, and I approve this flatus.

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#35 posted by mujadaddy , November 4, 2008 1:33 PM

~27 Vash Aurion: Just not funny... Not even in an ironic way.

Perhaps not, but YOUR COMMENT is!!! lolz

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#36 posted by Versh , November 4, 2008 1:45 PM

It's not a criticism of the electoral process, merely a jab at the inane emphasis on the poll workers handing out those "I voted" stickers and the people that wear those superfluous badges for the rest of the day.
Elections are not trivial, just the inflated fanfare purported afterward. Think of this "I Farted" sticker in kind as Kurt Vonnegut wrote Kilgore Trout's cynical & automatic responses to small talk.

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#37 posted by Anonymous , November 4, 2008 1:49 PM

#17: Are those the "winds of change" I smell?

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.

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#38 posted by xzzy , November 4, 2008 1:52 PM

I'll start taking voting seriously when the people being elected started treating their governance seriously.

Well, serious in other ways than lining their pockets.

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#39 posted by Minvaren , November 4, 2008 1:57 PM

Cue Bobby Jimmy and the Critters...

Funnier than the pollworkers during early voting, that's for sure.

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#40 posted by jphilby , November 4, 2008 2:09 PM

Believe me, I understand cynicism about national contests.

But you can have an impact - at times (when less people vote) a big impact on local issues. Sometimes a dozen or two people can swing around a Queen Mary-sized proposition. And other people's random votes tend to cancel out.

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#41 posted by jimbuck , November 4, 2008 2:22 PM

Is there one that says "The Dog Farted"? Because it wasn't me, it was the dog.

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#42 posted by frijole , November 4, 2008 2:32 PM

Sweet! A 4 year old image of mine appears to have been ripped off!

Check the original here: http://trilug.org/~ianmeyer/Voted/index.html

The spacing of the stars, the I, the jaggies from a re-compressed image that are more prevalent on the I than other letters, etc...

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#43 posted by dculberson , November 4, 2008 2:47 PM

Parody does not equal "ripped off."

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#44 posted by lukazoid , November 4, 2008 2:57 PM

It must be in the air. A coworker of mine also had an "I farted" video idea, which he made today. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNZsUEnhhG8

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#45 posted by Dom , November 4, 2008 3:45 PM

Vote early, vote often, that's my motto.

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#46 posted by Antinous , November 4, 2008 3:55 PM

Tim Robbins almost disenfranchised. To paraphrase Ice Cube: they picked the wrong actor to fuck wit.

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#47 posted by OM

, November 4, 2008 4:27 PM

"Pat Paulsen... I thought he was dead...?"

...Sadly he is. But it's an important observation about this election when both candidates are so banal that a deceased comedian who peaked four decades ago is a far better choice for President.

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#48 posted by cornfield_alley , November 4, 2008 7:30 PM

Stephen G. Rhodes, in the Prospect.1 show that just opened in New Orleans, did a piece about the election called "WHO FARTED?!?!?!?!?! (INTERREGNUM)"

See the flickr pic here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/spasticrobot/2996769149/

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#49 posted by Takuan , November 4, 2008 8:25 PM

Well! Didn't think it possible to make a concession speech racist, but he did it.

Congratulations America and Barrack, best of luck!

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#50 posted by Piers W , November 4, 2008 8:48 PM

I missed the racist bit because I'm feeling ludicrously happy about this.

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