Akron votes No on tax increase

By a two to one margin. Our mayor says he has never seen the voters so angry.

Uh yeah. I'm so angry, I started voting again after decades of denying politicians the right to represent my best interests. And those were happy times, I tell you! My stress levels and blood pressure were much lower in those days of non-participation in the political process.
"Voting only encourages them," I used to tell my politically-inclined pals.

Look what it did to George Bush. He took his stolen election as a mandate to fill every corridor and cubicle of government with stooges and lackeys ready to give the military-industrial-corporate complex everything its stockholders want.

I'll be honest and admit that one of the reasons I stopped voting was that anyone I ever cared about as a politician not only lost, they were crushed. I signed up to vote again in 2004 and voted for Kucinich in the primary. Was not thrilled with Kerry, but thought maybe he could pull it off and stop the right-wing war-mongers from killing more people. What do you do when you vote your conscience but the bad guys keep winning?

I decided to try again in 2006. Much to my amazement, Sherrod Brown, the candidate I chose to actively support, won his race for Senator from Ohio. I called his office today and asked the gentleman who answered the phone to tell Sherrod to keep working to end the war in Iraq. I know he can't do it single-handedly, but I wanted him to know that taking that stand continues to be the most important thing he can do right now. Don't give into peer pressure from Democrats who don't want to continue the pressure. So the president has the veto power -- make him keep using it so that he is constantly on display as a stubborn fool who will not admit he cannot "win" in Iraq.

So yes, Mayor. I am an angry voter. The money the federal government takes from me is being used in ways that are completely against everything I stand for. All those billions wasted on war could correct a lot of sewer overflow problems in this city and beyond.