The Writer's Life 3/19 - Mandatory

President Obama made an interesting comment yesterday. He believes that voting should be mandatory, and that those who do not exercise the right should be fined. He says the measure will be transformative. I suppose he thinks most people who do not vote support his policies. My guess is it would be about a 50-50 breakdown. There are those who are too lazy to vote, or too cynical, which I certainly identify with. I vote precisely to avoid surrendering to cynicism. There are those who believe not voting is an exercise of free speech. I also understand that. Those who run for office often seem the worst of us, people who would struggle to achieve anything of worth in the private sector, who are not qualified to do anything but work in government. The choices are not often not appealing. I don’t care who wins the Democratic nomination, but I don’t know how anyone could be happy with Hillary’s candidacy. I pray Republicans have the sense not to nominate Jeb Bush. I’m sure he is a good person -- all of the Bushes are -- and he might even be as successful as President as he was as governor of Florida, succeed where his namesakes failed, but his candidacy seems like the same ol’ same ol’, and new blood is needed. I think Elizabeth Warren would be every bit as disastrous as Obama, but I would understand if the far left wing of the party would push her to run. She, at least, is honest about her radicalism. Hillary hides her true colors, and she's been in politics so long that the stink of corruption is now permanent about her. If voting were mandatory, maybe that would force me to the sidelines, although I doubt I'd be able stand down with Hillary or Warren running. I’m going without health insurance to protest Obamacare. Since my income was so paltry, I was not fined, surprisingly. I was willing to pay up. I vote Republican because I believe they are less worse, not better than Democrats. Decent folks must overcome the roadblocks government throws at them. Surprisingly, voting is mandatory in Australia.


I just read something interesting in AAA's magazine. Anyone injured while tripping on a crack in front of a home in NY is entitled to sue. Any driver whose car is damaged by a pothole from November 1st through May 15th is responsible for his/her own repairs, as government exempts itself from liablility. This should surprise no one.


For the third straight day the floating book shop was subjected to strong wind. The forecast called for a high of 43. It felt like ten degrees, despite the sunshine. The madness paid off thanks to the gentleman who purchased six pictorials in Russian, and the woman who purchased another.

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
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Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/pdxwsnt

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

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