Farewell Deepak Midha

I was greeted this morning by the sad news that a gentleman I used to work with has died; felled by an aneurysm right after casting his early presidential vote.

While we had been out of touch for several years and had some personal disagreements, the news saddened me and it seemed particularly ironic to hear that Deepak, a man who had worked hard to become an American citizen after coming here from England to work, had died right after voting. To him, the ability to vote in his chosen land mattered greatly.

But the news also came during a low moment this morning when, after listening to the news, and the incredible amount of spin guaranteed to make sure no one asks our current president any tough questions or hold him accountable, I had a moment's doubt about bothering to go to the polls myself. I have no doubt that Mr. Kerry will receive all the (1?) electoral votes from our state where even Republicans supporting the incumbent GOP governor Jim Douglas are NOT advertising their support of Mr. Bush. I have seen just ONE Bush ad locally in the last six months (in an area that is not entirely Democratic or Independent country, by far).

Then came the news of Deepak whose last official act was to cast a ballot for the next president. So blue as I may be, and probably regardless of the news about Deepak, I'll trudge out to the polls tomorrow, pick up my huge Australian paper ballot (how we vote here in the hinterlands), and vote. Then I'll join almost everyone else in sweating out the results.