Anatomy of a Half-Ass Educated Vote

I had written a very long and involved blog entitled: Anatomy of A Half-Assed Vote.  It outlined the areas that were important to me and how I thought both candidates would respond to those issues.  I studied and did my homework (you'll have to take my word for it)  and was prepared to let you know how I voted.  I am not an ideologue: I have voted over both party lines through the years.  I voted once for Bush and voted once for Obama.  I wasn't old enough but I would have voted for George McGovern like most young kids tired of Vietnam.

However, the more I looked at it, the more I was convinced that it was just more personal political blather.  After a terribly long election season, with vitriol from both sides, weak candidates, big issues being swept under the rug for political expediency, I canned it and threw it all away.  I'm sick of it and I'm sure you are too.  Hey, we all know taxes have to be raised to end the deficit and pay the bills.  We all know Social Security and Medicare must remain solvent.  We all know we have to have a strong military.

What most of us don't know is that nothing too major happens from election to election.  You have the check and balance (and stagnation) of Congress and ALL Presidents if they want to get re-elected must govern from a centrist-moderate position.  For all his mistakes, Obama has been a moderate centrist.  Romney, for all his Tea Party affiliations would govern as a moderate centrist.  Them's the facts.  Look it up.

I have decided instead to not show you my ballot that I filled out right after the third debate.  The ballot below is before I voted so no need to enlarge click.  You won't see my mark.  There was a time I gladly told anyone who I voted for.  I was usually proud of it, and didn't get a lot of pushback from folks.  Not today.  The electorate today is more like the rabid "walkers" on a TV show that want to eat you if they see you.  Tell folks who you voted for and you are likely to get disgusted grief, an argument or maybe even de-friended.

The long, convoluted Florida ballot. 

The voting on the other side that surely will slow things down at the polling place.  Already there are reports voting is taking seven hours in places around the state.  The back side consists of 11 amendments, not to mention several judgeships on the front.

Instead let me simply give you the reasons for voting today.

War or Conflict	Date	Total US Deaths			Wounded	Total Dead & Wounded	Missing	Sources & Notes
		Combat	Other	Total
American Revolutionary War	1775–1783	8,000	17,000	25,000	25,000	50,000
Northwest Indian War	1785–1795	1056+		1056+	825+	1881+		[1][2][3]
Quasi-War	1798–1800	20	494[4]	514	42	556		[4][5]
First Barbary War	1801–1805	35	39	74	64	138		[6][7][8][9]
Other actions against pirates	1800–1900	36	158+[10]	194+	100+	294+		[5][11][12][b]
Chesapeake–Leopard Affair	1807	3	0	3	18	21		[5]
War of 1812	1812–1815	2,260	~17,000	~20,000	4,505	~25,000		[13]
Marquesas Expedition	1813–1814	4		4	3	7		[7]
Second Barbary War	1815	4	134[14]	138	10	148		[15]
First Seminole War	1817–1818	47		47	36	83		[16]
First Sumatran Expedition	1832	2		2	11	13		[5]
Black Hawk War	1832	47	258[17][18]	305	85	390		[19]
Second Seminole War	1835–1842	328	1207	1535				[20]
Mexican–American War	1846–1848	1,733	11,550	13,283	4,152	17,435		[21]
Cayuse War	1847-1856	40	1	41	74	115		[22]
Rogue River Wars	1851-1856	190	6	196	293	489		[23]
Yakima War	1855-1856	32	2	34	92	126		[24]
Third Seminole War	1855–1858	26		26	27	53		[25]
Coeur d'Alene War	1858	36		36	60	96		[26]
Civil War: total	1861–1865	212,938		~625,000				[c][not specific enough to verify]
Union		168,496	268,916	437,412	338,226	775,638
Confederate figures include women and children		87,028		~312,000
Dakota War of 1862 (Little Crow's War)	1862	70–113		70–113	150	220–263		[27][28][29][30]
Shimonoseki Straits	1863	4–5[5][31]	0	4–5	6[5]	10		[5][31]
Snake Indian War	1864–1868	30		30	128	158		[24]
Indian Wars	1865–1898	919			1,025			[21]
Red Cloud's War	1866–1868	126		126	100	226		[32][33][34]
Korea (Shinmiyangyo)	1871	3		3	9	12		[35]
Modoc War	1872–1873	56		56	88	144		[36][37]
Great Sioux War	1875–1877	314		314	211	525		[38][39]
Nez Perce War	1877	134		134	157	291		[40][41]
Bannock War	1878	12	0	12	22	34		[42][43]
Ute War	1879	15	0	15	52	67		[42][44]
Sheepeater Indian War	1879	1		1	10	11		[42]
Samoan crisis	1887-1889	0	62	62		62		[45]
Ghost Dance War	1890–1891	35		35	64	99		[46][47]
Sugar Point Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians	1898	7	0	7	16	23	0	[48]
Spanish–American War	1898	385	2,061	2,446	1,622	4,068		[21]
Philippine–American War	1898–1913	1,020	3,176	4,196	2,930	7,126		[21]
Boxer Rebellion	1900–1901	68	63	131	204	335	0	[49]
Santo Domingo Affair	1904	1	0	1	2	3		[5]
United States occupation of Nicaragua	1910, 1912-1925, 1927-1933	90	69	159	290	449		[50][51]>[52]
Mexican Revolution	1914–1919	120	61	181	319	500		[53]
Occupation of Haiti	1915–1934	10	138	148	26+	184+		[5][54]
World War I	1917–1918	53,402	63,114	116,516	204,002	320,518	3,350	[21][d]
North Russia Campaign	1918–1920			424				[55]
American Expeditionary Force Siberia	1918–1920	160	168	328	52+	380+		[56]
China	1918; 1921; 1926–1927; 1930; 1937	5			78	83		[50]
World War II	1941–1945	291,557	113,842	405,399	670,846	1,076,245	30,314	[21]See Note DA below
Greek Civil War	1944-1949	1	5	6		6		[57]
Chinese Civil War	1945–1950	14	150	164	51	215		[57]
Berlin Blockade	1948–1949		31					[58]
Korean War	1950–1953	33,686	2,830	36,516	92,134	128,650	4,759	Note: 4,759 MIA-See Note E below
U.S.S.R. Cold War	1947–1991	32			12	44		[50]
China Cold War	1950–1972	16				16		[50]
Vietnam War	1955–1975	47,424	10,785	58,209	153,303	211,454	2,489[59]	[21][60]
1958 Lebanon crisis	1958	1[61]	5[61][62]	6	1+[63]	7+		[64]
Bay of Pigs Invasion	1961	4		4		4		[65]
Dominican Republic	1965–1966	27	20	47	283	330		[57][66][50][67]
Iran	1980	0	8	8	4	12	0	[68]
El Salvador Civil War	1980–1992	22	15	37	35			[69][70][71][72]
Beirut deployment	1982–1984	256		266	169			[73]
Persian Gulf escorts	1987–1988	39	0	39	31
Invasion of Grenada	1983	18	1	19	119			[73]
1986 Bombing of Libya	1986	2	0	2	0	2		[74]
Invasion of Panama	1989	23		40	324			[73]
Gulf War	1990–1991	113	148	258	849	1,231	0[75]	[76]
Operation Provide Comfort	1991-1996	1	18	19	4	23		[77][78]
Somalia	1992–1993	29	14	43	153			[73]
Haiti	1994–1995	1		4	3			[73]
Colombia	1994–present	0	8[79][80]	8				[81]
Bosnia-Herzegovina	1995–2004	7		12	6			[82]
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia	1999	1	19	20	2+	22+	0	[83]
Afghanistan	2001–present	1,435	368	2,031	9,971	12,035	1	[84][f][85]
Iraq War	2003–2011	3,542	935	4,487	31,965	36,395	2	[84]
War on Terror: Afghanistan and Iraq Wars total	2001–present	4,977	1,303	6,518	41,936	48,430	3	[86]
Grand Total	1775–present	848,163	437,421	1,326,612	1,531,036	2,857,648	38,159

[edit]

As you can see I have approximately 2,857,648 reasons for voting.  All of those lives lost or hopes dashed by all of our entanglements, the least I can do is vote.  They gave their lives and limbs so I could.  I hope you will, too.  Of course, these people also died and sacrificed so you could stay on the sidelines, so there is that too.  


Before I go, let me extend my birthday wishes to my brother Mark,  whose birthday is today.  A better Wombie never existed.