The Big Picture: One Day in November

[LetalisK]

If it comes down between two large corporation backed interchangeable yes men then you have a point, and yes that is ever increasingly the case in this country. Regardless the only power that the average citizenry have is their right to vote. If you don't vote you can't complain. Why else would both side spend so much money transporting people to the election offices to vote. Also why else would they spend so much time redistricting counties to that votes shift from one party to the other.

Personally I want a bill to be drafted into law requiring all new laws that pass through congress to have to be voted on in a general election, provided it is not directly tied to a time sensitive matter. Maybe then some shit would actually get passed or fixed.

That makes absolutely no sense. Someone refuses to vote on the basis that either choice is essentially the same destructive person, but unless they perform a symbolic act they aren't allowed to complain about it? Unless they lend what little legitimacy they can to a person they don't like, they aren't allowed to talk about why they don't like them? Which is funny, because voting is not the only power the average citizenry has. Another big one we have is...*drum roll*...complaining! You know, writing to congress, protesting, etc. I dare say complaining is more effective at changing the system than voting.

Edit: fixed the quote

Except the whole reason that said congressman is going to do anything about the complaints is because they are banking on the idea of reelection. If you outright aren't voting then why should your congressman give a shit. Sure if your loud enough you may influence actual voters, but the crux is they're working for votes.

Your representatives wants to keep their $174,000 a year jobs that have 40-60,000 dollar pensions if they are over 50 and manage to serve for 5-20 years, or any age if they serve 25 years. They also get top notch free health care and over a month of vacation every year. Not to mention all the "Campaign Contributions". It's a damn good job to land.

I don't disagree with anything here. The reason your congressman gives a shit is because he wants your vote. He wants you to vote in the election, specifically for him. Realistically, most people in most districts don't wildly switch parties one election from the next. Where the most contested votes are going to be found is going to be the occasional voters, the people who don't always vote for a variety of reasons. Enter Get out the Vote campaigns, driving voters to polling places, etc. The complaints of the potential non-voters end up being listened to more than the complaints of consistent voters and campaigns get shaped around getting non-voters to vote.

Now, this is a tangent. The above is what happens. What I'm disagreeing with is what you think should happen. If someone looks at the candidates and sees little difference between them and hates what he sees, why should he be forced to vote in order for his complaints to be valid? Why must he lend his little bit of legitimacy to people he does not believe in? In fact, isn't that counter-productive? How can his complaints be taken seriously if he turns around and votes against what he believes? He could go in and vote "Mickey Mouse" as a statement that he doesn't like anyone, but not voting accomplishes the same goal by sending the message that the non-voters didn't like anybody enough to bother. And thus we come full circle back to the reality of the situation, where politicians try to get non-voters to vote, etc.

edit: Removed bolding because it wasn't relevant to my post anymore.

 

[Darth_Payn]

I didn't realize this was a real thing until Bob brought it up. Which raises the question if bob made it up first & is now leaving us in the comments and forums to debate it & spread it around? That dastardly cad! How dare he?!

 

[newwiseman]

snip

I follow ya.

My original post was in response to Somonels,"I'm to lazy to even eVote or mVote. The biggest lie in local politics is that it matters."

My point is that is does matter except in the instance of interchangeable yes men; and that if your not going to even bother to vote why would you even bother to complain.

 

[mattttherman3]

Well, it is a good theory, and would work if cod and say SWTOR came out with expansions on that day, Halo just won't cut it.

 

[getoffmycloud]

I think the main reason for the release date is Microsoft need to get the game on store shelves before black ops 2 hence the reason they said that it is a coincidence that the date is the same as the election.

 

[manic_depressive13]

The American voting system is fucked. It's pretty shit here in Australia as well, since it's a pain in the ass to have to go to vote only to wind up with one of two variations of the same party, but to call yourself a democratically elected president with less than half of the people's vote just seems illegal.

 

[loudestmute]

I think the biggest concern raised by this video can be summed up in three words.

"Weaponized Adam Sandler"

 

[maninahat]

Nice video and a good bit of journalism. The conspiracy sounds like a tv show plot.

 

[jdogtwodolla]

In my state voting is done by mail so me waiting in line to vote is as likely as me waiting in line to buy halo 4.

 

[triggrhappy94]

What about abscenties?
Obama still has a huge lead with women and latinos/hispanics. And Romney's Southern strategy seems shot to shit on the grounds that he's not all that great. No republican since Nixon has been able to win without a strong Southern strategy and latino/hispanic vote.

On a less serious note: Obama should start running attack ads on Halo 4.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Can't people both vote and buy Halo 4?

That seems logical. The people who get Halo 4 at midnight will likely be awake when the polls open and could easily vote before going to sleep that day.

I can kind of see where Bob is coming from based on past experiences with game releases causing people to stay at home that day but...well...this isn't Dragon Quest and we're not living in the far east. I'm not voting anyway but I can even that out by not buying/playing Halo 4. Can't be blamed if the wrong guy is picked and I retain the right to complain either way (according to the late George Carlin anyway)

 

[josemlopes]

Forget about this post.

Bob, dont do conspiracies, they can be fun but like you said they are so far fetched

 

[LetalisK]

snip

I follow ya.

My original post was in response to Somonels,"I'm to lazy to even eVote or mVote. The biggest lie in local politics is that it matters."

My point is that is does matter except in the instance of interchangeable yes men; and that if your not going to even bother to vote why would you even bother to complain.

Okay, yeah, I can agree with that. If someone doesn't vote because of apathy instead of it being a conscious decision they made, then I can see how them complaining doesn't seem to fit.

 

[Marik2]

.. Must say, I might not vote for ether person to be president. Obama hasn't done much anything and the other guy I don't trust at all (and for history wise). Wonder why America isn't the same it used to be, it was for the people. Now it's like trying to get presidents who only will benefit Congress rather then the people. Sorry about that, just wanted to rant a slight bit.

OT: Even if Microsoft did this on purpose, it's up to us the community to understand what's going on. Games are fun, and I used to really like Halo 4 but election day is bigger to me then even the release of games like Skyrim for example because this president can suddenly go in favor of restricting games due to violence theories and then what? So I want to know what we're going into for the next 4 years when this president runs.

But also how I see things- the people behind Halo 4 just thought it'd be cool to release it then. If I was releasing a game, I think that would be cool releasing a game on an important holiday or around it at least.

In American politics, it's all about voting for the lesser of the 2 evils

 

[I_am_acting]

.. Must say, I might not vote for ether person to be president. Obama hasn't done much anything and the other guy I don't trust at all (and for history wise). Wonder why America isn't the same it used to be, it was for the people. Now it's like trying to get presidents who only will benefit Congress rather then the people. Sorry about that, just wanted to rant a slight bit.

OT: Even if Microsoft did this on purpose, it's up to us the community to understand what's going on. Games are fun, and I used to really like Halo 4 but election day is bigger to me then even the release of games like Skyrim for example because this president can suddenly go in favor of restricting games due to violence theories and then what? So I want to know what we're going into for the next 4 years when this president runs.

But also how I see things- the people behind Halo 4 just thought it'd be cool to release it then. If I was releasing a game, I think that would be cool releasing a game on an important holiday or around it at least.

In American politics, it's all about voting for the lesser of the 2 evils

isn't that life in general TBH?

 

[The Lugz]

If they REALLY wanted to shake things up? If I were Microsoft, I'd offer a discount or rebate on Halo 4 if the customer produces proof that they voted. There are potential problems aplenty there, but that kind of concept might work.

but do you really want camping trolls messing up the political scene too ?
really?
thought not.

 

[Powerman88]

Anyone who will not vote because Halo 4 came out should certainly NOT vote. I love and spend a lot of time and money on videogames, but they are a hobby. I will be going to a baseball game on the day Diablo III comes out and I will be voting on the day Halo 4 comes out.