Election Day

I wrote this before I went away so it's a little out of date but, since the election is tomorrow, it seems appropriate.
--
I don't think anything happens for a reason. I think things just happen, whether we actively make them happen or otherwise, and we impose a plausible reason onto them so that we can understand life and make it meaningful. I don't mean this to be cynical - in fact, I think it's uplifting to think that there are no right answers waiting to be uncovered. This makes me feel powerful and small at once because I can build a path but the universe doesn't care where it goes one way or another. There's a name for this but I can't remember it.

I didn't have a whole lot going on at work today so I found myself searching Karl Rove on Wikipedia. This was because yesterday I had read an article about how Stephane Dion has been 'framed' by the Conservatives as a poor leader. It mentioned Rove and how his tactics from the 2004 US election are being employed in the current Canadian campaign. The article deeply bothered me. I know that politics can be nasty but this kind of professional manipulation backed by a thorough understanding and complete exploitation of human psychology is frightening. It's always bothered me how disengaged people can be from politics when I think how fundamentally important it is to know what you think and why and to vote accordingly, but when attack ads and branding play a more central role than policy, I don't blame people for not wanting to vote. Anyway, Karl Rove's is a substantial entry in Wikipedia with a variety of interesting links, one of which was to a Family Guy episode where he is portrayed. I didn't think anything of that.

Much later on I was collecting coins from my stash drawer to buy a coffee at the machine. I had a few US dimes and began to study one of them carefully. Coins are fascinating. The coin says 'E pluribus unum' on it, broken up to fit around the image. I'd never noticed it before. I looked up its meaning: out of many, one. There was also a link to an episode of Family Guy called 'E. Peterbus Unum' and I thought, I've read that before. It took me a minute to establish the links, but aren't they funny? Framing - Karl Rove - a dime - Family Guy - out of many, one.
--
So I've thought about this for three or four weeks now and I haven't come up with a meaning, so let's say my stupid little link is meaningless. Maybe the whole election will be pointless. Anyway, I'll vote after work. The polling station doesn't open until 8:30.