As usually happens every time there’s an election, I start to conf

use myself with wandering thoughts, worries and other paranoia that cause me to actually go vote, though I know in the grand scheme of things the candidates I have to select from (at least the electable ones) are not that different and will probably be equally ineffective. In Connecticut, the race that worries me most is the US Senate race featuring a public servant with a surprisingly good record of effectiveness (which will not serve him well if he makes it to Washington, DC), Richard Blumenthal, and a multi-millionaire wrestling mogul with tens of millions of dollars to burn on negative ads, Linda McMahon. As scary as it is to think that Linda McMahon could be our next senator, I’ve compiled a bunch of things to remind readers that ultimately it may not even matter. Here goes:

The wars of occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost CT alone over 26 billion dollars, according to the National Priorities Project (www.costofwar.com)

Amidst a rash of gay teen suicides, ABC News feels it’s appropriate to publish this crap.

Though the Obama administration has withdrawn over 140,000 combat troops from Iraq, Democrats have not made this a campaign issue, even though most American do not support the war and never did. So, a few things may be true: 1) they don’t care what we think, or 2) combat operations are not really over (now being fought by a mostly private, largely unaccountable private mercenary force, or 3) they don’t want anyone to know what’s going on over there at all, or 4) all of the above.

The number of civilian deaths in Iraq since the US invasion is probably over 100,000 (iraqbodycount.org). The amount dead since the sanctions are easily 20 times that.

President Obama has escalated the Afghanistan occupation into Pakistan, something George W. Bush only dreamed about.

A good third of the crowd at Sunday night’s World Series game in Texas cheered for former president George W. Bush and his parents during the seventh inning stretch performance of “God Bless America.”

Islamophobia continues to rise fueled by rabid conservative talking heads on both radio and TV.

The Tea Party movement believes themselves to be an oppressed group in American politics springing up spontaneously from the populace, who somehow need to “take this country back,” yet they are comprised of some of the most privileged people in the country. According to a CBS News poll, they are overwhelmingly white, over age 45, Christian and conservative. The majority of Tea Party supporters are men, make more than $50k per year (20% make over $100k per year), and own guns. A whopping 92% of them feel that President Obama’s policies are leading us to socialism.

The Supreme Court ruled that

corporations have the same free speech rights as human beings and that they should be able to spend freely to influence candidates. More here.

Here’s to the chads we punch and bubbles we fill. Don’t forget to tip your polling station worker.