Rock The Vote, Military Style

Reposting courtesy of OldNFO:

Interestingly enough, when GWB was president you heard about the the military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan almost daily.  With Obama in the White House, the mainstream media has been strangely quiet.

More than 1,000 American soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan in the last 27 months. This is more than the combined total of the nine years before. Thirty have died in August. During the last month, over 50 additional NATO and US servicemen have been murdered, inside jobs by those who are hired to be a force for good in Afghanistan.

The commander in chief is AWOL.  Not a peep, although he ordered the White House flag flown at half-staff for the Sikhs that were killed. There is a deep disgust, a fury, growing in the ranks of the military against the indifferent and total incompetence of this president.

It has taken on a dangerous tone.  No one knows what to do about him, but the anger runs deep as the deaths continue with no strategic end in sight to the idiocy of this war.  Obama has had 4 years to end this futile insanity, during which time he has vacationed, golfed, campaigned, and generally ignored the plight of our men and women in uniform {and so much more}.

But, there is now a movement afoot in the armed services to launch a massive get out the vote drive against this president.  Not just current active duty types, but the National Guard, Reserves, the retired, and all other prior service members. This is no small special interest group, but many millions of veterans who can have an enormous impact on the outcome of the November election if they all respond.

The million military retirees in Florida alone could mean an overwhelming victory in that state if they all show up at the polls. It might not keep another one hundred U.S. troops from dying between now and November, but a turn out to vote by the military against this heart breaking lack of leadership can make a powerful statement that hastens a change to the indifference of this shallow little man who just lets our soldiers die.

If you are a veteran, or know a veteran, please pass this on.

And let's hope that this time around the troops' votes count.

According to the MVPP (Military Voter Protection Project), just 4.6 percent of the nearly 2 million eligible military voters cast a ballot in 2010 that counted, well below the 15.8 percent who requested ballots.

Two points about the above paragraph: first, that 15.8 percent number of eligible military voters who requested ballots is way, way too low - let's get it much higher.

Second, it is incumbent upon those of us at home to ensure that all their votes that are cast are counted. Start now by putting pressure on local officials to get absentee ballots out on time. Pay attention to the return and processing of those ballots. Let the local election officials know that they are being watched. Sunshine kills rot.

The folks in the military are doing their part to protect our rights under a democracy. We can do no less for them.