As far as I'm concerned, the election is over. You can turn off Arnold and Arianna, because they have nothing left to say to me. All the jokes people are telling about California are totally justified, because the whole thing is a farce. The recall should never have been so easy to get on the ballot, and it's ridiculous how little effort it took for 135 people to become official candidates for governor. Just because it's legal doesn't make it right.

But I voted today, and now it's over. I bit the bullet and marked the boxes. "No" on the absurd recall. "No" on the two misguided propositions. And, just in case the recall passes despite how obvious it is (to me) that it shouldn't, a tentative vote for the state's lieutenant governor to replace Gray Davis as governor, because the constitution says that if the governor is removed, the lieutenant governor replaces him.

I don't like or trust Davis. I didn't vote for him and I never will. My vote against the recall shouldn't be interpreted as an endorsement of Davis, but as an endorsement of the process that elected him for four years. He should serve out his sentence and then be retired from politics forever. I wish I could be sure that all right-thinking people would see things my way, but I can understand how someone might believe that any chance to rid ourselves of Davis is worth taking, despite the cost.

Anyway, it's over. I've voted, so it's over. Whatever the rest of the public decides will be what we have to live with. If they want Larry Flynt or Gary Coleman to be governor, so be it. At least one candidate lists his true credentials to hold office in this state. Gallagher (first name: Leo) is on the ballot with the word "Comedian" under his name.

At least I didn't wait too long and miss my chance to vote. If I hadn't voted in this election, I would have lost my "permanent absentee" status. All that means is that I would have had to reapply, because I never plan to visit an actual polling place again. I think elections conducted by mail are the cleanest, cheapest way to go, although some people think participatory democracy requires voters to gather in schools and fire houses and hide behind curtains to pull levers. There's nothing magical about voting in a real polling place, though; the 2000 election proved that.