My friend Joe Hildebrand wonders:
Is there anything that should be more sacred in a free country than careful reflection on one's choices at the ballot?
Well, Joe, I voted too, but I can think of plenty of things more sacred in a free society than voting:
IMHO voting is pretty far down the list of sacred values, since it is in many ways derivative -- it's everything else about a free society that gives voting what meaning it has. Especially in the modern world of gerrymandering, safe seats, two-party politics, and artificially restricted alternatives at the ballot.
Furthermore, voting happens only once a year. There are plenty of ways to be involved every other day of the year, such as writing letters to your representatives or to the editor of your local newspaper, participating in your neighborhood association (I run the website for mine), even blogging your ideas for making our society a freer and better place.
We need to think outside the (ballot) box if we're going to debug the bloatware that is our modern American democracy. :-)