*  Hey y'all.  I tried real hard to get back to everybody who wrote in.
    But there's SO MUCH, I've got no chance.
    My responses are all starting to sound the same anyway.
    So if you don't get a reply, it's not that I didn't want to write.
    I am reading them all.  Really.
    My fingers just turned to mush.
 

In the last 22 hours, over 250 long emails hit my inbox about this voting business.  I figured maybe you'd still care to see what people are writing in.

Today's posted emails reflect the overall sentiment of mail I got ... should be a fair sample.  I'm so dizzy from reading I can't tell anymore.

Overall, people seemed happier today, once I cleared up some of the wording on the front page.  As for you Naderites, I'll tell you honestly, I'm all for the Green Party getting their 5% so they can get federal funding next time.  But I'm more scared of Bush now than I am of no-other-choice in 2004.

One interesting thing I learned is that nearly everyone expected me to be objective, fairly arguing for both candidates.  While I probably should have ... dammit, this is not a media outlet.  Unbiased Tool news, you get and you get fast.

The rest is just me =)
 

Most importantly, go vote tomorrow.

[yes, this is an actual email i got - one of the best.]

To the people who can't wait a day to look at your site, look what happened when it crashed.

To the people who think you're a dumbass, you are simply someone stating an opinion.

To the people who obviously didn't take the time to read your message, hit that refresh page a few times, then take a nail and drive it into your head, giving yourself a Darwin award.

Sorry if I'm lacking coherence, but I think it's completely amazing how you beg people to open their minds and think.  Form your own opinions.  Tool and the artists formerly known as Rage Against the Machine are prooud of you, I'm sure.  That's the only thing they're trying to say to people, each in their own way.

I'm glad you have raised awareness and hopefully inspired many people to vote.  You hold a lot of influence in the Tool community.  But then again, you already knew that.

I support your statement, respect your views, and everyone else's, except the people who refuse to have an opinion.

I am a business owner and a Bush supporter.
I must say I respect you for getting people excited to vote, people have died for that freedom

Although I am both under 18 and not from the USA, I support your views about
voting. Here in Australia voting is compulsory and if you don't vote you get
fined (I think it is about AU$40 dollars which is sweet fuck all at the moment).

KABIR,  hey man why dont you pull your STINKFIST out of AL GORES ASS?
 
  Hopefully tuesday the u.s will be giving Gore his fucking EULOGY.  shut the
H .ell
 up. Gore supporters cant add FORTY SIX and 2. DemocRATS love all you HARRY
 MANBACKS, all you unUSEFUL  IDIOTS. IF Gore gets elected  we'll have another
 
  HOOKER WITH A PENIS in the white house. We've had an INTERMISSION long
  enough. Your JIMMY talks the talk but cant walk the walk.Which  Al Gore are
you voting for by the way? theres so many to choose from!!!   take your
democRATic  smear campaign and PUSHIT up your ass.The U.S needs an AENEMA
from BUBBA/GORE  DISGRACE. Open your THIRD EYE America and see AL GORE FOR
WHAT HE REALLY IS  A  HUGE FUCKING  JERK-OFF

>I must say that it's great that you feel so strongly about the presidential election and that you are concerned about everyone voting.
Unfortunately, I have an issue with the way you went about showing the world your view.

>I've been viewing your page since your first April Fool's prank (always classic) and I've sat through weeks of not being able to view your site because of technical difficulties (mostly not your fault, I know) but pulling the page down to enforce your political views is definitely the low point of TDN history. I know that this is your site to do as you wish, but you have lost all respect that I had for you by shutting us out to give us a spoonful of your dogma.

>Now, I know that TOOL themselves would commend you with pushing the Democratic platform, and if the official TOOL page had been pulled down for similar reasons, I would have no objection to it. The difference here is that your site is a news site. Since the TOOL page is for their content, they can do whatever the hell they want with it. Again, TDN is yours to do with as you see fit, but people go to the official site to learn about the inner workings of the band and their opinions and such; people come here for news about happenings of the band, not politics, not opinions, not dogma.
 

well man, i'll tell you - tdn is a tool news site.  toolband is a site rarely updated with very little actual information.  i know more people come through here than there, and i think it's a little strange that you'd be ok with THEM doing it but not me.  it's ok for -them- to express an opinion but not for me?

people come here for tool info.  most of the people that come here are 18-25 americans, a severly voter-apathetic group.  i didn't really think it out so much, but if i had left toolshed up, nobody would have given the voting thing any thought at all.  *click*, and it's gone.

does it bother me that you say you lost all respect you had for me?  yeah, even though i don't know you at all.
but toolshed is not cnn, man.  it's a run-in-spare-time-for-free mostly-hacked-together project.  sorry if what i did really bothered you.
 
 

A MESSAGE TO ANYONE PISSED OFF AT KABIR:
build your own fucking site and run it 24/7 and respond to stupid questions
every day while trying to please a million people at once and, well i guess
you get my point: this guy deserves a break

[this one rocks.  but he forgot that i have a job and a life as well.]

>I used to love this site, however your preaching on behalf of that fucking
>idiot Al Gore has angered me greatly. I work extremely hard for my money and
>I would like to be able to keep a bit more of what I earn and not have it
>wasted on some moronic government program. One of the great things about
>Tools music is that it provides a form of escape and it also promotes
>independent thought so I greatly resent you telling people who they should
>vote for. Let people think this out for themselves and they will make the
>right decision and I can assure you that decision will not include the most
>corrupt VP in the history of America.

it's like telling people "jumping off this cliff is real good for you!  you'll really like it!  it's fun!"

i'm not promoting people listening to me and not making up their own minds.  i'm not some kind of deity.  it's up to you to take responsibility for yourself, just as it is up to them to do the same.

it's really a shame that people would send you hate mail for this...  or anything else for that matter (except
maybe those cruel April Fools jokes...  I myself was a victim years ago..  I
can understand sending you questions...  but people need to lighten up a bit too....

I'm sorry Kabir, but I check this page every few days to see if there is news about Tool, and the last thing I expected (or wanted) to see was more shit about the election.  I am 21, my husband is in the Marine Corps, and I will be voting.  However, I live on a military base, I eat, sleep, and breath government bullshit, and when I want my Tool-Fix, I want my Tool-fix.  Please, kindly, in the future, remember us Tool-Lovers, and spare us the political bullshit.  If we wanted such shit the day before the election...we would turn on the TV and flip to, Iİdon't know, ANY channel.İİSorry to bitch, I normallyİreally like what youİhave toİsay...just had to get my 2cents in on this one!!

Bravo Kabir. About the Tipper thing. I'm all for parents knowing what there
young children are buying. My mom wouldn't let me get the Undertow album when
I was 13 (I bought it anyway). They aren't censoring the art or the artist.
On the other hand places that refuse to carry titles with the sticker are
essentially telling us we aren't allow to hear it. So we buy it elsewhere.

i think it is pretty sad that you are endorsing presidential candidates on your website.

no matter who gets elected into office, they will both be controlled by the almighty dollar.  they are both shit.  al gore is a dishonest dickhead who only cares about short-term political gain.  you are a dickhead who has fallen for his dishonest bullshit. i hope you will not harbor any angry feelings with me for insulting you. i just had to let you know my opinion.  if you dont vote, then when the world goes further down the shit pot than it already is(which it will, no matter who gets elected president) then you can ease your concious by telling yourself that its not your fault.

>I appreciate your attempt to get people to vote. I don't like how you are
>trying to persuade people who to vote for. I know not all tool fans can think
>for themselves. So really you have a bunch of people voting for you. I only
>get one vote I think you should too. Oh I voted for nader. I don't like
>George or Al. But I do appreciate your patriotism.

anyone who would be influenced by me -- that would be a real shame.

but let me ask you this, if you had a choice of the weak-minded being influenced to vote for your choice, or to let them listen to someone else ... what would you do?

in some twisted way, i suppose i'm campaining for gore.  it's up to everyone out there to decide if they agree with me, just like it's up to them to decide if they agree with anyone else who campaigns on behalf of a candidate.

i guess i'm saying "Better to have a voice and use it than to not use it."  and i'm not forcing folks to agree with me.  just to read the tool faq. =)
 

I've been checking you site for years now, almost everyday.  All I have to
say to today's page on voting is, "AMEN".  President Bush, Vol. 2 is about
the scariest thought I've ever had.

what kind of a fucking moron are you? you think people are gonna be
like, hey gang, look, Khabir shut down the tool website so we could all
vote for gore, lets get to it!! c'mon man! now dont get me wrong, i
think gore would probably be the most appropriate candidate as well, but
c'mon guy, if i go to a website to get info. on my favorite band i dont
want to know who you want to be president or any other of your personal
opinions(by the way, like i give three shits when the next star wars
movies are gonna be out). but i know, this is your website, you are the
almighty king ,fuck tool though right, its not like the band matters all
that much, and fuck all the people who wanted to check it out and learn
more about their fav. band, your opinions carry much more  weight worth
in our hearts, from me and every tool fan out there, my fondest thanks.
asshole.

Well, I'm probably not your average 15-30 year-old Toolhead -- and, at 38, I
see that as a good thing -- but I have to tell ya that I am a BIG Tool fan
and really like TDN. You do a great job in producing an excellent site (made
even better by the recent announcements of upcoming Tool productivity!).
Moreover, I'm now even more impressed that you've decided to pry into the
heads of our youth by tryin' to kick them off the couch, the computer desk,
or the nearest strip mall parking lot and get 'em to vote. Well done! This
really is an important gig and we need more folks like yourself to prevent
what could be one of the lowest voter turnouts in a loooooong time. It's
amazing to me that we've got both the closest race in decades and the
highest level of general apathy! Weird shit.

[also one of the best, despite his vote choice.]

While I respect the fact that you used your influence over the tool community to get people to vote, I cannot force myself to vote democrat. My reasoning? Joe Liberman. He looks strikingly similar to Emperor Palapatine from "Star Wars: Episode 1". Sure, in the movie he is a nice guy... but we all know that years later he is the leader of the galactic empire. How do we know that Liberman isn't planning something similar? We don't. So for that one reason, I will be casting my vote for George W. Bush. Thank you.

I was reading through the responses and I noticed something written by someone who was underaged and obviously abused or something. It started out "GODDAMMIT..." and continued, in capital letters, to cuss you out for making a brilliant effort to inspire people to vote. I am underage and I am embarrassed to find that a dumbass like that is representing my age group among adults. Let me establish that I think what you are doing is excellent. I think it would take balls the size of cantaloupes to make a stand like that in front of tens of thousands of rabid Tool fans. I support you on that, but I also think that if I could vote I would go Nader. However, you are right; Bush needs to be stopped. Gore is no knight in shining armor himself, but our country needs some dignity in office, not a new Gerald Ford. The fact that Bush is winning in spite of the fact that Gore is so obviously more qualified almost destroys what little faith I have in the American people. Anyway, I hope I have made a better representation of my opinion and my fellow teenagers and if I haven't, well, fuck it. I tried. And when it all comes down to it, TDN rocks. Good job, man.

[note - that same person later wrote back apologizing for sounding like that.]

For what it's worth, I think it's great that you're able to use the
site in this way. I'm guessing Tool would attract fans that would
appreciate what you are doing as worthwhile, whether or not they share
the same ideology as you... and whether or not they are in the
demographic that is able to vote.

Good stuff, If you ever want to do something like this in the future,
you have my permission :-) Maybe after the election we can get back to
more important issues, like whether or not Maynard will be wearing a
wig with Tool ;-)

thanks for posting that.  you managed to make me feel a lot more guilty about not being able to vote, so i hope that you pissed of some other
young americans ienough to get them off their asses and go vote.  congrats to you if you did.

How shortminded can you be if you not see
that the elections/politics effects everybodies life (on how small a level
it may be), also the life's of the people outside of the US of A. This not
the time and the place to discuss politics and the pro's and con's of Bush
and Gore, but you just can not have no opinion. That's why I think you did
a great job, using a site which lots of young people visit almost daily, to
express how you feel about such an important issue TO MAKE PEOPLE THINK!!
Any vote makes a difference, if it isn't just for your own feeling of doing
something for the future.

Hey, I'm under 18 and don't live in the USA, and this doesn't really concern me all that much over all. But I just thought you'd like to know that I praise your courage to take down this site on grounds of something that is amazingly important. It's really gotten to sicken me that only 35% of the population vote or something. These people are the ones who complain that the leader is doing terribly, but they didn't do fuck all nothing towards it. It would be better if they handed in a blank ballot then to sit at home and pretend not to care. At least when even if you vote for the person who is doing a bad job, at least you fucking voted. Hitler got in by one vote. Just imagine, 2 peoples votes could of saved millions of peoples lives. For some reason this doesn't click with most people. But I'm hoping that your posting on the best Tool site on the 'Net will sway peoples decisions on voting, even if for the wrong party.

hello.  while i sincerely admire your effort to stand up for what you believe in, i disagree with your message's intent.  if people at this stage don't want to vote, they shouldn't.  telling someone 2 days before an election to vote who wasn't planning on it already is going to throw one more uneducated, biased-by-the-media, stereotype-influenced vote into the ring.  "george is bad, al is good"- it isn't that simple, and if that's all a voter knows about this election i hope they DON'T vote.
 
in the perfect society, yes- i believe everyone should vote.  in a society where we get fair media coverage, people actually care about issues and not catch phrases and personality traits, and the news doesn't focus on stupid blunders and meaningless errors made by exhausted candidates.
 
you think gore is the lesser of two evils- as do i- but unlike yourself i don't see that as a reason to vote for him.  EVIL.  that is a strong word.  are you willing to defend your choice of language?  willing to say ''i voted for someone i've referred to as EVIL?''

sorry to bother u again, but i wanted to include that i am 18, but i will not be voting, not because i do not want to, but becuase my birthday was not until nov 4, and by national law, that is too late to register...talk about crushing idealism and individuality.....

I'm very impressed with this bold (and I think it is pretty damn bold) move
you've made by putting up the 'get up and vote' message. I'm only 15
and it pisses me off that so many young people won't get off their
ass to vote for the LEADER OF THEIR COUNTRY!

I can't wait until I can get out  there and put in my ballot

Big Kudos on the site kabir- I'm a legal alien but this election year has
made me seriously consider turning in my French nationality for US
citizenship- WTG in making a difference. And for those out of the country
complaining about this... America isn't the whole world but it does have a
big effect on other countries in some instances. If they live abroad they
better really hope Gore wins if shit hits the fan where they are- cause I
doubt W will give much of a rats ass-- well that is unless it means he can
spend a few billion dollars playing war instead of using his brain and
finding alternate solutions. Even then his daddy will probably tell him to
let the bad guy go... cause hell war is so much fun and all, lets hope that
if he's let go they'll get to do it all over again. I'd bet that Hussein is
watching this election real closely too.

>Please dude let people make their own minds up
>sure encourage them to do things that will allow them to take a part in the process ie voting
>But keep personal thoughts to oneself
>
>Especially on a website that attracts so many open minds.
 

sorry to intrude on your net-time.

but what's the good in having a big mic if you can't make people THINK occasionally?

agree or disagree, a lot of people wrote a lot of words and had to use their heads.  that's all that matters to me.

I don't think you need to take your tool page down and get up on your soapbox and preach. We get enough of that on tv.

Good site: Bad Choice

Kabir, you fucking genius.
I applaud you. If any one action has embodied what Tool is all about (THINK!)
your posting today is it. While I hold some reservations as to your political
affiliation and whatnot, your message will have a real impact.

    I back you all the way in your decision to wake people up to very
important matters like who's going to be screwing up the country for the next
four years. Taking the rest of the site is not only daring, it's brilliant,
though a little irritating!

Just a little message of support from the UK.  I don't care that i can't
find out any more about Tool for another 24 hours - I mean what is going to
happen in that time frame that is so important that it can't wait.

Wow! Well done. I'm from Australia where voting is compulsory and when I
hear about the number of people in the US that don't vote it scares me.
There's people dying in other countries to have the rights some people take
for granted. What you've done with the site is awesome. Hopefully you've
encouraged a few more people to think about who pulls the strings and make
decisions that impact on their lives and the lives of people in other
countries.

anybody who complains about this because they dont live in
the US or because they are too young should really just shut the fuck up.
YOU are an american and its YOUR website, and obviously you feel strongly  about this situation.

i give much thanks to you for  putting up this much needed messege on the net.  boo hoo, we cant get tool
news for 24 hrs...so what???tool will be there tomorrow and the next day and
the day after, but the presidential elections are tomorrow. VOTE YOU LAZY  BASTARDS.

i am a frequent visitor to your site (and a huge tool fan--t.d.n. rocks by
the way) and i must say, i was completely astonished and impressed at the
message posted concerning the election. it is highly alarming (if not just
plain frightening) that only a small percentage of one of the largest
constituencies (obviously the 18-25 year old vote) generally does not vote.
though i am under the voting age in this election, i am glad that someone is
taking the initiative to mobilize people to the polls. contrary to what some
of the people have said in reply, the message you posted is pure fucking
genius. it is a broad step in the right direction.

i think both bush and gore are the two most mediocre candidates possible.

i support nader and his policies/ideals
whole-heartedly--but it is true: he just won't win [yet].  a vote for nader
invariably will take votes away for gore in this election, i completely
agree with you; pragmatism precedes and should precede idealism. at least
gore has a vision for what the nation should be, which is much more than i
could ever say for bush. a man with such little the assumption that bush
will be a great leader is flawed, at best. anyone who feels like voting
their conscience SHOULD VOTE GORE--if bush wins, no one's conscience
matters.

  Hey Kabir, I'm from Canada and I don't mind this inconvenience at all.  This is the future of your country!  You all should care about it as much as Kabir does.  Things are really going to change for all of you if the wrong person getsİelected president, the only problem is, they'reİboth the wrong person.  Bush and Gore both have dangerous policies on censorship.İİDo you really want Bush's religious Reich making decisions for you?  Gore taking all violent video games off the market?  It's your rights that they're going to screw with, how can you people be expected to choose?  Being Canadian,İI already see how yourİreligious groups dictateİyour laws, it's timeİto change that,İbut how?  In Canada it's not a two party system, we have many choices.  That's the problem that you are faced with, limited choice!  I feel really sorry for you guys, especially if Bush gets elected!  You could always flee to Canada, we've got plenty of room.  Up here, the churches' opinions stay inside the churches, that's how it should be.  So come on up here, just leave your guns at the border!

[even though this person uses 'U' to mean 'you' - this is an interesting one]

first, let me say that ur expression of your beliefs is the basic foundation of life; without the freedom to do this, liberty and freedom in general do not exist....but, even more importantly, without people like yourself who actually practice this right, freedom would be nothing more than a forgotten ideal of history books....i salute you and ur actions....

second, let me address those people who have voiced anti-kabir's action statements: in general, what u have said is thatİa person, no matter who they are, is not free to live for himself...to expect someone who runs a web page devoted to a band to never voice his or her own opinion is can be likened to a complete collective....without personal ideas and beliefs, what is the point of having individual people at all?!...if kabir, and others like him, were not to stand up for what they believed in, who would?....certainly not u, as u do not even have the common understanding to allow him to state HIS beliefs...

i was completely shocked to find that people like you still existed

i did not realize that people as ignorant as u actually existed...and it scares me that u do, not only becuase u exist, but because your existance will effect me and my existence....in essence, i have to admit that u and all people in general will decide (along with my vote) who the next president of my country is---that is very scary.....for those of u that are not from the usa, it scares me even more that u exist, not becuase ur vote will effect my direct political life, but because u dont even have the understanding to allow those of us who will be effected to voice our opinions....first of all, this is KABIRS web site, and he is perfectly free to do whatever he wishes with it, including to destroy it all together...., second of all, whatever he does with it should be respected by u just becuase of a general respect for others lives....his life is his own, his opinions are his own, and u should respect that with the same respect that he obviously has for u (he posted all of ur responses, and even responded to some of them, didnt he?).....and for all of u that still dont believe he has the right to do what he has already done, please read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand...then think about what u have said....
 
 

It seems the bottom line is -- you can't please everybody.  In April of 1997, after the April Fools Bus Crash (tm), I got lots of hatemail.  I guess 'you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs' applies.

Sorry if this really bothered you.  At least it made you care, feel something, or think for yourself.