Votes are pouring in from patriots everywhere; but we are still 96 votes behind!
Have you voted today, brother?

Kevin Aylward e-mailed me the details of the 177-vote subtraction. I had a peek at the logs, and there can be no question: those votes were bogus, and the deletion was the proper decision.
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We need to make up for the 177 votes that were snuffed out!
Have you voted today, brother?

Last night, while America slept, the overseers of the 2004 Weblog Awards removed 177 votes from our blog’s tally. Poof, gone. This instantly demoted The Gleeson Bloglomerate from a slim two percent lead over our closest competitor to a dismaying six percent shortfall!

Kevin Aylward, who runs the awards, says these 177 votes were “subtracted from the totals for excessive voting from a single address.” Whether all 177 came from one address, or from several different addresses, he didn’t say. Since we can’t imagine any friend of ours cheating, we can’t help but think there is some innocent explanation for this anomaly, such as many people using one service provider, or one corporate account behind a firewall. (We hear we have a lot of fans at CBS.)

(UPDATE: Kevin e-mailed us the logs today. Alas, the votes were bogus, but at least it was not one of our readers. Our readers don’t cheat!)

But the reasons are moot. These votes are irretrievably gone, and we must play the hand we’re dealt.

This blog gets more than 1,000 unique visitors every single day. Most days, over 2,000. We should be able to make up 177 votes before breakfast! Obviously, some of the people who read and enjoy this site are not going over there and voting. Why not?

REASONS YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE VOTED

• You were in the lead, so I figured you didn’t need my vote.
  Suffice to say that this premise is no longer true.
• I figured my vote wouldn’t make a difference.
  In this little category, it will.
• It sounds like a hassle. It will take up my time.
  Not at all. You just (1) click here, then (2) type in a 5-digit code, then (3) click on the Gleeson Bloglomerate button, then (4) click “Vote.” Done. We promise we’ll still be here when you get back.
• I don’t want to join anything or register for anything or give anyone my e-mail address.
  You don’t need to do any of those things to vote. Just do those four steps above.
• I’m scared of that 5-digit code thing. What is that anyway?
  That’s a little measure to prevent cheating. It’s a good thing. You just type in the digits they show you, so they know you’re a human instead of a robot.
• The contest is not important to me.
  Good, then you won’t mind voting for us, since it would mean a lot to us, and it costs you nothing.
• I already voted in that contest.
  That’s okay, you can once per 24 hours per poll. Your computer knows which polls you are allowed to vote in at any given time. Just click here, and if you see a form for voting, that means you are allowed to vote!
• I still don’t see what’s in it for me.
  I would have thought that was obvious. This blog is in it for you, and the thanks of a grateful nation.
• I don’t understand English.
  Nice try. Go vote.

Together, we can overcome this setback, and having overcome it will make triumph all the sweeter. Now go vote, and win one for America! Oh, and please do it again tomorrow too.