This is something that bothers me a great deal. And many may view it as subversive and undemocratic. And I won’t deny that.
Recently I was having a conversation with a close relative. This person brought up how much they hated the governor of their state but could not recall the person’s name. I mentioned that I thought that it was wonderful that a particular senator had been re-elected in this same state and the person I was talking to said “Yes! That’s the person! That person has pulled some real nasty stuff” My relative didn't even know the political office held by the politician on whom their hatred was directed.
I said I had a great deal of respect for that person.
Again my relative stated the hatred they felt for this person and the unscrupulous things this legislator had pulled.
I asked for examples of this behavior and none could be cited. Conveniently my relative received another phone call at this time which they decided to take, even though we had not spoken in many weeks.
Another example of this ignorance of issues and facts occurred during President Bush’s presidency. During an unpleasant conversation about Bush I brought up Valerie Plame. At this time the conversation was between myself, the aforementioned relative and one more close relative. Neither relative had ever heard of Valerie Plame, but one of the two relatives did seem to feel it was a matter of some concern. The other seemed to feel it was irrelevant, or at least was to prideful to admit to the importance of this matter.
Sometime later a similar conversation on the same subject matter erupted and once again I mentioned Valerie Plame. And again neither of my relatives remembered who Valerie Plame was. It obviously was not important to them.
Sometime later a similar conversation on the same subject matter erupted and once again I mentioned Valerie Plame. And again neither of my relatives remembered who Valerie Plame was. It obviously was not important to them.
While it will never happen, and I don't necessarily support it, I can’t help but feel that people that don’t know the basic facts concerning an election, that don’t even know what office a candidate is running for, shouldn’t be allowed to vote. I believe this is a major problem in this country. People don’t bother to use multiple sources for staying informed of the issues. They used what I consider to be biased, slanted sources as their singular source of information. They vote straight party lines without bothering to even research the opposing candidates.
And regarding the issue of voting straight party lines, I’m guilty of that too. But in my own self defense, I strongly feel that the Republican party has gone so far to the right I just can’t help but feel it’s out of touch with most American’s, definitely out of touch with my political persuasions. And I also believe that if more Americans informed themselves about what the Republicans stand for, the things they've done and the issues they’ve supported, no one but the self serving, rich and morally self-righteous (a.k.a. Conservative Christians) would support them. But maybe the morally righteous make up a substantial portion of the American population. And BTW, Jesus was a liberal.
Maybe as the middle class in this country continues to disappear, and we devolve into a third world country like Mexico, more of our population will educate themselves and become more active and informed.
But I doubt it. As the saying goes, “Ignorance is bliss”.
After thoughts...
"The richest 1 percent of Americans now take home almost 24 percent of income, up from almost 9 percent in 1976." LinkHere
How many middle and lower income people realize this is largely due to Republican policies?
"C.E.O.’s of the largest American companies earned an average of 42 times as much as the average worker in 1980, but 531 times as much in 2001" Who needs a middle class? Certainly not the wealthy.
In European and Asian countries this multiple above average workers salaries is much lower (same link as above). This slide into third world status started with the god of the Republicans, Ronald Regan. (LinkHere)
I feel better about mentally challenged people voting than I do about uninformed people voting. At least the mentally challenged would make random choices.
The majority of Iowan voters are obviously idiots and/or are advocates of anarchy. The rule of law was voted down in a recent election there. Judges, even conservative ones, who clearly and unanimously voted to correctly interpret the law of the land were voted out so a more conservative, and less accurate, interpretation of the law could be implemented by less ethical judiciary. (LinkHere)
"the portion of poll respondents who believe Obama is a Muslim has risen recently" (LinkHere) This is ignorant, unsupportable, nasty B.S. propagated and supported by the right wing elements who thrive on this stuff. Even when it's proven to be false. Like questioning whether or not Obama was born in the U.S. Look here (LinkHere) for a copy of Obama's birth certificate.
Headline: "New poll results tell us what the people want: Tax the rich and save Social Security" (LinkHere)
Ya, but how many of these people voted R in the last election?
Duhhhhh... But dat's whut Fox & Beck & Limbaugh tuld us ta due! Dah sed et wus un-Ahmerican ta vote fur dah Dem's!
But I doubt it. As the saying goes, “Ignorance is bliss”.
After thoughts...
"The richest 1 percent of Americans now take home almost 24 percent of income, up from almost 9 percent in 1976." LinkHere
How many middle and lower income people realize this is largely due to Republican policies?
"C.E.O.’s of the largest American companies earned an average of 42 times as much as the average worker in 1980, but 531 times as much in 2001" Who needs a middle class? Certainly not the wealthy.
In European and Asian countries this multiple above average workers salaries is much lower (same link as above). This slide into third world status started with the god of the Republicans, Ronald Regan. (LinkHere)
I feel better about mentally challenged people voting than I do about uninformed people voting. At least the mentally challenged would make random choices.
The majority of Iowan voters are obviously idiots and/or are advocates of anarchy. The rule of law was voted down in a recent election there. Judges, even conservative ones, who clearly and unanimously voted to correctly interpret the law of the land were voted out so a more conservative, and less accurate, interpretation of the law could be implemented by less ethical judiciary. (LinkHere)
"the portion of poll respondents who believe Obama is a Muslim has risen recently" (LinkHere) This is ignorant, unsupportable, nasty B.S. propagated and supported by the right wing elements who thrive on this stuff. Even when it's proven to be false. Like questioning whether or not Obama was born in the U.S. Look here (LinkHere) for a copy of Obama's birth certificate.
Headline: "New poll results tell us what the people want: Tax the rich and save Social Security" (LinkHere)
Ya, but how many of these people voted R in the last election?
Duhhhhh... But dat's whut Fox & Beck & Limbaugh tuld us ta due! Dah sed et wus un-Ahmerican ta vote fur dah Dem's!
No comments:
Post a Comment