From The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 8/28/06:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/282754_firstperson28.html?source=rss

If you're stupid, don't vote

NEAL STARKMAN
GUEST COLUMNIST

I've written before about the Stupid Factor, which seems to govern way
too many people's voting behaviors.

Some people don't think -- they see everything in either-or mode, they
succumb to emotional arguments rather than reasoned ones, they're
swayed by charisma rather than facts.

Now we've entered the primary season.

I plead with you -- don't vote if you're not familiar with the issues
or the candidates.

Don't encourage stupid people to vote.

Don't give money to groups that thrive on the salience of the S
Factor.

I can understand people voting out of greed.

Hey, everyone's got to make a buck, even it means screwing someone
else.

I wouldn't expect the president of Halliburton to vote against
Republicans.

And I can understand people voting out of meanness.

There will always be mean people; as long as they're a minority, I can
live with that, too.

If you despise people of other cultures, I'd expect you to vote for
draconian immigration policies and for war anywhere we can find it.

But voting because you're just plain dumb or "misinformed" -- that's
inexcusable.

Everyone can take the time to think.

Everyone can find another news source.

Everyone can resist authority -- whether from the pulpit or the podium
-- at least momentarily.

And everyone can ponder the following questions:

If we're on the right track in Iraq, why is everything so much worse
there now than when Saddam Hussein was in power, and why is everything
continuing to get worse?

If our economy really thrives when we give tax cuts to the very, very,
very, very rich, all the while spending billions in the Middle East,
why are we borrowing money from China?

How exactly is gay marriage a threat to heterosexual marriage?

If it's OK for us to torture prisoners months after they were
captured, who presumably have no current information of use to us, and
if it's OK for us to incarcerate them forever without access to legal
counsel, and if it's OK for us to do all this in another country under
the auspices of the U.S. government, what wouldn't it be OK for us to
do?

How does it benefit us to discount scientific and medical data,
whether it's about global warming, stem-cell research or environmental
pollution?

How will we know when we've won the war on terror?

If the president can disobey laws that he feels are cramping his
style, what are the limits to his power?

Far be it from me to supply answers to these questions;

the idea is to think about them.

The idea is not to be swayed by platitudes.

Maybe this is obvious to you.

So send this to someone who needs it:

maybe the woman down the block who never listens to the news but votes
the way her husband does;

or maybe the guy at work who thinks that Republicans are "tough,"
while Democrats are wusses;

or maybe your parents, who fear the second coming of the hippie
culture.

Midyear elections are important.

People are dying in Iraq as a result of American policies.

Families are struggling in this country as a result of American
policies.

Your civil rights are increasingly being compromised as a result of
American policies.

Don't be stupid.

It matters.

_______________________________________

Neal Starkman, ladies and gentlemen.

Harry

If you're stupid, don't vote