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No,this isn't a slam on Obama. Instead, it's more a description of my own feelings about the election process.
It's hard for me to get excited about exercising my right to vote, given the three stooges we have running for President right now. (Apologies to Larry, Curly, and Moe. These clowns couldn't even pass for Shemp, Joe or Curly Joe. Well, maybe Curly Joe.) McCain is wrong on everything with the exception of national defense, where he's at least half right. He believes we should defend our national interests, except for our borders, which is kind of strange. Obama is wrong on everything, which is an interesting achievement since he has utterly failed to articulate a a detailed position on anything. And Hillary, well, she's still Hillary.
How did we get here? Are these three really the best we can do? This is the land of Lincoln, Roosevelt, Washington, and Jefferson. Bold men, with vision, who made decisions without focus groups and polling data, who said what they meant, without equivocation or reservation. Where are they now?
The answer is telling; the sad fact is that if one of those giants ran for President today, he wouldn't make it out of the primaries. (Except maybe for Lincoln. He was exceptionally good at tailoring his message to the people he was talking to. As his rival for the Senate seat, Stephen "the Little Giant" Douglas once said, "When I debate you in the north, you're white; in the south, you're black.") Men of principle still exist, so why don't we see them in national politics?
The answer is that it isn't the quality of the candidates that have changed, it is the quality of the electorate that has changed. Today, we blindly accept the idea that the only qualification to vote are a pulse lasting longer than 18 years. A natural born US citizen has no knowledge requirements in order to vote. He doesn't have to know anything about the issues. He doesn't have to know how our government works. Heck, he doesn't even have to know how to read and write. If he's illiterate, we will supply somebody to read the ballot for him. He can be as useless as male nipples, as ignorant as a newborn, and as lazy as an old dog on a summer day, and his vote counts just as much as the most rabid policy wonk.
Think about that for a minute. Can you think of any other area of endeavor where we allow the ignorant and apathetic equal say with the engaged and informed? Would you let the typical voter decide what car you should by? Would you let him dictate your medical care? How about your investment choices? Or in each of the above examples, would you rather trust the opinion of an expert? Somebody who has a wealth of knowledge about the subject, and who has demonstrated at least a basic competency?
But when it comes to selecting a government that can affect all of these choices and more, we'll give the same worth to Otis Campbell's choice as to Andy Taylor's. I don't care how you slice it folks, that just doesn't make sense.
And when you look back at American history, you find out that the folks who wrote our Constitution agreed with me. They established requirements for voting, some fair,and some a product of the times. In order to vote, and even more importantly to hold office, you had to be a productive member of society. Government salaries were kept low to make sure that nobody sought office for financial gain. Additionally, in order to hod office,you had to be able to afford to take a pay cut which meant that you were not only successful in your field, but financially astute enough to build up wealth in the form of savings.
In essence, the poll tax ensured that the folks exercising the franchise had a vested interest in good governance, and the low salaries ensured that the men running for office were capble individuals in their fields.
Fast forward 200+ years and what do we have? A warm body electorate voting in their own interests, not in the interests of the nation as a whole. Special interest groups rule Washington DC, and votes are for sale.
And they're usually sold cheap.
Maybe it's time we recognize that the franchise is too important to be taken for granted. Maybe it shouldn't be tossed out as freely as beads at Mardi Gras. Maybe, just maybe, voting should be something we earn through demonstrated competence, or by having a net positive effect on America, rather than being a drain.
When you look at the difference in the quality of our elected officials from then and now., can you honestly say that we are better off now with an unrestricted electorate?
I can't.
For anyone who didn't get it, the solution for last week's puzzle was Six Pack. I'm going to do something different this week, but you'll have to wait for Wednesday to see what it is.
8.5 out of 10
My thoughts:
Iron Man rocks. The story works; the acting is excellent; the effects are spot on.
Robert Downey Jr does a great job at bringing the flawed genius to life, taking him from playboy to hero without caricature and Gwyneth Paltrow makes Pepper Potts stand out as more than just a hero sidekick. Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane is passable, but I was a bit disappointed with Terrence Howard's Jim Rhodes. He seemed too bland.
I was a little bit surprised they let the origin story run for fully half the movie; it never seemed to drag, but it did make the second half of the movie feel a little rushed.
While some reviewers are saying that the movie makes it seem like America is responsible for all the wars in the world, I didn't see that at all.
The special effects were excellent. The blend between model and CGI was nearly seamless as far as I could see.
We went to see it at the Millertown Cinema by Knoxville Center Mall. The 10:05 showing was nearly empty.
The Samuel L Jackson cameo was perfect,and sets up the sequel,as well as an eventual Avengers movie.
No excuses.
No whining.
He just continued to do the best he could, playing as hard as he could.
How many of us could live up to that kind of example?
So, let me get this straight.
We want to make strip clubs illegal, but we're ok with strip mines?
VS Knoxville is a gaming center in downtown, and they're holding a blog party from 7-9 on Saturday May 10th. The Sunsphere is Not a Wig Shop provides a review.
If you're into gaming at all, here's a place where you can play to your heart's content and still be social.
Check it out!
A couple of people have said they already know what the movie is, so I'm just going to post this and see how fast they get the answer up.
Final Clue: This movie was Farmer Ted's debut.
UPDATE:
Guest Clue: A player who knows the answer has given the following clue: This movie had its World Premiere in Knoxville as part of the World's Fair
Congratulations to Lissa Kay of Oh...Really? who answered correctly that the actress was Diane Lane.
I think they must share a shoe fetish.
In comments, several people have said they already know the movie in question,which was a danger of the design of this contest, so I'l have to use a different approach next week.
This daughter of a Playboy centerfold has a thing for fancy footwear.