Politics: October 2004 Archives

I love voting. Every time I get a ballot I find myself practically overwhelmed with giddiness. I love the idea of being able to throw out "the man" every few years.

I am fortunate to live in a state with very high voter turn out. Still every year, at least 20% of the eligible voters simply don't show up to the polls. To me this is unconscionable. Who are these people. Is there some way these people can be punished?

With tongue firmly planted in cheek some creative individuals have taken some logical steps to deal with the non-voters among us. (Since this is a little racier than the usual blog material, I'll put the rest into the extended entry.)

Here is a snippet from a recent email exchange I had with a member of my wife's family. I don't usually make private conversations public, but this really does represent how I feel.

It's amazing to me what short shrift the constitution gets in the Presidential race. This amazing document defined the President's role and responsibilities, the role of the federal government, and the limits the role of government can play in an individual's life, yet the candidates don't even spend five minutes discussing their views about this document. Sometimes I think politicians are embarrassed about that document, wishing those guys hadn't written it down.

I am always sympathetic to libertarian leaning political stances. However, I for one am glad that there are checks and balances in the world. When I read someone complaining about government regulations requiring food labeling standards it makes me a bit nervous. Yes, regulations are mostly bad. But if there weren't just a few corporations would run amuck. I think regulations are a pretty good trade for being able to avoid liability in the guise of a corporate shell.

An interesting twist on this showed up in Badnarik's Slashdot interview. He would avoid almost any regulation of corporations, but stockholders would be 100% liable. It's a very interesting way to rebalance things. People would sure invest differently.

When it comes to deciding who won or lost the debate, I have to say the American people lost. As John Stewart said it wasn't a debate it was two campaign speeches given in parallel.

I want to see a real debate.

I'll grant that Kerry acquitted himself nicely, although I still want an answer to how he can build a coalition to win the peace in Iraq, aka "The Grand Diversion."