Wednesday, October 20, 2010

"Too Tired to Vote?"

It's election time and we are about choose the people that will govern us until the next election. It is both a privilege (one that too few people around the world have) as well as a responsibility.


Each check we make on the ballot deserves careful consideration and it's easy to do; the pens and markers don't weigh twenty pounds. Choosing the "master lever" implies that it is just too much work to mark each candidate. Our founding fathers would be turning in their graves if they knew, and I'd be ashamed to admit using it.


I'd go so far as to say it's this type of mindlessness or laziness that is responsible for the mess in which we find ourselves, both locally and nationally. We have only ourselves to blame.


So now we hear "kick the bums out". It's surely tempting and understandable, but it is just as wrong headed as that master lever. Being a newcomer or "outsider" is no assurance of integrity and competence, just as being an experienced politician is not an assurance of unethical behavior or incompetence.


Are all members of one party good or evil? Are all members of any group the same? Would my only qualification for a friend be that he or she is a member of a particular group? Heaven help us if so.


We have a duty to ourselves and our country to think about each candidate and vote accordingly.