Alfred E. Trump
David Harsanyi throws up his hands at watching voters in Republican primaries choosing Donald Trump as the conservative candidate in opposition to RINOs like Ted Cruz, Scott Walker, and Paul Ryan. We have to stop this kind of thing from happening again. We need some way to screen drunks and crazies out of the voting booth.
Never have so many people with so little knowledge made so many consequential decisions for the rest of us.
A person need only survey the inanity of the ongoing presidential race to comprehend that the most pressing problem facing the nation isn’t Big Business, Big Labor, Big Media or even Big Money in politics.
It’s you, the American voter. And by weeding out millions of irresponsible voters who can’t be bothered to learn the rudimentary workings of the Constitution, or their preferred candidate’s proposals or even their history, we may be able to mitigate the recklessness of the electorate.
No, we shouldn’t erect physical barriers to ballot access. Let’s purchase more voting machines, hire additional poll workers, streamline the registration process, mail out more ballots for seniors and produce more “Rock the Vote†ads imploring apathetic millennials to embrace their civic duty.
At the same time, let’s also remember that checking a box for the candidate whose campaign ads you like best is one of the most overrated obligations of the self-governed. If you have no clue what the hell is going on, you also have a civic duty to avoid subjecting the rest of us to your ignorance.
Unfortunately, we can’t trust you.
Now, if voting is a consecrated rite of democracy, as liberals often argue, surely society can have certain minimal expectations for those participating. And if citizenship itself is as hallowed as Republicans argue, then surely the prospective voter can be asked to know just as much as the prospective citizen. Let’s give voters a test. The citizenship civics test will do just fine.
Read the whole thing.
And let’s bring back the poll tax while we’re at it!
GoneWithTheWind
It saddens me that neither party can find good candidates for national offices. We need statesmen and they give us con men. We need new ideas and they give us regurgitated failed policies. Jeb was such a bad candidate that it was embarrassing. He didn’t even have the good sense to lie about his open borders fettish. Cruz was IMHO the best candidate, smart, conservative and high energy but he was smeared with mud by his own party before the race ever began. Now it is between Trump, Hillary and Bernie. Seriously would any intelligent person hesitate to pick between that offering???
I believe the country is at great risk. Arguably we are in a depression and have been for 7 years. It isn’t getting better and at the same time the national debt has exploded. We, our government, is like a junkie hooked on ever higher taxes, printing press money and borrowed money. We cannot get off this merry go round and even if by some miracle we were able to balance our budget we cannot either pay down the debt or afford to pay the interest on our debt. Default is a forgone conclusion the only questions are when and how. Would you really want Hillary or Bernie in office for the next 4 years???
SDD
GWTW — Your complaint sounds parallel to that made by TV viewers. Why do they “give” us all these trashy reality shows and dumb crime shows? Simple answer: Statesmanship doesn’t sell. Con artists do — or at the very least there’s no penalty for being one (Hope & Change anyone?). The history of nations is that they forget the factors that made them great. And then they’re not. Prime example: France.
We live in a time of unprecedented wealth, yet have forgotten how wealth is created. We live in a time of relative peace, yet we’ve forgotten that peace is not the default setting in the world and certainly not something that is achieved in the average millennial’s attention span.
I don’t know how pessimistic to be, but the argument that we deserve to end up like France is a persuasive one. Especially since an entire Party, most of the media and academia sees that as a positive outcome.
LibertyorWhat??!!
Oh yeah, this will work. Democrats won’t even stand for showing a photo ID to vote. In their world you don’t have to be a citizen. In Chicago you don’t even have to be alive.
jim murray
Trump, Clinton, Sanders. And your choice is ?
JDZ
I’m writing in “Janeen McMurtrie’s left boob.” She observed on Facebook that it is “more qualified than Donald Trump.”
GoneWithTheWind
You are right, our voters/citizens have been dumbed down and our society prefers stupid and trashy to thoughtful and intelligent.
BUT; I believe that both parties COULD put up better candidates if they wanted to. Both parties have been captured by an elite hierarchy who mange the party to further their own interests and not that of the country. McCain was put up as a candidate because it was his turn, ditto for Jeb. You have to first join the club and then work your way up kissing ass and following orders until it’s your turn.
The “free press” whose job it is to report the truth and expose fraud waste and abuse has become houses of special interest and political power and they no longer serve a public interest. The internet does a better job and you can’t believe most of what’s on the internet.
Perhaps a majority of voters do indeed deserve the government we get. But a majority of them seem to be getting all the free stuff and special laws/treatment and a minority of them are being taxed and robbed to pay for it. IF the MSM would do their job more voters would be informed and be able to make an intelligent decision.
Perhaps it is all wishful thinkiing.
IMHO we are being set up for failure. The government by intent or stupidity is operating the greatest redistribution of wealth in history. It will end when the entire middle class has been decimated and there is not more OPM to be stolen/taxed. There will be riots, perhaps even revolution and I do not see how it can ever result in a restoration of a constitutional republic. All revolutions ultimately end with a form of a dictatorial government and in our current dangerous world I would expect China and Russia to take advantage of our disarray and overthrow our government.
May you live in interesting times.
SDD
Exhibit A:
Polling says large majorities of Americans want smaller government.
Polling says 36% of Americans look favorably on socialism.
Bunny
Thought y’all might enjoy Joe Don’ s latest from the Low Information Voters SuperPac! Just funnin’ with ya, JD!
http://youtu.be/CVLVfbwbPBo
Bunny
Dang, that’s Joe DAN!!
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