Posted: 16 month(s) and 22 days(s) ago   |   6 Comment(s)   |   Rating: 2 0
Posted by: WallStNick

I was listening to the Howard Stern show a few weeks ago and heard an alarming bit.

One of the Stern staffers armed with a tape recorder ventured through the streets of Harlem and asked African American voters who they were casting their ballot for. As expected, the majority were Obama supporters.

Here's the twist: The Stern show staffer asked the Obama supporters about Obama's policies--remaining in Iraq until we win the war, and his staunch opposition of embroynic stem cell research.

Oh wait, those are McCain's policies. Nevertheless, the Obama supporters seemed to be in favor of staying in Iraq, and one was even quoted as saying "I'm anti stem-cell."

This kind of ignorance is infuriating. The fact that uninformed voters will choose the next President is scary. There are immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship who know more about this country than American citizens who have lived here their whole lives.  

Now, i'm not saying uninformed opinions don't matter. I'm just saying that they shouldn't carry as much weight as informed ones.

Here are a few excerpts from an article that was published in the Orlando Sentinel in November 1998:

"The purpose of voting, in our country, is to select men and women with the competence and integrity to operate the mechanics of government fixed by our Constitution. For this process to have any public benefit requires that the choices be made on an intelligent, knowledgeable and reasoned basis."

 "It has become standard operating procedure for candidates to lie not only about themselves but about their opponents. If they have the money, candidates even hire people who are professional experts in lies and deceptions. Candidates base campaign positions not on beliefs or convictions but on polling data. This blatant deception has become so accepted as part of the process that television networks think nothing of hiring professional campaign deceivers as campaign commentators. At the same time, politicians, knowing that an ignorant voter is the best defense against accountability, have encouraged universal registration without regard for patriotism, interest or knowledge on the part of voters."

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