It’s just history, and changing demographics

While he probably being sarcastic, I would like to point out that national elections as we k [...]

Yeah, it is very much wishful thinking on my part.

There is another factor that has effectively ruined politics: television. People who listened to the Nixon/Kennedy debate on the radio were convinced that Nixon won. Those who watched on TV were convinced that Kennedy won, because Nixon was wearing a bad suit color and was sweating like a pig, and Kennedy looked young, handsome, calm, and not-sweaty by comparison.

It’s frightening how many people are swayed by political television ads, even without knowing it. In most cases, the tactics used to sway them have nothing to do with positions, but about negative and positive spin.

The whole mess about hanging chads and “oops, I voted for Pat Buchanan” in 2000 goes to show how utterly stupid many voters are. And the sad fact is that these stupid voters are the ones specifically targeted by campaigns. It’s pointless to try to sway people like you or me because we’re intelligent and seek out information on our own. Elections are won by convincing stupid people to vote one way or another with spin that confuses them. The gay marriage issue is a great example of that. The Republicans promoted Bush as being for a constitutional amendment to ban it, when anyone who could count votes knew that such a measure was doomed to fail, regardless of who was president. And the Democrats did a good job of painting Kerry as sympathetic to the gay marriage cause, when he was actually nearly as opposed to the concept as Bush was.

While I can wish for an idyllic solution, there isn’t one that can be realized. And all that leaves for intelligent people to do is play chess with the proletariat pawns, which should turn the stomach of anyone with a conscience.

The second problem I have, and another reader pointed this out, is that military service in no way denotes a greater love for this country than non-military service. I have many friends in the service, and I can think of only one who joined for purely patriotic reasons. The rest are there because of a simple case of “couldn’t find anything better to do,” or the college benefits.

So if the political elections are determined by irrelevent social issues, and military service does not signify a greater respect and practice of politics, then I think your idea of limiting the vote to those who care is purely idyllic. While I respect it, it is no way feasible to attain.

Most of my military friends signed up because a) they didn’t have anything better going on b) they knew the judge would go easy on them or c) to satisfy their parents.