Ignorance of voters

Posted by Moonage on 16 Dec 2004 | Tagged as: Opinions

Left2right opines:

I hear some on the left saying that democracy itself is in question if voters are so badly informed that they don’t even know, for just one example, that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11. Tests of the political knowledge of potential voters regularly turn up a disturbing degree of ignorance.

Now, for starters, there’s as much evidence that Hussein did have something to do with 9/11 as there is evidence he did not.  So, I guess we’ll have to lump left2right into the ignorant voters block.  But, that’s not the point.

Certainly, we should want parents and voters to be well-informed. But the desirability of democracy is no more undermined by voters’ demonstrable ignorance than the desirability of free parenting is undermined by parents’ demonstrable ignorance. That is, the ignorance is relevant in both case, but not as alarming as discussions of voter-ignorance often suggest.

First point:  Who determines what consitutes ignorant or not in the first place?  I think Hussein did have something to do with 9/11.  Because of that only, Left2right thinks I’m ignorant.  I am so stupid I endanger democracy.  If we put an intelligence quotient litmus test to democracy, it’s gone anyway.

Secondly, and this is where it gets real clever, so follow me, OK?

We are not a democracy, we are a republic.

U.S. Constitution - Amendment 12

The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;

The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted;

The person having the greatest Number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President.

The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two- thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.

Nowhere does the Constitution state the dregs of society have the right to determine who the President is in the first place.

So, Left2right is so ignorant they think Hussein had nothing to do with attackng the US in the middle of a war, AND, they don’t even have a clue what type of government they live under.  They’re so ignorant they endanger democracy.  I guess we just need to heed what our founding fathers wanted in the first place and just eliminate the popular vote altogether.  It really hasn’t worked all that well of late anyway.

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