Election Shame

There is a lesson we can hopefully draw from Tuesday's elections.

Turn out was abysmal. As its been mentioned, more people voted for Taylor Hicks on American Idol than in our primary.

But we may also consider the lack of turn out, true voting with one's feet. Voters have become so turned off to negative campaigning, special interests, corrupt politicians and the inability of government to address society's problems that they have opted out of the process.

The resultant shrinking number of voters lets special interest groups have even greater influence over whom they elect. Once elected, these politicians can direct the people's largesse towards these special interests, their relatives, friends, associates, etc. And all quite (most of the time) legally.

Political parties, whose job it is to advance the idelogy of its members, cease to do so, instead their mission is to protect the jobs of their own incumbents. Indeed, they make deals that do not benefit their party but benefit party politicians. Such as the re-districting agreement between Democrats and Republicans in California. One that assigned the Republican party to permanent minority status, but made seats for the Republican incumbents (and their hand picked successors including their wives, husbands and children) virtually guaranteed.

Its a sad state of affairs, and until more people stand up and say they've had enough, it will continue. Its truly sad when at the same time in countries all over the world, people are literally dying for the right that we take for granted.