{"id":252,"date":"2012-11-10T09:04:50","date_gmt":"2012-11-10T14:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.townehouse.net\/phoenix\/?p=252"},"modified":"2012-11-10T09:04:50","modified_gmt":"2012-11-10T14:04:50","slug":"on-responsible-voting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=252","title":{"rendered":"On Responsible Voting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/decision-making.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"254\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?attachment_id=254\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/decision-making.jpg?fit=250%2C288&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"250,288\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"decision-making\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/decision-making.jpg?fit=250%2C288&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-254\" title=\"decision-making\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/decision-making-150x150.jpg?resize=150%2C150\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>The election is over. the polls have closed, speeches have been made and concessions granted. No more political ads, no more political signs. It is finally all over. Some folks are happy, some are not. We no longer have to listen to a barrage of political ads, political news, and poll results. Let&#8217;s get back to Sponge Bob.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>I have been wondering, however, if there was a requirement that voters be self informed would the results be any different. In other words, what if it was law that a voter must educate themselves on the issues, and where each candidate stands on those issues, before they could vote. What have they were required to demonstrate what criteria they used to pick their candidate and only those who used valid criteria were allowed to vote, would that change anything?<\/p>\n<p>Ah, but you ask, what is valid criteria, and who would decide the validity? What if a decision to vote for a candidate was not made based on their physical appearance, religious affiliation, or racial background. How many voters do you think voted for a candidate based on that criterion? Or didn&#8217;t vote for a candidate based on that criterion. How many people voted for Mr. Obama because he was black? How many people did not vote for him because he was black?How many voters cast their ballot without an inkling on where a candidate stood on the economy, foreign affairs, the environment, etc?<\/p>\n<p>The polls gave statistics that Obama had 70% of the female vote. Why? The polls indicated that Obama had 90% of the black vote. Why? You can draw your on conclusions from this data. But I submit a certain percentage of those folks made uninformed decisions. By that I mean some decided not to vote for one candidate or another because of something they heard but did not do the research to ascertain the veracity of the allegation. Any ballot cast in such a fashion was a ballot cased by and uninformed and irresponsible voter.<\/p>\n<p>Of course I realize this is un-American. The law gives everyone who qualifies the right to vote. The law does not state you must be informed and the law does not state you must vote responsibly. I realize that our system is still the best in the world but it could be improved upon. I am only saying what if? And voter fraud is still a felony!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo it is written so shall it be\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The election is over. the polls have closed, speeches have been made and concessions granted. No more political ads, no more political signs. It is finally all over. Some folks are happy, some are not. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_daextrevo_audio_file_creation_date":"","_daextrevo_text_to_speech":"","_daextrevo_document_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-political"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/THFI.png?fit=214%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":745,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=745","url_meta":{"origin":252,"position":0},"title":"Facebook and Politicians","author":"Tom Lind","date":"November 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"About a month ago I reported in this blog on the social media acumen of the currently seated City of Cincinnati Council members and the two mayoral candidates. The point was to demonstrate if those politicians were aware of the reach of social media, and were they inclined to use\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Commentary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"WebPolitics","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/WebPolitics-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14337,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=14337","url_meta":{"origin":252,"position":1},"title":"Let&#8217;s Go Vote!","author":"Tom Lind","date":"October 25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Are you planning to cast your vote? As election day approaches, I find myself increasingly reflecting on the significance of voting in our democratic process. It makes me curious whether those individuals who often voice their dissatisfaction with our country's direction are actively participating in the electoral process themselves. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Commentary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/TH102324.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":584,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=584","url_meta":{"origin":252,"position":2},"title":"Silly Season Is Here!","author":"Tom Lind","date":"September 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This November there will be both a mayoral and a council election. A few weeks back I saw my first political ad for the season. It was an ad for John Cranley and the entire add was dedicated to bashing his opponent, Roxanne Qualls. I hope this does not set\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Commentary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"Political Race","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/political-horse-race-1-869562-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14163,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=14163","url_meta":{"origin":252,"position":3},"title":"Lady Liberty is Crying!","author":"Tom Lind","date":"July 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"As I sit here pondering the current state of our nation, it saddens me to say that I have never seen it in such a dire state. As someone who loves and is a patriot of this country, it is becoming increasingly difficult to declare that I am proud to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Commentary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/WeepingSOL.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":246,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=246","url_meta":{"origin":252,"position":4},"title":"Politically Speaking!","author":"Tom Lind","date":"November 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"We The People? I, for the most part, am not a political animal. I believe in personal freedom, states rights, and small government. I realize that my political views will not change the hearts and minds of those with opposing points of view. But there are certain basic concepts that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Political&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Political","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"Screwed","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Screwed-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":354,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=354","url_meta":{"origin":252,"position":5},"title":"The More Things Change. . . . .","author":"Tom Lind","date":"February 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently my wife and I decided to watch a few episodes of an old TV series called The West Wing, via the magic of Netflix. The West Wing was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999 to May 14, 2006. The show chronicled the\u00a0adventures\u00a0of a Democrat president named Jeb\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Political&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Political","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"politics","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/politics-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p38YRh-44","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}