Don't Vote November 4

[Da Skinna]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...deoLineup/Pick

[Big War Bird]

Anyone who was dumb enough to watch that whole just to see celebrities talking really should not vote.

[André Masséna]

I like to make a hand relief.

[Kiljan Arslan]

like this?



the video was kind a funny. got annoying after awhile though.

[André Masséna]

Well, the Borat part was all I really liked.

The rest kind of sucked.

I could care less why Snoop Dizzleog or whatever he calls himself votes.

[Erik]

I still don't see the point of voting, unless you happen to live in a swing state......or if you're desperate to make a hand relief of course.

[Big War Bird]

I still don't see the point of voting, unless you happen to live in a swing state......or if you're desperate to make a hand relief of course.

Swing state or not, basically all elections for every office, national, state and local are up for grabs on Nov. 4.

[Big War Bird]

I keep hearing how important it is for everyone to vote.

Let me be politically incorrect and say that maybe some people shouldn't vote.

I know I'm swimming against the tide. Get-out the-vote groups now register young people at rock concerts. HeadCount cofounder Andy Bernstein told me: "We registered over a 100,000 people. It is so imperative that this generation's voice is heard."

But wait. Is that really a good idea? Many kids don't know much. At a HeadCount concert, "20/20" asked some future voters, "How many senators are there?" One said 12, another 16, and another 64. One girl guessed, "50 per state."

Most kids didn't know what Roe v. Wade was about. "Roe vs. Wayne?" asked one. "Segregation, maybe?" "Where we declared bankruptcy?"

Headcount's Marc Brownstein concedes, "there's a lot of uninformed voters out there." But he argued:

"Democracy is not about taking the most educated portion of the society and having them decide who's going to run the entire society. Democracy is about every individual having a voice."

I suggested that when people don't know anything, maybe it's their civic duty not to vote.

"It's an argument that really, really smacks against everything we hold dear as Americans," Bernstein replied.

Maybe it was unfair to pick on kids at a rock concert. I went to Washington, D.C., and showed people pictures of prominent Americans. I'm happy to say that everyone recognized Barack Obama and John McCain.

But only about half recognized Sarah Palin, and most didn't know Joe Biden. Few people recognized Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but everyone quickly identified TV's Judge Judy.

Economist Bryan Caplan, author of "The Myth of the Rational Voter", points out, "the public's knowledge of politics is shockingly low."

He scoffs at the idea that "it's everyone's civic duty to vote."

"This is very much like saying, it's our civic duty to give surgery advice," Caplan said. "We like to think that political issues are much less complicated than brain surgery, but many of them are pretty hard. If someone doesn't know what he's talking about, it really is better if they say, look, I'm going to leave this in wiser hands."

Isn't it elitist to say only some people should vote?

"Is it elitist to say only some people should do brain surgery? If you don't know what you're doing, you are not doing the country a favor by voting."

My ABC "20/20" segment about this enraged some viewers.

"That was a shameful piece you put together about youth voting. ... I wonder if the quality of the information in our society has anything to do with hackery like yours infesting the airwaves and drowning out reasonable discussion."

Another wrote: "You are a decrepit journalist and a poor excuse of a patriot."

And still another: "Democracy is defined by citizen participation. So you are undermining democracy. Thanks."

Someone even made a video parody mocking my story.

Clearly, not everyone understood what I was saying.

"You sit there on television and ignorantly say that all youth should not vote . . . wow."

That's not what I said. I hope that informed young people do vote.

I just don't think it's so wonderful when famous people drag uninformed and uninterested people to the polls.

One viewer raised a fair point: "You simply cannot create a litmus test for voters. At what point does a voter become satisfactorily 'informed'? Do they have to know the name of the president, vice president, both their senators? This is the problem with your argument; you don't state how informed a voter should be, just that they should be. This is a very slippery slope."

But I'm not saying that the government should impose a litmus test. God forbid. I just want clueless people to find something else to do on Nov. 4.

Voting is serious business. It works best when people educate themselves.

If uninformed people stay home on Election Day, good.

That doesn't include you.

Duty Not To Vote

[Kiljan Arslan]

John Stossel I say definitely has that duty not to vote.

[morteduzionism]

I thought you were talking about this...I originally saw the story either on my local news or CNN

[Big War Bird]

I thought you were talking about this...I originally saw the story either on my local news or CNN

Oh good lord that old joke?

[morteduzionism]

Oh good lord that old joke?

I didn't realize two days was...that long. My bad.

[The King Of Peasants]

I think its the duty of all citizens to vote and those uninformed should should get informed.

I still don't see the point of voting, unless you happen to live in a swing state......or if you're desperate to make a hand relief of course.

You do elect local/state officials as well as presidential ones. The real uninformed ones are those that think because they're state is going one way in the presidential election they shouldn't vote...

[Yorkshireman]

I definately won't be voting.

[HorseArcher]

same from youtube:

I still don't see the point of voting, unless you happen to live in a swing state......or if you're desperate to make a hand relief of course.

That's just stupid. You "don't see the point of voting" ?

The swing states vs non-swing states are based on research and polling not on voting records. People actually need to vote (save the early voting states) to make it happen. The candidates also need to win the popular vote vs. electoral vote.

[Old_Scratch]

At 39 seconds, Jennifer Aniston says "I hear polar bears can swim" in a tone that implies ridiculousness. Actually, they're marine mammals, like seals or sea otters. They can swim hundreds of miles. I don't know why, but that one sentence made me angry at the entire ad.

Also, is Jaime Fox wearing some sort of religious scarf? It doesn't look like the type of scarf that someone would wear during the filming of an advertisement because he was cold.

[Da Skinna]

At 39 seconds, Jennifer Aniston says "I hear polar bears can swim" in a tone that implies ridiculousness. Actually, they're marine mammals, like seals or sea otters. They can swim hundreds of miles. I don't know why, but that one sentence made me angry at the entire ad.

Also, is Jaime Fox wearing some sort of religious scarf? It doesn't look like the type of scarf that someone would wear during the filming of an advertisement because he was cold.

Uhh, polar bears are still mammals. Even orcas need oxygen, so bears need land! When you go to the Arctic and report back that things are alright, I think I'll leave your comment alone.

As for celebrities being stylish and opinionated... what!?

[Old_Scratch]

Uhh, polar bears are still mammals. Even orcas need oxygen, so bears need land! When you go to the Arctic and report back that things are alright, I think I'll leave your comment alone.

As for celebrities being stylish and opinionated... what!?

Marine mammals aren't just mammals, they either in part or entirely live on the ocean. Actually I spent the entire summer and part of the fall in the arctic. I was in the Chukchi Sea working with marine mammal scientists as a USMM deck officer. Polar bears were one of the marine mammals they were studying. Polar bears spend almost all of their time on the ice flows and in the water. They do go ashore occasionally for giving birth etc, but they are excellent swimmers. To answer your question, no things aren't alright in the arctic, but that still doesn't make Ms. Anniston's comment any less stupid.
Don't believe me? I have pictures if you like, and yes, they're mine.


Polar bear on the ice.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...4/IMG_7557.jpg

Polar bear swimming.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...4/IMG_7878.jpg

Walrus heard hauled out on the ice.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...4/IMG_7913.jpg

Do you wish to make any more brash assumptions about me?

[craziii]

actually, if they are really that clueless about the politics/gov in general, they really should not vote. and leave stossel alone, he is quirky and funny. on a serious note, doesn't every kiddie in the country take 1 year of mandatory usa gov+history? how could they not know the most basic things like # of senators and such?

[HorseArcher]

actually, if they are really that clueless about the politics/gov in general, they really should not vote. and leave stossel alone, he is quirky and funny. on a serious note, doesn't every kiddie in the country take 1 year of mandatory usa gov+history? how could they not know the most basic things like # of senators and such?

Everybody can vote. 18years of age and proof of citizenship. We can elect Mickey Mouse if it comes to it, there are no rules beside the ones I have already wrote. It's has been like this...hmmm since the Constitution written.

edit: save necessary additions: additon of blacks and women later.