Please don't "just vote"

Election day is today. Over the past 20 years or so, I have seen numerous public pleas urging folks to "just vote." The sentiment seems to be to encourage folks to voice their opinion in the most effective manner possible... at the ballot box. It appears to be a noble sentiment, and free of partisan leanings. It's also a crock. Please, for the love of all that is good and holy, do NOT "just vote."

Many people want to exercise their "right" to vote (we'll ignore the technical arguments about whether voting is a right or a privilege). Fine and dandy. Please exercise your rights intelligently. "Bearing arms" is a right. It is so fundamental that it was written into the initial passage of the constitution as the 2nd amendment (Quick history lesson: the original constitution was comprised only of the "articles." The "bill of rights", comprising the first 10 amendments, were added before the entire document was actually ratified. Those amendments won a lot of ratification votes).

But would you encourage your local teen to go grab a gun and start shooting "just to exercise his/her right?" Would you tell him or her that it's not important who or what you aim at, "just so long as you shoot?" Of course you wouldn't. So why would anyone tell folks to vote "just to exercise your right?" Why would you ever say "It's not important who you vote for, just so long as you vote?" In many ways, voting is more powerful than shooting a gun. The winners of these elections will be given positions of authority and responsibility that cover hundreds, thousands, potentially millions of lives. They will create laws and enforce them. They will confiscate money and property "for the public use." Words cannot do justice to how critical the need is for trustworthy, intelligent, and responsible folks to be making these decisions. Showing up at a voting precinct and randomly choosing names (or picking the name that somebody handed you on a flyer) will not do this.

Yet we still see too many campaigns designed not to educate voters or discuss the various issues of the day, but rather to merely enlist as many potential voters as possible and send them to the polls with only the vaguest notion of what they're doing (and yes, I'm speaking of MTV's asinine "Rock the Vote" series in particular.....). Doing this is irresponsible at best, and wantonly destructive at worst. It must stop.

It begins with you. You have the power today. Will you vote after researching the candidates, issues, and positions, or will you merely pick someone's name from a hat? Will you consider a candidate's background, voting record, and policy choices, or just look for the party affiliation (BTW, there's nothing inherently wrong in voting a party line...just so long as you know what that party stands for and want to align yourself with it)? Will you use your powerful right to vote to choose good people for important posts, or will you squander your privilege (and give the finger to the thousands of folks who worked and sacrificed through our nation's history so you c0uld have that privilege) by just picking the "cool" candidate or randomly picking names?

Voting is serious business. Treat it as such. Do your homework before you vote. If that sounds like too much to handle, then don't vote. Elections are far too important to be decided by ignorant rubes or slavish myrmidons. Please, please, PLEASE do not "just vote."

SAH