Drat! I told Jim I’d include his latest in yesterday’s links post. Then I forgot. So here you go. A question follows.
President Obama recently suggested that mandatory voting could cure some of the ills of American democracy. Mr. Obama observed that compelling everyone to vote is one way to “encourage more participation” — perhaps the same way that the specter of prison sentences encourages more people to pay taxes. While there are many good reasons to oppose mandatory voting, compulsory balloting could help Americans recognize what their political system has become.
Mr. Obama declared that “the people who tend not to vote” are “skewed more heavily toward immigrant groups and minority groups … and there’s a reason why some folks try to keep them away from the polls.” If minorities vote at a lower percentile rate, that is sufficient justification for destroying everyone’s freedom in the name of equality. The fact that blacks had a higher turnout rate than whites in the 2012 presidential election is not permitted to interrupt the progressive victimization narrative.
Mr. Obama declared, “It would be transformative if everybody voted” …
Yup. You damn betcha it would be transformative. Transforming a once-free country into a third-world statist hellhole. For starters.
Picture it: you get tased or jailed for “failure to v*te.” The IRS adds a “failure to v*te” tax right next to your “failure to buy Obamacare” tax. Your most robotic neighbors drag themselves to the polls and robotically vote for whoever promises more goodies.
Nah, not gonna happen. Well, not the part about tasing, most likely. The rest of it? Oh yeah. Mostly there already.
While we’re on the subject of third-world politics what are some of your “favorite” ways that the U.S. is being made over in the image of Woody Allen’s Bananas?
The whole climate change, animal “rights” and environmental whacko nonsense will eventually back us up far beyond third world status if we allow it to go on.
Saddam Hussein implemented mandatory voting, and he was SO popular he always won 100% of the vote.
But this IS the USA. And that means that whichever party would implement that guano idea stands a very good chance of being completely out of office after the next election – and having that president’s ‘stink-nature’ legislation immediately repealed.
“And that means that whichever party would implement that guano idea stands a very good chance of being completely out of office after the next election “
You mean the two-branched Demoblican Party that has ballot access restrictions in — I think — every state that effectively eliminate real opponents and options? Hussein and his Ba’ath Party, indeed.
Thanks, Claire! I still think having politicians use Tasers on non-voters would be an improvement over the current “transparency” in elections. But it would be important to set the voltage right to avoid any fatalities that could be exploited by cynics and civil liberties extremists.
If I were forced to v*te, and couldn’t find a way to avoid it, I would have fun with it. I’d always v*te for the worst possible candidate- or write in one if that were “permitted”. I’d look for other ways to make unintended consequences of this “law” run rampant. I’m not gonna let the government-extremist perverts mess up my day any worse than is unavoidable.
Does it really matter?
Now really. I give the President the benefit of the doubt. I think he’s just working toward that “most transparent administration in history” he promised.
After all, if he gets all those immigrant groups and minority groups to pull the lever, he can finally let all the dead Democratic voters rest in peace.
I have mixed feelings. Of course it is tyrannical, but what better way to get people questioning the government religion? Anyway I suspect compliance would be lacking. They only like to pass laws that most people follow. If 30% of the population refuses, then what are they going to do? Yet another example of “the emperor wears no clothes”. These two factors make me think they won’t try this, anymore than they are going to let Obama have another term, or have a general gun confiscation.
On the other hand, intelligence is not well known in the ruling class, so they may be dumb enough to try. For the faint-hearted, if they are not ready to shoot the enforcers over this, there still is the writing in of Mickey Mouse.
Yes, like an Ayn Rand novel come to life, Obama tries to force us to do anything our ” Great Leader” ( LOL) wants us too. And like the bad guys in Rands novel, they will fail in the end. Obama is a failed president and history will bear this out. Real change is coming, time is on our side.
I’m with MJR. Can you ever remember an honest politician who put his country first? The elites in DC set them straight before they are even sworn in. Lies + indoctrination = the US congress.
Why stop at 100% voting? In the last presidential election, there were several districts that went beyond that. 103%, 115%, heck there was even a district in Florida that had 7 registered voters and recorded over 900 votes!
I’m an Elections Inspector in my district. I’ve found it a great way to kind of “take the pulse” of the general population. There have been several elections where, I’m quite sure, if “burn DC down and start over” had been on the ballot, it would have won by a landslide.
Something is growing. It hasn’t reached critical mass yet, but it’s growing.
Thanks, MJR (I guess). I didn’t watch all the video, but I did read the referenced “Fate of Empires” by Sir John Glubb http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/glubb.pdf We’re pretty clearly toast in the not terribly distant future. The only questions are how it will happen and what will be left afterwards.
It would be very convenient. Voters could stay home, MSM would report 100% always vote. Vote numbers would be tallied by the two parties, apportionment would be decided by the incumbent establishment. Simple and easy. Next step will be to abolish the charade of voting altogether.
Or they could do it scientifically. Give ballots to a random sample of carefully selected statistically diverse voters, say 100 or so, and it’s just like everybody voted. They do it all the time for surveys.
The ruling class will never abandon voting altogether. It’s how they maintain the lie that it is our government.
The system they have now is near perfect – offer a list of carefully-vetted candidates. How many Ron Pauls have you seen out there?
Say Kent, maybe it’s time we resurrect our presidential aspirations!
If v*ting becomes mandatory, that would be a good monkeywrench I suppose. Pretty much exactly what I had in mind last time. Do as much to dismantle the Empire (and screw up everything it has done domestically) as possible before assassination.
But learning how elections are rigged by the FEC only cemented my suspicions that a decent person can’t ever end up on a ballot, much less in office.