the stupidification of the american voter

some people vote for all the right reasons, a sense of duty, or approval, or disapproval of a candidate and his platform. but out of the small percentage of people who even bother to vote, a large majority of them vote for very stupid reasons. this is because of the long recent trend of stupidification so rampant in our culture.

some people vote for a person who is handsome. or otherwise attractive as opposed to his or her homely opponent. as a boy, i remember people voting for kennedy because he was considered good looking, particularly in contrast to nixon, who looked like he'd just eaten a baby. i've heard some women say they would not vote for a guy because he reminded them of their first husband.

i also remember when ronald reagan was governor of california, then ran for president. i never dreamed it would happen, but america elected a washed up 40's second rate hollywood actor. (even though some still consider to this day that the 80 election was a coup, brought about by making carter look bad for not getting the hostages home from iran, so daddybush arranged for the iranians to hold the hostages until the very moment reagan took office, but, i digress)

it was at that twilight zone moment in american history that i realized something very surreal was going on. a man was elected solely on charm and charisma and celebrity instead of issues and policies and platforms. the same thing happened with jesse ventura.
the same thing is now happening with arnold schwarzenegger.

but this time it's even sillier. arnold is a first class freak. sure, he's charming, lovable, famous, handsome, seemingly virulent, and he has absolutely no qualifications whatsoever to be governor of this large state. he is a freak, and this whole thing is a freak show. i hope like hell he does not follow in reagan's footsteps.

unlikely? not born here you say? i think it was orin hatch the other day proposing an amendment to the constitution ALLOWING foreign born citizens to hold that office. in theory, i don't see the harm of it, but the timing seems suspect. as if he were paving the way for arnold. as if they know he's going to be the governor, and then the president. just conspiracy theorizing here.

reagan started out and ended up as utterly unqualified to be the president of the united states. but to this day, certain stupidified citizens refer to him as the greatest president of all time. even suggesting his face be carved on mt. rushmore. spoken of in hushed, reverent tones. what a crock.

i suspect that arnold will get the job of governor. just a gut feeling, like that super hot chili i had last night, which had me tossing and turning and sweating and dreaming bad dreams.

I had a premonition sitting in a movie theatre when T2 first came out years ago that Republicans would try to amend the Constitution to let Arnold become President.

Of course the Bush administration loves him; his father was a Nazi and he's fascinated by Dictators. He's a Bush kinda guy.

Concerned about posting this, don't want to highjack your thread, or lead it into an off-road bash...

My possible stupidification is voice-tone related. I cannot listen to Senator Lieberman. period. The man could be more radically liberal than I am, though I doubt it, and I would still have trouble voting for him. He could outwardly be the epitome of a dream male physique, wouldn't make a bit of difference to me. As soon as he opens his mouth and begins to speak, I go into shut-down mode. I find it absolutely tortuous to listen to him.

As far as looks go, I hope you're wrong, and people would base a vote on more than physical appearance. But, then, I look inside myself, and think how I cringed when voting Gore/Lieberman simply because of having to hear his voice, and realize it's not that much different.

Your gut feelings? Here's hoping it was just the chili. I don't live in California, but do believe the implications of Arnold as gov of CA reach farther than the border, and farther into the future demise of our country.

Don't have time to read over what I've written, my son has a doctor's appointment- guess I can just hope it made any sense at all.