Okay When It's Your Side

A pair of links this more for intrepid Left of the Dialians.

This first one is going to amaze you. I kid you not.

You have heard a lot about voter fraud in the past few weeks, as various organizations are pushing various remedies. The problem is that virtually none of them address the true problem, which is large-scale voter disenfranchisement, not enabling very, very large numbers of people to cast a vote at all. Instead, they focus on the notion that there are folks out there who are either casting more than one ballot, or are simply not eligible to vote but voting anyway. And yet study after study have shown that this is an infinitesimal problem, at least in part because the sentence for such an act is severe. But making sure a district which favors the other party has only one third as many voting machines as they need? That’s easily done and no one’s ever gone to jail for that. Oh so much more bang for the buck!

So. With that in mind, checking out this video of lawmakers openly voting for others.

Here’s another one. I’ve never been one of them what complains about celebrities speaking out for their favorite cause, at least, not since I was about fifteen years old and therefore understood the basic notion of personal responsibility and each person doing his or her part to help others. So Bono annoys you when he talks about debt relief? The Dixie Chicks should just shut up and sing? You know, I don’t recall people whiny when Charlton Heston started speaking out in favor of gun rights, and it’s not just because he’s always holding a gun. Basically, people tend to be fine with celebrities speaking out when they agree when them and don’t like it otherwise. Except when they’re talking about starving children. No one likes that because, come on, seriously. It’s depressing.

So. With that in mind, check out this video of Angelina Jolie. I wish even one quarter of our elected officials sounded half this intelligent. And I wish each and every one of them experienced what she’s talking about in this video.

Folks do what they can. So a doctor I know drives into incredibly rural, mountainous areas about once every other week to treat the sick who are too poor to be able to afford to come to his practice. A carpenter I know goes to Africa twice a year to build churches in tiny villages, all on his own dime. A businessman I know goes into an inner-city grade school once a month to read to the kids there. These folks do what they can. And celebrities do what they can, which is to use the attention they always get to draw attention to problems in the world. That’s a hell of a lot better than drawing attention for ripping off a collectibles dealer or driving drunk or even another Lara Croft flick.

Comments

[Ed]

Amaze?, maybe. Disgust? Right on.