To Vote, Or Not To Vote...plus a quote

I found this rather astute quote on an exterior sign at an auto repair shop. Who would have thought that one would find such a gem at a place like that?

"All politics are based on the indifference of the majority."
-James Reston


I would have to agree with this statement. For starters, the majority of people tend to have the attitude of "well, I'm screwed either way. Why should I vote?" Or, sometimes, you REALLY get the indifferent or non-committal response of, "My vote doesn't count. Why should I care?"

Well, aside from this year's election which was won fairly and squarely, voter turnout is usually very low. So, when people later come out to protest the way an election went or how a decision was made, they will always rally against the majority - the majority who ACTUALLY VOTED.

You know the old say, majority rules. Well, my response to those who would protest any election, court decision or whatnot is, "Did you vote? Did you make your voice heard?" If they say no to either one, then I will follow it up with, "Then, you don't have a right to bitch about it."

I mean, really, they don't. If they decided to not participate in the process afforded to most law-abiding adults who are of voting age and are REGISTERED to vote, then I say exercise it!

I used to be part of that majority who felt that we were screwed either way until my parents bought a house and became property owners. That's when I realized that, hey, if I don't participate in the decision-making process, somebody else is going to decide for me!

So, ever since my early college and voting years since 1987, I have voted every year hence. The only time I did not vote at all was while I was in the midwest doing my year-long rotating internship. Because I was away from home and I was not in any one particular place for very long, I did not feel that it was right for me to vote on something that I knew nothing about and did not have enough of a vested interest in. So, I did the dutiful thing and took myself off the voter rolls in San Mateo County. Then, upon my return, I immediately re-registered to vote in that same county. When I moved to San Francisco, I registered to vote here so that I could participate in the electoral process.

Yes, I voted for our current president; and, yes, I voted for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, too. In both cases, people protested the voting decision, but to them I say, "Well, if enough of you (meaning Democrats) came out to vote for your chosen candidate, then you did your job, but the best candidate won. Get over it."

I could go on for a really long time about this, but I think I'll stop here. I could add more later on when I gather my thoughts more.

"I fought the law...and lost."

I was watching the morning news when they show a video clip of a high-speed chase involving the California Highway Patrol. The news anchors state that the suspect was a female who was fleeing and that it took the CHP about one and-a-half hours before they were able to pull the suspect over and arrest them.

The suspect drove at high speed through the Oakland Bay Bridge toll plaza and somehow was able to navigate local city streets and get up into Marin county before being arrested in San Rafael near the San Rafael-Richmond Bridge. When they arrested the driver, they had drugs on them. How stupid is that?

First of all, this occurred early in the morning, so that was a saving grace because I would hate to think of what would have happened if there were lots of cars on the road during the height of the morning commute!

Here's an idea to anybody who has even the slightest inkling that they are Speed Race or has watched The Fast and The Furious on DVD for the umpteenth time: Just give it up!

For one thing, the cops have many advantages over you - they're TRAINED for high-speed chases, you're not. They can handle themselves better than you can while you're falling apart behind the wheel with each passing mile. Also, their cruisers can outrun you any time of the day. You can't outrun them when: 1) You're not thinking straight, 2) You're frightened and your heart is racing and you think you just soiled your brand-new Fruit Of The Looms, 3) You're driving a rice rocket compared to their high-performance police package Smokey and the Bandit rig, 4) You don't know the roads all that well and they do (remember, they drive the freeways and streets EVERYWHERE).

But, hey, I don't wanna ruin their fun! If those idiots want to give it a shot and try to outrun the police, go ahead! I'll just wait for the next episode of COPS to air on television. After all, we LOVE to watch high-speed police chases!

Just so we're all on the same page...

If you've read my blog so far, you're probably wondering, "If he's ranting about how other people are stupid, how about the fact that he can't spell?"

First, it should be known that I can spell. When I chose the name for my blog, it was already taken by somebody else and I wanted it to stay as close to the original sound/meaning of the title as possible. Somehow, ihatestewpidpeople, ihatestewpidpeeple or ihatestupidpeeps would not carry the same weight and would probably detract from the whole blog altogether.

Also, in my own opinion, deliberate misspellings doesn't make things right or cute, it's just plain stupid. I mean, come on, do we really want to foster a generation where it's acceptable to misspell words? Would you take somebody seriously if they wrote a business letter that started:

"Yo, Homie,

Whazzup, dog? Jus chillin here in Linkin Park, killing time and yadda yadda yadda...

Peace, Out!
Lil Dunce"

Please, do us a favor and use the spellchecker! It would make life so much easier if they did.

I just had to include this so that I could get it off my chest.