There’s one thing to have low voter turn out… and it’s another thing when there’s practically NO voter turnout. So what’s a Democracy to do?

[Israel] Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit says he is concerned that low voter turnout rates in Tuesday’s municipal elections will prompt distorted results.

“When people do not come out and vote, they make other elements, which they do not want, gain strength,” the minister said, about an hour and a half before polling stations were scheduled to close.

At the time, the turnout rate in Jerusalem stood at 36%, compared to 30% in Tel Aviv and 33% in Haifa

[...]

“We are far off our objective,” Sheetrit said. “This is simply a case of irresponsibility when people fail to fulfill their duty to vote…I have seen declining turnout rates over the years. This is dangerous indifference, and perhaps the time has come to consider sanctions against those who fail to vote. We need to think about fining those who do not vote.”

It’s true that when people don’t vote, the Democratic process is completely distorted.  But wouldn’t punishing people for not voting sort of defeat the whole purpose of “Democratic freedom”?

[source:  Ynet]

Popularity: 2% [?]

It was fun laughing at Sarah Palin for a few weeks.   She essentially writes her own jokes.  Just ask Saturday Night Live.

But when it comes to answering questions about the Middle East, you’d think every politician with interest in holding a high ranking Federal position could AT THE VERY LEAST be able to answer questions fluidly about three things; The Israeli/Palestinian conflict, Iran, and Iraq.   Those are the big three.  You should know your shit.  Especially if you’re running for Vice President.

Then WHY is it so hard for Palin to communicate clearly about Hamas?  We all know she doesn’t support the Palestinian government labeled as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.  Then why does she give shit-ass answers like this?

Couric asked, “What happens if the goal of democracy doesn’t produce the desired outcome? In Gaza, the U.S. pushed hard for elections and Hamas won.”

“Yeah, well especially in that region, though, we have to protect those who do seek democracy and support those who seek protections for the people who live there. What we’re seeing in the last couple of days here in New York is a President of Iran, Ahmadinejad, who would come on our soil and express such disdain for one of our closest allies and friends, Israel … and we’re hearing the evil that he speaks and if hearing him doesn’t allow Americans to commit more solidly to protecting the friends and allies that we need, especially there in the Mideast, then nothing will.”

WHAT?  The question asked to Palin was her opinion of Hamas as a democratically elected government and she answered with a shpeal about protecting those who seek democracy?  (And then jabbers on about the Iranian President visiting New York to boot.)

It’s quite easy to interpret her answer as encouraging the terrorist organization Hamas.  I know that’s not what she meant by the answer, but that’s exactly what it sounds like.

The confusion results in articles like this:  Sarah Palin Endorses Hamas.

You won’t find either a Republican or a Democratic candidate come out right and say that they support Hamas.  This is a no brainer.

What you do get (as with Sarah Palin), are misinformed or simply ignorant politicians with little experience in foreign policy spouting random answers to questions they simply don’t understand.  These ill formulated answers then evolve into politicians like Palin sounding, well, completely stupid.

Popularity: 3% [?]