I'm sick and the holidays are coming. I'm done posting for the rest of the month. I hope to see you back on December 1st.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

... or did they forget that it's Veterans' Day? I count on Google's art department to let me know these things. However, it seems that they have missed this day. Have they taken the "Blue vs. Red" thing too far? As the son-in-law of a former army Colonel, I'm a little disappointed.

Why can’t moms jump? Want to see something funny? The next time you’re around your mom, ask her to jump straight up in the air as high as she can. If your mom is anything like mine, the effort-to-result ratio will be amazing. There’s a lot of bending. There is some arm action. There’s tons of noise and yet there’s barely enough altitude to clear a matchbook. Don’t believe me? Try it out yourself and let the laughter and amazement begin.

As a party that claims to be “of the people,” it’s amazing how many Democrats are quick to assume that those who disagree with them are morons.

This, in my never-so-humble opinion, is the problem with the Democratic Party. There is an overwhelming arrogance that assumes that we-the-betters must take care of the hoi polloi.

At the base of the Republican Party, on the other hand, is the belief that people generally work as self-interested agents. This will lead to a greater overall efficiency and will maximize prosperity (no matter how that’s defined).

As a Libertarian* I nearly always find myself voting for the Republicans. Do I agree with them on all the issues? Heck no, I don’t. I think that abortion should be legal. I think that stem cell research is inevitable (and desired). The only question is “Will we be the country that enjoys the economic benefits?” I don’t care if men marry men or one man marries eight women. People should be able to make their own decisions. All these issues aside (yes, they are big issues), I am always aware of “the let people live their lives, make mistakes, and learn from their mistakes” attitude in the Republican Party. This is about 180 degrees from the Democrat belief that we should help people make “the right decision.”

Mark my words – if Bush does hold on, you’ll start to see things like “our country is filled with morons… It’s those fly-over states… All the intelligent people on the coasts voted Kerry…” These are all ways of saying, “You’re too stupid to look out for yourself. We need to do it for you. After all we’re the party that cares about the people.” With friends like that…

*I am obviously not a party-line Libertarian. I don’t want to abolish the government. I don’t want to disarm and disband the military. I simply wish to let people make decisions for themselves regardless of whether I believe it’s the “right” decision.

I’d like to interrupt this democracy love-fest to urge people NOT to vote. Let’s be honest here – unless you are in a battleground state, your Presidential candidate is either going to win or lose and he’s going to do so with or without your help. This means that you’re going to be there at the polling center with your ballot in hand and you are going to be tempted to vote for things about which you have absolutely no knowledge. At that point you either vote the letter (e.g. D or R) or you read a brief synopsis on a complex issue and vote. Either is a horrible option.

Somewhere along the line people forgot the research stage. Society starting pushing the whole “Vote” thing as if it were the most important part of the process. What society didn’t seem to retain was the idea that your vote should be the result of research, learning, and thought.

A year and a half ago I wrote an entry that I still stand by today. Ask yourself this before you vote, “Would I be voting for this candidate if I hadn’t ever been told his/her party?” If you can truly answer that question in the affirmative, you might be able give a reasonable vote. If you can’t, you have no business voting. People would have you believe that to not vote is a sin. I would argue that to vote ignorantly is a far greater sin. So do your civic duty today – go not vote.