by Daryle Hendricksen

"Someday, I hope that people who are able to vote and usually do not vote will be treated as pariahs by government and by society."

- Kenneth Scot Stremsky [Reference Vox Populi 18 November 2002 - Ed]

We live in a free country. That freedom is extended to all aspects of life, including the freedom to not vote! It's one thing to criticize people for their decision to not participate in our Democracy by voting in elections, but it's quite another to advocate that those people be treated as "pariahs", particularly by the very Government that is charged with protecting their freedoms!

Everyone in this country deserves fair and equal treatment under the law, whether it be based on people's race, religion, political party, or whatever. It would scare me to vote for someone who so clearly states that government should treat certain people differently. It's important to defend all of our freedoms, including the freedom to be lazy on election day and not show up at the polls!

For example, passing a law requiring people to vote would actually damage our Democracy. We would be no different from Iraq, who evidently require voting even when only one person is on the ballot! (100% ... yeah, right!)

By the way, I enjoyed the "Open letter to Al-Qa'eda".

Thank You,

Daryle Hendricksen