The reason for bad politicians? Bad voters
May 31, 2012 4:16PM
Updated: July 3, 2012 12:46PM
The reason for bad politicians? Bad voters
From Albert Einstein — “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” But yet this is exactly what most voters do in election after election.
The reason there are so many safe districts in Congress is that in most areas of the country, huge blocs of voters blindly support either Democrat or Republican candidates. The positions of the candidates on the issues is unimportant; what is important to the voters is the letter in front of the candidates name — R or D. This and voter apathy are why we end up with career politicians who have served for 20, 30, 40 and even 50 years in Congress.
Many of the same voters who vote straight tickets are also the same people who moan and complain about the waste of tax dollars and corruption in Washington and most state governments. This would be like the person who takes a hammer and begins to hit his fingers and then complains that his fingers hurt.
Come November, a majority of the voters in McHenry, Kane and DuPage counties will vote to re-elect Republican incumbents while, in much of Cook County, voters will vote to re-elect the same Democratic politicians who are responsible for the state drowning in a sea of debt. According to a story on pensions for public workers in Illinois, there are retired state workers receiving more in pensions than they earned in salary.
With 50 percent of all eligible voters failing to vote and most of those who do vote blindly voting straight tickets and caring little about the positions of the candidates, voters have become enablers and have to accept much of the blame for the waste and corruption found in the state and federal governments.
But then, maybe I am too critical of voters; with baseball, football and basketball seasons taking up much of the year, voters can hardly be expected to be concerned with how their representatives are spending their tax dollars.
Victor Darst
West Dundee
Chicago Police Dept. did a ‘fantastic job’
I watched all the news on NATO, and how the Chicago police did their job.
If there was one job left in the world and it was for a cop, I would turn it down.
I think the Chicago police did a fantastic job — much better than I would have tolerated! When having to deal with a bunch of idiots (those who would not leave), they showed considerable restraint.
God love them all. Even though I do not live in Chicago, I was impressed with how they handled it all. Too bad we can’t do as well on our borders.
Chicago cops — go to the border and show them how it is done. Good job, guys.
Lydia Lothson
Hampshire
Don’t abandon testing for prostate cancer
As urologists practicing in Elgin, we are gravely concerned by the new recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) against prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing. These recommendations do a great disservice to men around the country, particularly those with a higher risk of the disease (i.e., African American men, those with a family history of the disease, those who are underinsured, and those who live in rural areas with limited health care access).
The decision to be tested for prostate cancer is an individual decision that men should discuss with their physicians; there is no single standard that applies to all men — nor should there be. No one can dispute that the PSA test has limitations; but when used and interpreted appropriately, the test provides valuable information in the diagnosis, pre-treatment staging, risk assessment and monitoring of prostate cancer patients.
The American Urological Association recommends that the best decisions regarding prostate cancer testing come from individualized discussions between a man and his urologist. It would be barbaric to universally dismiss the PSA test before a suitable alternative to prostate cancer diagnosis is available. There are many men in this community who would tell you that a PSA test saved their life.
James H. Griffin, MD
Roger A. Bielinski, MD
Timothy Roth, MD
Elgin
Confusion over what ‘establish’ means
Churches and temples have, for a long time, been tax-exempt. It is OK to do so because the government is not establishing a national church, a concept that is well beyond the comprehension of most radicalized atheists.
Displaying the Ten Commandments or a nativity scene during Christmas is not establishing a religion. Hmmm, maybe that is the problem — atheism is not a religion and they are angry because it is not. Religious envy? Could be!
Americans do not like things shoved down their throat, like Obamacare, and are making their collective voices of displeasure heard. If the ACLU and radical atheists continue to attack Christians, they may find the other cheek may not be turned.
Manfred W. Czymmek
Elgin
