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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Since <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Arnold</st1:place></st1:City> is so deeply concerned about disenfranchised
voters, I have an idea.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>It is really quite simple. Everybody
votes. That’s right. EVERYBODY. Let’s eliminate voter
qualifications altogether. Illegal, shmillegal.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I’ll even take it another step
further, a giant step, a step that will even appease Christian fundamentalists,
since this step addresses those potential voters that have, for so long, gone
without representation.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>We should lower the voting age to
“moment of conception”. No. No. Listen up, constituents. The
expected mother will be able to vote on behalf of the fetus “by
proxy” until the day of delivery, at which time the new born baby will
register not only as a male or female, but as a Republican, Democrat, or
Independent (whatever party the mother desires). For demographic reasons, and
while the newly born child is a resident of a politically recognized maternity
ward, the baby will be issued a blanket whose color will reflect the
baby’s party affiliation (red for Republicans, blue for Democrats, and
green for Independents). <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I know what you’re thinking,
Visionaires. You’re thinking, “Jeesh, Tom! That sounds absolutely
stupid and ignorant.” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Yes. To you it may, very well, sound
stupid and ignorant. That’s because you are an adult. You probably
don’t, or can’t, recall what it was like those first few hours in
the maternity ward, those pre-kindergarten day-care years, that first day in
the sandbox with other five-year-olds, each child quietly (yet playfully)
contemplating their socio-economic future.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I say, “Give them the vote!”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Not only that, but the political
ramifications of lowering the voting age to “moment of conception”
would be far reaching and socially empowering.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Once the voting age is lowered, and . . .
say, for instance, the Republicans realize that the demographics of New
York’s inner city reflect an ever-increasing Democrat contingency, they
can pursue a larger representation in that region by simply conceiving more and
more Republicans in New York’s inner city. Can you imagine the exponential
increase in Republican constituents in October of 2008 (one month before
election day) after the Yankees win the World, George Steinbrenner is appointed
Mayor-for-Life, and the new Victoria’s Secrets catalog hits the
newsstands?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>And on election day, the multitude of
wide-ranging analyses may be expanded to include “fetus electorate
demographics”, CNN reporting live from Maternity Election Headquarters at
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Gritman</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Medical</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Center</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
as they count the number of red and blue blankets.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>And then there are those fun fund-raisers.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Seeya round town, <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Moscow</st1:place></st1:City>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Tom Hansen<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=2
color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'>Moscow</span></font></st1:City><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>, <st1:State
w:st="on">Idaho</st1:State></span></font></st1:place><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'>"I think one of the best ways to
support education is to make successful private schools like Logos prosper
through tax exemption."<br>
<br>
- Donovan Arnold (July 11, 2005)</span></font> <o:p></o:p></p>
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