Opinions at No Cost

I saw an article recently that stated: Eighty percent of respondents did not believe that bloggers should be allowed to publish home addresses and other personal information about private citizens.

A further 72 percent favored censorship of personal information about celebrities, and 68 percent, information about elected or appointed government officials such as judges or mayors.

However, more than one-third of respondents had never heard of blogs before participating in the survey, and only around 30 percent of participants had actually visited a blog themselves.

I think Kaavya Viswanathan published this. Actually it was TechRepublic. I little joke.

Here is what I find fascinating. Even though more than one third had never heard of blogs before (and more than two-thirds had never visited one), most could offer an opinion on the subject. Now I know that some would say that "just because I don't know what something is, I can still have my opinion on it." As Garth [Wayne's World] said, "We fear change." Now I am not suggesting that all people polled have electronic hands that they are smashing with rubber mallets. What I am saying is that Americans seem to have an opinion (and don't mind sharing it) even if they have limited real information.

Take politics – most people vote for candidates that they don't know anything about. I am not talking about voting for president. But when you have people in the booths, wanting to vote for president, they treat the ballot like a test, not leaving many blanks. If I had a really cool last name, I would want to be on the ballot. Leesa Carter the Agricultural Commissioner of Georgia – because my last name was cool.

What is a shame, I suppose, is that most of these positions that get elected probably matter in one way or another. Or if they don't really matter, there is still money being spent on the office, the office probably can dictate spending of additional funds, etc. So we are electing people who are tall (I have been told). But that is only for positions where we know what the candidate looks like. I fear that a large number of elected officials are being elected by people with a "testing complex" that happen to want to vote for president or against school bonds.

I would want to be married to Charlie Eppes, the brainiac guy on the series Numb3rs. Yummy. I saw that show when I was traveling a few months ago, and he was taste. Brilliant. Sexy. A completely fictional man, and this has little to do with the post today.

What is funny is that I offer my opinion on this blog 5 days per week. And some even listen. Most I think are looking for naked pics of ~Deb. That's why I am here.