Sunday, November 9, 2008

Are voters stupid?

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, believes the California voters are not able to understand the written election information produced by the Secretary of State and approved by the Attorney General, and make an informed decision. It is disappointing to hear the level on contempt the Speaker has for the voters of California.

Unfortunately, I think people (voters) thought they were making a statement about what their view of same-sex marriage was ("Eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry." see below). I don't know if it was clear that this meant that we are amending the Constitution ("Changes the California Constitution..." see below) to diminish freedom ("...eliminate the right..." see below) in our state.
- Nancy Pelosi, November 7, 2008
Proposition 8 is only 14 words:
Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.
Attorney General's official title and summary:
Eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.
  • Changes the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.
  • Provides that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.
Given the relative simplicity of Proposition 8, obviously the Speaker must question the results of the other 11 proposition voted on during the November 4, 2008, election.

The Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) Readability Index puts the information sent to the voters on par with Sports Illustrated and Time Magazine (Grade 11 to 12), which is judged to be significantly simpler than the IRS code (and text of the other propositions).

No comments:

 
Politics Blogs - Blog Top Sites
eXTReMe Tracker