Upcoming Headline: "Arkansas to Allow Idiots to Vote"

As a small town practitioner of the forensic arts, I am rarely taken aback by the machinations of the political system, but I must admit that this year's election has one issue on the ballot that has me shaking my head. We get several of the California channels on the satellite, so I am used to seeing ads for or against this proposition or that initiated act on some of the most outrageous matters, but I normally just pass that off as being something that the folks out in California do and that is just their way. I think we have not only a contender but a winner with this year's proposed constitutional amendment No. 1 here in the great State of Arkansas.

While the proposed amendment has some other purposes--don't they all--the one that caught my attention was it's proposal to do away with the ban on idiots voting here in the Natural State. Yep, you read that right, we are voting on whether or not idiots should be allowed to vote. Now before you go getting all high and mighty on me, I know full well the historical and medical connotations of the word and that its use in the Arkansas constitution is outmoded and more than disrespectful as applied to certain persons. What piqued my interest, however, is the modern use of the word and its application to the voting process.

In that vein, I personally know of certain local citizens that have been described if not defined by the word and none of them have been disenfranchised to this point, so the prohibition is rarely, if ever, enforced. Certainly if it was there are several of my acquaintances who would insist that I not be allowed to vote. In fact, one of my favorite golfers used the word to describe himself after the final round of a major tournament in which his decision making processes were less than wise. And, a once popular prime time sitcom, which now plays nearly around the clock in what I call reruns and others call syndication, has a character that describes himself as "Lord of the Idiots". The use of the word has certainly morphed into a less medical/less technical adjective than its original use, but I am not sure that transition will be appreciated by all.

Nonetheless, I am intent on voting for the amendment just in case they decide to enforce it and someone with a different persuasion than mine tries to keep me from voting. . .now if we can just get a constitutional amendment to keep idiots-- as the word is presently used--from running for office.