I grew up in a country that believed in the sanctity of the secret ballot. It was a foundational cornerstone to our free and fair elections. We were proud of that. It was something that made America truly exceptional, or at least distinctive. People, justifiably, believed how they voted was "none of your business."
I didn't realize someone stole that right while I was sleeping.
Chuck Todd -- who cares? He's just one of a whole bevy of talking heads throwing away a once-cherished right; the right to a secret ballot. The only difference here is he not only sounds ridiculous, but his beard makes him look ridiculous as well. The fact his mother lets him go out in public looking like that disqualified him as a serious thinker in my opinion, a long time ago.
Stupid is as stupid does. I get that. But what boggles my mind is how easily people have given up a right that we used to hold dear. It looks like people gave that up without even an argument, let alone a fight. I remind you, people died in the mud half a world away defending that right. People gave up their livelihoods and their lives so their heirs could grow up in a society where that right was guaranteed and cherished. The only guy who died for Chuck's right to say stupid stuff to an audience was Tim Russert, and I don't believe Tim planned for things to happen that way. Given a choice, I am sure he would have voted for a different outcome.
I realize people have come to accept the government knows much more about you than you would like. I'm sure an analysis of my writing allows them to figure who I vote for, whether or not I watch porn, my income, how much I have in savings, my lipid profile, and sexual orientation. I'm not saying we are happy about it. Just that we accept that privacy is dead. As Snowden so poignantly noted:
From now, know that every border you cross, every purchase you make, every call you dial, every cell phone tower you pass, friend you keep, article you write, site you visit, subject line you type, and packet you route, is in the hands of a system whose reach is unlimited but whose safeguards are not.
Now you don't have to worry about some faceless government agency taking away our rights. The yakking lap dogs of the corporate media are happy to compete for the privilege of defiling in public, without a hint of remorse or shame, bedrock rights we once considered sacrosanct and proud legacies of our American heritage.
Here's what I don't get. If someone invaded us and tried to take that right away, we'd be angry. If someone demanded we surrender that right in return for anything, we'd tell them to pound sand. Maybe drop a bomb on them just to underscore the point. I don't know why these people hate America. They get paid pretty well to crap on our legacy. I wish they would take their money and go Galt or whatever they do, so the rest of us can go on about our business solving real problems like real adults.