Sexism and E-Voting

Two completely unrelated topics to discuss, here— I just couldn't stand to let either one go by.

First off is a video of Brooke Hogan— a woman whose new reality show gives fresh meaning to the phrase "celebrity by proxy"— as she disses the entire female sex by explaining why women should, apparently, not be presidents.

"I’m so moody all the time, I know I couldn’t be able to run a country, ’cause I’d be crying one day and yelling at people the next day," says bubble-headed Brooke, and it's disturbing to see the thoughts of chauvinistic middle-aged men come straight out of the mouth of a curvy blonde.

I'm wondering: how come female stereotypes always come into play during election season, and never male ones? You never see women discussing politics by saying, "Oh, that John McCain, he could never be president. He's a man, and men are all testosterone-driven boars who can't keep it in their pants. I don't want my next president to be some sex-crazed Neanderthal."

Brooke, perhaps you ought to speak for yourself next time, and remember that most women are not, mercifully, anything like you.

Second to bat is this article, shot my way by my friend Claire. It talks about electronic voting machines and the havoc they've been causing in Ohio. I just don't get why we keep using these machines. It's been proven that they can be hacked into (quite easily, in fact) and that they are responsible for the loss of hundreds, if not thousands, of votes. In a crucial, narrow-margin state like Ohio, we can't afford this crap any longer.

I say, let's return to optically-scanned paper ballots. Didn't they always get the job done before?