The 16 Year Old Vote

A bill was initiated in the Congress last week giving 16 and 17 year old kids the right to vote in federal elections. Forty Democrats voted Yea.

It's difficult remembering back to when I was a sophomore in high school and how into politics I wasn't.

What did interest me most was my upcoming athletic games, watching sports and listening to the Iowa Hawkeyes on radio. Back then they weren't on television. During my sophomore year I wasn't much aroused by the opposite sex unless they could shoot a lay up with their right and left hands. I always got tongue tied around girls; the prettier they were the more stupid I became. During my soph year I hurt my ankle during a game and wore a cast and was on crutches for a couple of weeks. One day, at school, one of the hottest girls in school, a junior, came up to me and inquired as to how my ankle felt. My answer? Sore. That's it, only sore. She never spoke to me again. And some people might believe the reason why I was so short in my answer is because I was concerned about who I would want in office in the off year elections--------------if only I had the right to vote.

John Kennedy took office my sophomore year . My family voted for him because he was Catholic. That's why I would have done the same. I would almost bet with certainty, but I could be wrong, I didn't know who Kennedy's vice-President happened to be. A big thrill in my life was when I learned to spell 'Khrushchev'. I thought it was funny when he slammed his shoe on a podium at the UN. At the time I wondered why he did that. Did he have a poor cobbler back home?
Would you care to know how concerned I was about the Cuban Missile Crisis. I wasn't. It came at the same time as our final game with out big rival, Ames High School. By the way, we were defeated 10-7 my sophomore year in a torrential downpour. I have a question. How'd that Missile Crisis turn out?

The forty Democrats who voted for this bill cite the following reason for giving kids three years into puberty their voting rights: If they can drive a car responsibly then they give them the legitimate right to show their ignorance.

The Democrats voting for this bill conveniently forget sixteen and seventeen your olds have the highest accident rates of all drivers.

But, who cares. It's all about maintaining power.