Posts Tagged ‘elections’
A rank choice
What do you call an electoral system where if your candidate loses, you get to vote again? Some people call it “ranked-choice voting.” I call it “legalized voter fraud.” If a measure on the November ballot in Massachusetts passes, you can say goodbye to such quaint concepts as “one person, one vote” and “the candidate […]
Filed under: Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: ballot, California, candidates, column, democracy, election, elections, electoral reform, Gavin Newsom, Groucho Marx, Jerry Brown, majority, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Opinion, plurality, Politics, ranked-choice voting, vote, voter fraud, voters, Wakefield Daily Item
The spark of youth
Massachusetts state lawmakers are currently weighing a proposal that would allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote. In other news this week, the latest viral trend among teenagers involves partially inserting an iPhone charger into a wall outlet and sliding a penny down the wall onto the exposed prongs, causing an explosion of sparks, electrical damage, […]
Filed under: History, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: Ayyanna Pressley, ballot, children, elections, electrical outlet, fires, Harvard, iPhones, Jim Morrison, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, penny, plug, Politics, schools, science, Sen. Jason Lewis, smoking, teachers, teenagers, viral, votong, Wakefield Daily Item
Fixing elections
When any person or group tells you that they want to “reform” the way we conduct elections to make voting more “fair” and increase voter “participation,” your BS detector should go off. Because when it comes to elections, one thing and only one thing matters: winning. When proposals are advanced to change how elections are […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: Bob Dylan, Climate Change, Democrats, diversity, election reform, elections, ethnicity, gender, high school, Humor, ideas, journalism, legislature, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, MassForward, MassINC, newspapers, nonpartisan, NPR, Opinion, partisan, PBS, policy, Politics, press, problematic, race, ranked-choice voting, Republicans, study, taxes, Tisch College, Tufts University, voter fraud, voter registration, voters, voting
Native tongue
As has oft been stated, Wakefield is a welcoming town, for both visitors and new residents — especially new residents, whom we have a habit of electing to public office before they’ve even finished unpacking. A couple times a year, Wakefield offers an orientation program for refugees from other communities. It’s called Wakefield 101, where […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: Americal Civic Center, Bandstand, Board of Selectmen, elections, Forest Glade Cemetery, Frist Parish Congregational Church, Galvin Middle School, Humor, Lake Quannapowitt, Lakeside Cemetery, language, Mark Sardella, natives, North Ave., Old Burial Ground, Opinion, Politics, Rockery, The Common, The Hiker, tourist, town hall, townies, vote, Wakefield 101, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, West Side
One child, one vote
Whenever you see proposals to “expand voting rights,” or “make voting easier,” your BS detector should go off. Since the right to vote is already guaranteed by law and voting is easier than falling off a log, I am always suspicious of efforts to “expand” or “simplify” voting. At best, these measures are thinly veiled […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: adolescents, brain, children, citizens, Congress, Dan Crenshaw, election, elections, For the People Act, government, Humor, illegal aliens, Mark Sardella, maturity, Opinion, plastic bags, Politics, science, Seth Moulton, Steve Sardella, teenagers, Tide Pods, veterans, voter, Voter ID, voting, Wakefield Daily Item
How to vote
There are few responsibilities easier for citizens to fulfill than voting. Last week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court agreed, at least when it comes to requiring voters to be registered before election day. It’s a safeguard that allows city and town clerks to verify the eligibility of each would-be voter. Why anyone would be against […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: apathy, Attorney General, early voting, elections, Mark Sardella, notification, Open Meeting Law, public meetings, Public Safety Building, registration, SJC, Stephen P. Maio, Supreme Judicial Court, town hall, Town Meeting, Tpwn Clerk, voter fraud, voters, voting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA
Election central
That’s it. I’m never going on vacation again. Last September, while I was in France for two weeks, the Board of Selectmen voted to end a 400-year tradition and start calling themselves the “Town Council.” Now, I come back on Tuesday from four days in Florida only to learn that town officials have completely changed […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 2 Comments
Tags: alcohol, automatic registration, Board of Selectmen, churches, Crystal Community Club, diversity, early voting, elderly, elections, Florida, France, Galvin Middle School, Humor, inclusion, Mark Sardella, Most Blesses Sacrament Church, Opinion, Politics, religion, senior citizens, social club, tolerance, transgender, voting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Masonic Building, West Side Social Club
The 8.8 percent solution
It’s even worse than I thought. A couple of weeks ago, we discussed Voter Fatigue and the steps that our state and local governments are taking to aid us in performing that onerous civic duty known as voting. But until Thursday, September 8, I had no idea that for more than 90 percent of us, […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: elections, Fenway Park, flyers, Humor, lawn signs, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Opinion, Phyllis Hull, Politics, primary election, selectmen, voter, voting, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item
By MARK SARDELLA GLOUCESTER — Imagine, if you can, an oligarchic takeover of a state led by a “Palinesque” Manchurian candidate with only a hapless, dying, Occupy-style activist standing in the way of her establishing a totalitarian regime. Forget trying to imagine it. It’s been done for you! Playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s over-the-top, absurdist, dark […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Reviews, theater | Leave a Comment
Tags: Alex Portenko, Amanda Collins, Breean Julian, campaign, elections, Gloucester Stage, Howard Zinn, Jeff Zinn, Lewis D. Wheeler, Mark Sardella, Occupy, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, play, Politics, radical, review, Sarah Palin, The Totalitarians, theater, theatre, vote, Wakefield Daily Item
Voter fatigue
You’ve got your work cut out for you this fall. It’s called voting, and you’re going to have to do it not once, but twice. I’m exhausted just thinking about it. Hopefully you’ve recovered from voting in the local Special Election on July 19 and have spent the summer resting and building up your strength […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: ballot, Ben Franklin, candidates, drivers license, early voting, election reform, elections, Humor, Mark Sardella, Opinion, primary, Registry of Motor Vehicles, students, town hall, transgender, Voter ID, voting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School
Mark Sardella 