# Parents worry elections will compromise childrens' safety **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 28, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565 "2004-09-28T21:52:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cheddarsnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cheddarsnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cheddarsnax)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/1 "2004-09-28T21:52:00Z")
[Elections are scary](http://www.modbee.com/24hour/politics/story/1691923p-9474848c.html): > [@](#): > > Dozens of parents have signed a petition asking town officials to remove election booths from schools out of concern for terrorism. > > Sally Morgan cited the potential for terrorists to try to disrupt the Nov. 2 presidential election, as well as the school hostage crisis in Russia earlier this month in a petition sent to the town’s Board of Selectmen. > > The petition, signed by 125 parents, asks town officials to move polling places to more secure locations such as the town library, fire stations and churches. Hey, here’s an idea. Let’s hold elections in secure bunkers and make everyone pass through a security checkpoint to get in. That should satisfy these idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/2 "2004-09-28T22:13:22Z")
> [@](#): > > The petition, signed by 125 parents, asks town officials to move polling places to more secure locations such as the town library, fire stations and churches. Yeah, so as long as the kids are safe, screw the preachers, firemen and librarians! :rolleyes: Dumbasses. Keep your kid home for the day if you’re so fucking worried about it. Otherwise, let the children go to school and see democracy in action like they’ve been doing for years. (I LOVED election day as a kid - I always made sure I got to see the polling place before leaving for the day - and in elementary school, we had our own special ‘booth’ to vote for _our_ presidential elections - when I was in kindergarten, Winnie the Pooh beat out Tigger.) Ava ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/3 "2004-09-28T22:20:04Z")
> [@cheddarsnax](#): > > [Elections are scary](http://www.modbee.com/24hour/politics/story/1691923p-9474848c.html):Hey, here’s an idea. Let’s hold elections in secure bunkers and make everyone pass through a security checkpoint to get in. That should satisfy these idiots. Ironically I read an article the other day talking about the long security lines to screen out terrorists have become new potential targets. Looks like we’ll have to screen people before they get on the line for screening. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/4 "2004-09-28T23:00:54Z")
Who are these “parents” and why are they so fucking stupid? Really, 99% of the time when some dumb-ass complaint is made that winds up fucking with everyone else, it is a fucking “parent”. (That license plate is offensive and my kid might ask what it means! I saw her breast on national television, now my child will grow up to be a pervert! This power tool didn’t come with a warning label and I accidently chopped my kid’s head off! Imaginary terrorists want to kill my baby, we need a guard at the foot of every American child’s bed! Somebody _do_ something!) Attention “parents”: humankind has made it this far without you controlling every god damn miserable little bit of everyone’s daily fucking lives. Chances are, your brat will survive as well. Fucking relax. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/5 "2004-09-28T23:19:22Z")
> [@Ghanima](#): > > Who are these “parents” and why are they so fucking stupid? Really, 99% of the time when some dumb-ass complaint is made that winds up fucking with everyone else, it is a fucking “parent”. That was, ::sniff:: beautiful. I like **Ghanima**. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/6 "2004-09-28T23:26:30Z")
Wait, it’s a Presidental election year. I always got the Presidental elections off of school. Looking at the school schedule for this year from where I graduated, guess what? The schools are closed Nov. 2. Looking at the website for the public school system in the OP’s link, they don’t get it off. I guess for me, the question is why wouldn’t they get it off automatically? Now, we didn’t get all the days off when there was a local election held and the school was used as a polling place, but we definitely got the 2000, 1996, 1992, etc. off. Heck, I went and voted fairly early in the morning in 2000 and then went home and enjoyed the rest of my day off from school. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/7 "2004-09-28T23:31:01Z")
> [@Ghanima](#): > > Attention “parents”: humankind has made it this far without you controlling every god damn miserable little bit of everyone’s daily fucking lives. Chances are, your brat will survive as well. Fucking relax. I agree 100%. People today, especially people with children, are _way_ too paranoid. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/8 "2004-09-28T23:45:27Z")
I love it. Whenever there’s a big issue someone always stands up and says, “Well I’m a parent, and I think everyone should…” WTF? You wanna cookie? How exactly does being a parent imply you have any more credible knowledge or expertise than a chimp? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mad_Hermit)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/9 "2004-09-28T23:47:17Z")
Yes, that’s the spirit! Let’s take our first-line response fire stations, our disaster recovery and shelter locations, and turn them into terror targets! As long as it’s not my kid in danger, screw everyone else! :wally NIMBY sucks. School buildings are for the whole community, not just the little children. At least, that’s the rationale behind taxing all propertyn owners instead of parents of school-age children. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/10 "2004-09-28T23:48:07Z")
Heh. A couple of weeks ago I attended a county public health meeting. One of the things for which they plan is mass immunization - say there’s an anthrax attack, or another round of Spanish influenza. It had long been decided that a school would be the best place to do it: lots of parking; long, indoor corridors; and a big gym in which to set up stations. Then a bunch of terrorists blew up a school in Russia and now they’re all afraid that terrorists will infiltrate the people going to get a shot and store guns ‘n’ ammo in school lockers as they’re standing with a couple of thousand other people lined up to get a shot. So I’m sitting there in stunned shock thinking to myself that disaster preparedness people are fuckin’ nuts and said that the school attack was probably a one shot deal. The cop across the room FORCEFULLY stated that it was NOT a one shot deal and went on to say the equivalent of WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE! Gah. Now they’re looking at places like wedding halls. I cannot add enough :rolleyes: to describe that meeting. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/11 "2004-09-28T23:53:43Z")
As Scott Adams noted, there’s no test to be a parent – you just need to stick a couple of body parts together for a bit. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/12 "2004-09-29T00:02:55Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I love it. Whenever there’s a big issue someone always stands up and says, “Well I’m a parent, and I think everyone should…” > > WTF? You wanna cookie? How exactly does being a parent imply you have any more credible knowledge or expertise than a chimp? This reminds me of the women on talk shows such as Phil Donahue who would get up and say things like, “Well, my child isn’t born yet but when he/she is old enough…” Used to drive me fucking nuts till I stopped watching that shit. No one gives a fuck what you will let your kid do in 10 years so sit down, shut up and keep you legs closed so we don’t get anymore dumb shits like you. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/13 "2004-09-29T00:18:19Z")
Obviously, we just need to cancel November’s election. For the children. Please, won’t somebody think of _the children?_ ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/14 "2004-09-29T00:41:46Z")
Wow. We seem to be unanimous here. In the past few years, every time some half assed nincompoop has another lame brained idea, it’s “for the children”. We have a lottery and a shitload of taxes here in California, “for the children”. Alcohol taxes, cigarette taxes, gasoline taxes, lots of talk about limiting the size of meals in restaurants (I wonder if prices will be decreased to match the decreased servings), ad nauseum, all “for the children”. I don’t see any children getting any of the money; it usually gets “lost in the system” somewhere. The tone in this thread looks like, if you can’t - or won’t - take responsibility for your own damn brats, THEN DON’T MAKE MORE OF THEM. Don’t think you can fuck everything up for the rest of us just to cover your own gross incompetence and paranoia. Ghanima and everyone else, I hear and agree!!! ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/15 "2004-09-29T00:50:22Z")
Hmmm… so Hudson, Mass is a hornets nest of terrorists… note to self… ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/16 "2004-09-29T00:56:41Z")
The World Trade Center was a voting site during the New York City Democratic primary that was originally held on Sept 11, 2001. The parents’ fears are well-founded. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/17 "2004-09-29T01:02:05Z")
While we’re kinda sorta on the subject, may I just say to hell with “Security moms” too? The country can go to hell in a handbasket wrt the environment, civil rights, women’s rights, the economy and thousand other things, but by gawd, Bush gets high marks on terra! Never mind that his incompetence led to 9/11, he didn’t get Osama, he left Afghanistan in the lurch to go after a two-bit dicator with no ties to 9/11 or Osama, creating a shitstorm in Iraq that’s killed tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens, thus creating more terrorists and terrorist sympathizers among their loved one, while back here he’s slashed Homeland Security and First Responder funds, and left the borders and ports open to all. There can’t really be women who know these things and still give him high marks, can there? ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/18 "2004-09-29T01:23:55Z")
> [@capacitor](#): > > The World Trade Center was a voting site during the New York City Democratic primary that was originally held on Sept 11, 2001. > > The parents’ fears are well-founded. Uhm…cite? Exactly which building and where in it? Signed, NYC pollworker ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/19 "2004-09-29T02:13:51Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > he didn’t get Osama, … while back here he’s slashed Homeland Security and First Responder funds, and left the borders and ports open to all. Yeah, where the hell is Osama? What happened with Bush’s tough talk as “The Sheriff” - We’re gonna git ya no matter where ya go, ya mangy varmint"? Don’t go looking for cite with that, it is just ridicule of his apparently forgotten speech. I guess Georgie gave up and Saddam was an easier, if irrelevant target. After shredding all job protections and union right to appeal within Homeland Security, and arbitrarily making the people in the agency move, now he wants to outsource the whole damn thing to a private contractor. Anyone with an axe to grind can still get in anytime they please. A huge amount of “protection funding” went to Cheney’s home state, while the cities that would be prime targets got shorted. Yeah. I bet Osama has evil plans for the cattle and prairie dogs in wherever the shit Cheney came from. Yeah, we see a lot of talk, but nothing useful. Lots of horse shit, but no progress. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565/20 "2004-09-29T02:21:28Z")
I have spoken to the County Auditor, the commissioner of elections in this neck of the woods. Complaint with the Secretary for the Defense of the Motherland’s advice he has become acquainted with the local public safety and rescue people and has designated an alternative poling place (at an undisclosed location) in the event the Jahadists take it into their mind to blow up the Dover Township Hall. I feel very reassured. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-worry-elections-will-compromise-childrens-safety/266565.md?page=2)