There’s an old saying that when the tide rushes out, you quickly see who is swimming naked.

Now that the tide has gone out, we, the citizens of the United States of America can easily see who is swimming naked in our political arena. We can see who is competent and who is incompetent, we can see who is actually working to solve big problems and who is merely constantly running for office, all with the arrival of crisis. We can see who is capable and who is not, and who was prepared and who was not prepared.

We can see those who continue to point fingers, throw barbs and place blame, in sharp contrast against those who, continually and daily, insist on rising to the occasion, tirelessly taking action, mobilizing the forces of our government, reviewing potential solutions, and working hard to solve the problem.

What is especially revealing in the midst of this nasty health and economic crisis are the tremendously bad choices some of our citizens and neighbors have made in voting for their state, local and congressional representatives. It makes one wonder how and why such choices were made and based on what criteria, if actually any at all.

How much study and research do people actually do when they place a vote?

How many realize they are hiring someone to do a job, to execute policies and enforce laws which affect us all?

The original idea of voting was that the citizen, always striving to be better and more educated, should want to educate himself on all the public issues and political candidates, and should seek to understand all the important factors facing the city-state, the nation and its leadership.

Next to public service and military service to the city-state, which were considered sacred duties of every able-bodied citizen, voting from an informed position was the next most important civic duty, and it was considered a crime against other citizens if it wasn’t done.

The original Ancient Greek meaning of the word ιδιώτες, or idiots is those who don’t bother to involve or educate themselves in the issues of the day, don’t look into the qualifications and backgrounds of candidates, and don’t perform their sacred, civic duties.

In the first republics, when people didn’t edify themselves on issues and candidates, or when people were apathetic and didn’t vote, they were forbidden from voting and were deemed as being ιδιώτες, idiots.

Today, we have instead created a nation that, while founded by geniuses, is increasingly populated and democratically controlled by idiots.

Nearly half the country can’t even identify the location of states or foreign nations or continents on a map. And they’re not ashamed of it. They still vote. Many can’t even tell you the name of the last book or article they read.

Such people commit a crime against the rest of us by not educating themselves, and their votes could seriously damage our nation and our well-being with their “idiotic” choices.

Judging from the widespread incompetence of so many of our state, local and congressional elected officials in dealing with this crisis, it appears they already have done so. The damage has already been done. And now the tide is out and we can see who they are.