The other day an idiot driving an old Ford pickup cut me off in traffic. What caught my eye was the McCain-Palin sticker on the back of the truck. I was going to fill out my Nov. 4 ballot that day and was still waffling on how to vote for president. Yes, I was one of those. But if that’s the kind of stupid person who supports the Republicans, I’m voting for the other guys.

Speaking of stupid and the electorate, you’ve got to hand it to the audacity used by the payday lending industry in its radio commercials for Proposition 200 arguing the measure would "crack down" on the bad-guy payday lenders. But it’s the payday lenders who are financing these spots! And spending money at a rate of 27-to-1 — $14 million to $514,000 — over the opponents of the measure.

They’re doing that, of course, because the "reforms" — they’re not all good changes — lets the bandits in that industry continue to operate in Arizona. Otherwise, if Proposition 200 fails, the current law allowing them to exist goes away July 1, 2010, and Arizona would join the 35 states where payday is illegal. But you already knew that because you read. Unfortunately, the casual listener of such radio commercials might actually believe them.

I have little doubt the measure will pass, but it’s a shame the low-rents in the industry got to spew this garbage. This must be how they treat their customers — like they’re stupid.

On another subject, when this election is over with, I would like for someone to explain to me why the loudest conservative media voices went all in for George W. Bush four and eight years ago but were so reticent to come out for John McCain this time.

There was one, Ann Coulter, who vowed to support Hillary Clinton over McCain. (I don’t know where she wound up when Barack Obama got the Democratic nomination but maybe that just shows how insignificant she is.) Most of the conservative commentators — Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, etc. — eventually backed McCain but it seemed half-hearted. Worse, McCain pandered to get it. But Bush was no conservative. I don’t get it.

To top off my day as I was contemplating how to fill out my early ballot, I was driving home only to be caught in two lines of cars following a Toyota Prius that drove for several blocks straddling two lanes of traffic on not even driving the speed limit on Craycroft Road. It had an Obama-Biden sticker on it. What a stupid person.

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