The Nebraska town where a satirical movie ridiculing aliens was filmed has been troubled recently by a number of mysterious missing persons cases.

Police have been unable to explain the disappearances of seven people over the last three days since release of the movie, “Be Mean to a Green Alien if You See One Because They’re Really Stupid on Top of Being Ugly” hit theaters.

The film, bolstered by Internet talk, grossed $183 million during its first three days of screenings and has brought millions of dollars in revenue to Valentine, Nebraska thanks to a clever marketing campaign by the film’s creators.

In the picture the lead character becomes so obsessed with the thought of intelligent life on other planets that he wages a jealous and bitter campaign degrading and demoralizing space aliens as half-wits and numbskulls.

To help generate buzz, the film’s makers granted Valentine officials the sole license to design T-shirts insulting aliens that are similar to the T-shirts the actor wears throughout the comedy.

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Voting is a privilege that we have long taken for granted. It has become subject to the indifference of our entitlement rather than being subject to the scrutiny of our responsibility. The significant work for this next election will not be accomplished by the candidates, or at least it’s not supposed to be. The most important and essential work for the next Presidential election will be accomplished by the electorate, the American voter…you and me.

We tend to believe that on November 4, 2008, we will go into the voter’s booth, push a button or two, and magically, our candidate , whoever they may be, will be elected to office. When, in fact, the real work should be taking place right now, in the privacy of our homes, as we do the research necessary to make the best possible decision. The alternative is that we continue to spend months on end being dirtied by political mudslinging while we sit on the sidelines and let the candidates “fight it out”. Political campaigns have become sport and we have become avid spectators. And, this is what we call democracy?

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