We'll admit we've often asked ourselves this same question ... but now some actual scientists have gone ahead and put the scientific stamp of authority on the notion that if a person is kind of dumb, they are not capable of judging whether another person's idea is dumb, and therefore they are bound to make a stupid choice in an election.

Also, "with incompetence comes the illusion of superiority."

Cornell psychologist David Dunning and colleague Justin Kruger are responsible for the study, reported on by LiveScience (and it's making SFGate commenters go batshit, of course), and a sociologist in Germany has already used their findings to build a computer model of a democratic election, showing that people will always end up electing someone with "slightly above-average leadership skills," as opposed to people with really great leadership skills, because most people aren't good leaders and aren't capable of recognizing them either.

Anyway, we just have one word for you to support their thesis: Santorum.

[Live Science]
[SF Gate]

Back in October, the Yes on 8 "people" challenged California's Superintendent of Schools, Jack O'Connell, to a debate about gay marriage. According to Yes, even the remotest possibility of learning anything about gay marriage is harmful to children. Nothing hateful about that!

Anyway, the side refuse to debate. In fact, not only did (self-described) Campaign Manager Steve Smith hide from the debate, but his response was obscured from public view in a hard-to-find PDF. (But we dug up the text and included it after the jump.)

But now there's a debate happening for real! Gloria Allred and Andy Pugno will argue about how California defines marriage On January 14 at The National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, 111 North Central Ave, Los Angeles. (Gloria is one of the lawyers suing to overturn Prop 8; Andy is a lawyer who opposes California's equal protection clause.) Tickets are $20, and throwing of vegetables is strictly forbidden.

This is a fight that, obviously, the gays will win in the long run. In fact, the run probably isn't even that long. Getting the anti-marriage folks on record, explaining just how crazy their position is, can only hasten along the cause of civil equality.

Disclosure: SFist_Matt is the creator of Stop8.org, and does behind-the-scenes organizing for the gars.

Needless to say, we do have some Pelosi & Pals news today as the Washington Post has a big feature on some anti-lobbying bill she's been working on for awhile that could see the light of day if she does become Madame Speaker. Lots of bans on travel and gifts are involved and we'll see what happens the moment she does become Madame Speaker. Our guess is that it'll pass with loopholes a' plenty.

Meanwhile, that weird disconnect between SF and the rest of the country over the "alleged" liberal-ness of Ms. Pelosi is becoming a national story as the LA Times is now reporting on it and from there, it made it's way to Wonkette. We love reading people snarking on the Bay Guardian from all the way in D.C.

Meanwhile, the Ignored Three-- Krissy Keefer (Green Party), Philip Berg (Libertarian Party) and Mike DeNunzio (Republican Party)-- are going to have a debate despite the lack of attendance on the person they're trying to replace. It will be Nov. 1 at 4 PM at the Luggage Store. The Luggage Store? Couldn't they at least pick a place that says political seriousness? Was the bowling alley at the Metreon booked? And at 4? Who's around at 4 to attend a debate anyways.

Afterwards, Krissy and her Krissy Korp are going to be headed to the Warfield where a fund-raiser will occur featuring Pelosi and the Man from Hope himself, Bill Clinton. The vigil is a "Funeral for Democracy" rally and everyone will wear black and light candles. Democracy's death, of course, is the result of a "dance-activist" who attends rallies for Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez not being deemed serious enough to be asked to an official debate. If that isn't the death to democracy, we don't know what else is.

Remember those heady days of 2004, when the Democrats thought they might have had a chance to take back the White House with Howard Dean? Well, we all know how that turned out. But it turns out a bunch of people took that whole grassroots, Internet, "taking back the Democratic wing of the Democratic party" stuff seriously enough that they started a group called Democracy for America, dedicated to furthering the mission throughout all levels of politics -- from local to state to national. Members of their local branch, SF for Democracy, were kind enough to sit down with SFist and outline what exactly it is they do.

[*disclosure: your correspondent has met some, but not all, of these interviewees socially before -- but is not a member of either SF for Democracy or Democracy for America.]

So do I understand that one of you has a Howard Dean Scream cell phone ring tone? Where do you download that?
Will Easton (communications director): That's me. www.jivjiv.com/deantones. It used to be free, but unfortunately they forced me to start charging 99 cents for it.

What's your group's mission, and how do you differentiate yourselves from other local political groups in San Francisco?
WE: We want to take back citizens' ownership of our democracy by mobilizing grassroots participation in the political process. About half of eligible Americans do not vote -- that's a huge problem. San Francisco is a little better -- but we have a ton of room for improvement.

Picture of Will Easton and Howard Dean from the SF For Democracy website.

Indeed, a young lady was reading one night, and we had to admit: with its mostly white walls, blonde hardwood floor and table tops, Cha-Ya is a clean, well-lighted place. The high organically shaped counter facing the window is ideal for solo dining with a good read.

A clean, well-lighted place brings us naturally to For Whom The Bell Tolls, as, like Maria after an intimate encounter with Robert Jordan, we felt the earth shake. Unfortunately, it wasn't due to the satisfaction of our carnal desires, can't be in a vegan place, could it? It just so happened that the earth literally shook, 4.4 on the Richter scale in Santa Rosa.

But it did spell out the question for us: is the food really this good, or was this just another quake? The answer is: pretty good, so that we even forget that no animal product was involved. You know, there are vegetarian restaurants which serve you meatless meatloafs made of tofurkey, and you think: this ain't right. Cha-Ya does not even pretend to replace meat, and just does its own thing, traditional Japanese way. For us, it's ideal: we are not conscious of eschewing meat, we're just enjoying a fine meal. Perchance he for whom this dishes is served is so satiated, as that he knows not it is meatless. We feel the same in South Indian restaurants (say, Udupi Palace) where the novelty (to us) of the cuisine hides the fact that it's vegetarian.

* Punch line of a Rhymes with Orange cartoon last week

Given lead singer W. Axl Rose's notorious, errr, let's call it "unreliability," when it comes to concert appearances, though, make sure you save your receipt. The site we found this info on cautions that these dates have not yet been officially confirmed by management -- and this paragraph is right above another paragraph that says "Axl Rose has been saying that the band's long-delayed new album will be out later this year," so you should decide on your own just how much credibility you want to give these reports. The Ticketmaster site for the Warfield doesn't have the show listed yet either.

And even if the show does officially get booked -- who knows how it's all going to end? (You gotta check out how the summer shows in Europe have been going for Axl -- it's like he's Fiona Apple.) SFist is so going to see if we can get review tickets for this show. Maybe Axl'll get attacked by a fashion designer again!