Browsing through the Congressional votes database on the Washington Post’s site today, I discovered a unique and interesting way to review legislative votes. Sure, anyone could think that organizing by party and state. I might even come up with region. But gender? I wouldn’t have thought that overly useful. And baby-boomer status? I guess age could matter. I wouldn’t use that, though. But here’s the Holy Grail (data for vote 618, H.R. 4440):
| Astrological sign | Yes | No | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aquarius | 33 | 1 | 1 |
| Sagittarius | 24 | 1 | 2 |
| Taurus | 21 | 2 | 1 |
| Gemini | 45 | 0 | 2 |
| Leo | 29 | 0 | 3 |
| Aries | 30 | 0 | 1 |
| Capricorn | 34 | 0 | 1 |
| Libra | 41 | 0 | 2 |
| Scorpio | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| Cancer | 54 | 0 | 0 |
| Virgo | 48 | 0 | 0 |
| Pisces | 26 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 415 | 4 | 13 |
Someone please explain to me when that might ever be useful. Other than the bored hippie constituency, maybe, I don’t get it. Just because technology rocks doesn’t mean we should use it to use it.