Star Tribune has a new poll -- never mind

I would have loved sitting in the room when this editorial decision was made.

The Star Tribune is running an online poll to collect reader’s opinions about the smoking ban. Along with the poll runs this disclaimer --

PLEASE NOTE: This instant poll is in no way a scientific measurement. It is provided purely as an interactive feature. A Web-savvy person could easily figure out a way to vote as often as he or she likes and skew the results. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to prevent such disreputable behavior.

Now a “purely interactive feature” is okay when it’s clearly meant in jest. [Nihilist in Golf Pants would have made a great pope, and I’m still fuming that the Atomizer, not I, was chosen as the “key link in the right-wing noise machine."] But although some might disagree, last time I checked the Star Tribune was still billing itself as a newspaper.

Why run something that has, by the paper’s own admission, absolutely no informational value and is not intended as entertainment? It’s not a big deal, but it does say a little something about what passes for editorial judgment at the enemy newspaper.

Vote early. Vote often.