Last Time, I Hope

I plan for this to be the last commentary I make about Presidential debates. Wish me luck.

Who won the debate tonight? Dems think Obama did, Repubs think Romney did. I think Obama did a great job and more than made up for his poor performance in the 1st Presidential debate. I think Romney more or less held his own. Neither of them did a great job of actually answering the questions that the audience of undecided voters were asking.

But here is what really pisses me off … some people actually believe what extreme political commentators say.

A Facebook “friend” clicked like on a very stupid commentary by Rush. The commentary claimed Obama was lying. Instead of ignoring this, I chose to actually click on the link to see more. Of course what I saw were the thousands of Rush lemmings diving off the cliff with Rush. How can somebody with any intelligence at all believe that Rush is anything but a clownish blowhard? Rush doesn’t represent anybody but Rush. In real life, away from a microphone, he probably actually is a conservative Republican. But in real life he doesn’t really give a shit about any of this. He is all about himself and about how his stupid commentary can affect his insanely large salary and ego.

I happen to enjoy watching liberal commentator Rachel Maddow. But hey!!! … she is a clown on the left side. More entertaining than Rush and less ego-driven, but still an extremist.

You can listen to either of them but don’t make your decisions based on anything either of them says. They are entertainers, not experts. E N T E R T A I N E R S!!!

Research facts, real facts from non-partisan sources, then decide for yourself. Don’t follow the entertainers.

Obama is NOT a liar. Romney is NOT a liar. They say things based on sets of ‘facts’ that are not in sync. Facts that are difficult to truly verify. Unbiased indicators show that the economy is improving … at a snail’s pace. Unemployment is down, a tiny bit. Gas prices? Geez. They more or less agreed that gas was $1.85/gallon at the beginning of Obama’s term. NO IT WASN’T! When is the last time either of these guys drove their own car to a gas pump and filled their own tank? 2008 was the year I traded my Ford SUV for a Honda sedan because gas was $4.25/gallon.

This Facebook friend I refer to is only a friend because he was smart enough to marry a real friend of mine. I don’t want to question his sincerity but I have to challenge his intelligence when I see and hear that he bases choices on what Rush says. He spouts Rush crap and doesn’t really research things independently. His wife, my friend of many decades, does look into facts. She often chooses to support and vote for candidates who can never win elections … but she believes in them based on real research and not on rants from conservative extremists or liberal extremists. I disagree with her choices but I respect her process. We can all learn from that example.

There are no simple answers to the challenges we face as a nation this year. The economy will improve no matter who wins the election. The world will not be a safer place no matter who wins the election. The environment will continue to suffer no matter who wins the election. No candidate can single-handedly fix everything. The Republican led House is partly to blame because their mission was to make Obama a one-term President and not to actually do what they were elected to do. The Democratic led House back in 2008 is partly to blame because they let their egos guide them rather than their constituents.

The bottom line: research the candidates and stop following extremist commentators. And vote!! Don’t skip the election. Every vote counts.

And I promise to stop commenting on the election.

Comments

Linda V. said…
LOVE it! You hit the nail on the head about entertainers. I've been saying that all along.

I respect anyone who has actually done the research and made their choice accordingly. And I respect anyone who is willing to change based on research, or wants to stick to their guns based on what they know to be true to their hearts.

This election has been so divisive and ugly that I, for one, can't wait for it to be over, so we can start assessing the damage.

Definition of insanity: voting for the same two parties and expecting things to change.

And yes, don't forget to VOTE!!!