It's sad that to cast a responsible vote today for a political candidate, you have to refer to a fact-checking organization immediately after hearing the candidate give a stump speech, debate his or her opponent, or just spin a 30-second soundbite for the local news station.
Worse, you also have to fact check the fact-checking organization that you turn to because the reality is that a good portion of the fact-checking organizations now in existence are pulling for one candidate more than the other. Don't believe me? Just let me show you any one of my email accounts on any particular morning. I'm barraged daily with the "truth" as presented by more than a few such organizations. They're all eager to point out the lies, exaggerations, and truth-stretching to me. Today, the morning after the first presidential debate, was a doozy. If memory serves, no less than 13 different organizations or representatives of organizations offered their services to set me straight.
Fact checkers have always been around, but I can't recall them ever being so quoted or relied upon. Seems after any particular convention speech or debate or important appearance, the fact checkers turn up more lies than facts. In addition to representing suspect behavior by candidates (including those from both major parties; I'm not playing favorites here), all the inaccuracies tell me that candidates are taking us for suckers. They think we're too lazy to do some research and call their bluff. They think the average voter only cares about how he or she looks or talks. They think we voters are only headline hunters. We can't dig deeper. The candidates believe we're so tied to our respective parties, we only want rallying cries. Who cares if the cry holds any truth? They think were so partisan in nature that as long as they graze even close to the truth we'll be OK with it.
Damned thing is, the candidates are mostly right. We are sheep to a great extent. I'm guessing most people do vote with their heart and not their head nowadays. I do believe many people just want to pick sides and not hold everyone responsible for the words they speak. I think politics has become a game instead of a right. It has become a contest instead of electing the best person for the job. I think politics is a matter of taste and lifestyle. I do believe politics has become to a great extent a matter of having the ability to look past a candidates flaws, or worse, justify them.
It's sad that deceit has become a fine art. It's sadder that the straightest information a person can receive today comes from a television station that's devoted to airing comedy programming. I'd wash my hands of the whole thing and save myself a lot of grief in checking the facts that a checker has already checked, but it's my duty. A lot of people died for me to have this duty. A lot of people sacrificed personal happiness so that I could check the checkers, so that I can listen to a candidate and call "bullshit, sir." So that I can get in line every November and use the power that's been bestowed upon me simply by being born in this country.
So, I'll watch the debates, no matter how painful they are, and I'll do the due diligence afterward. But I won't kid myself as to what it is I'm watching. The right to free thought is just as important as the right to free speech.
Worse, you also have to fact check the fact-checking organization that you turn to because the reality is that a good portion of the fact-checking organizations now in existence are pulling for one candidate more than the other. Don't believe me? Just let me show you any one of my email accounts on any particular morning. I'm barraged daily with the "truth" as presented by more than a few such organizations. They're all eager to point out the lies, exaggerations, and truth-stretching to me. Today, the morning after the first presidential debate, was a doozy. If memory serves, no less than 13 different organizations or representatives of organizations offered their services to set me straight.
Fact checkers have always been around, but I can't recall them ever being so quoted or relied upon. Seems after any particular convention speech or debate or important appearance, the fact checkers turn up more lies than facts. In addition to representing suspect behavior by candidates (including those from both major parties; I'm not playing favorites here), all the inaccuracies tell me that candidates are taking us for suckers. They think we're too lazy to do some research and call their bluff. They think the average voter only cares about how he or she looks or talks. They think we voters are only headline hunters. We can't dig deeper. The candidates believe we're so tied to our respective parties, we only want rallying cries. Who cares if the cry holds any truth? They think were so partisan in nature that as long as they graze even close to the truth we'll be OK with it.
Damned thing is, the candidates are mostly right. We are sheep to a great extent. I'm guessing most people do vote with their heart and not their head nowadays. I do believe many people just want to pick sides and not hold everyone responsible for the words they speak. I think politics has become a game instead of a right. It has become a contest instead of electing the best person for the job. I think politics is a matter of taste and lifestyle. I do believe politics has become to a great extent a matter of having the ability to look past a candidates flaws, or worse, justify them.
It's sad that deceit has become a fine art. It's sadder that the straightest information a person can receive today comes from a television station that's devoted to airing comedy programming. I'd wash my hands of the whole thing and save myself a lot of grief in checking the facts that a checker has already checked, but it's my duty. A lot of people died for me to have this duty. A lot of people sacrificed personal happiness so that I could check the checkers, so that I can listen to a candidate and call "bullshit, sir." So that I can get in line every November and use the power that's been bestowed upon me simply by being born in this country.
So, I'll watch the debates, no matter how painful they are, and I'll do the due diligence afterward. But I won't kid myself as to what it is I'm watching. The right to free thought is just as important as the right to free speech.
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