Letting the D or the R do our thinking. |
The election season is upon us, and comparisons of candidates abound in the newspaper. Paid political advertisements will soon be repeated endlessly on television, the mud flying from here to there in an attempt to denigrate the opponent. This year weāve had the addition of ārobocallsā from candidates, who somehow believe that if they annoy us enough, weāll vote for them. But letās be honest. Most of us have found a fool-proof way of determining who we will cast our vote for, regardless of the character of the man or woman running for office or how outrageous their stand is on an issue. We simply look for the āDā and the āRā after a candidateās name to tell us what we think. We donāt need to waste time researching a stand or voting record that way, and we know immediately which bumper sticker to put on our cars and SUVs. Some voters justify this by saying that they vote for their party rather than the candidate, but men like Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson are currently spinning in their graves over the directions of their beloved parties. If you are one of the āDā and the āRā voters, you wonāt know that, though, since knowledge isnāt your strong suit. āNot me,ā youāre saying? Test the premise, then. Try to read political articles without attaching to the party affiliation, and then THINK about the message. Do you agree with āyourā candidate, or are you merely blindly following the letter designation? Do you have questions about the candidateās stand? Are you willing to work to find the answers, not just accept the platitudes and empty slogans repeated endlessly? We donāt have to register as Independents, but it would be nice if we at least thought independently. Go ahead. Give it a whirl. Our democracy is in trouble, and itās going to take some intellectual effort to get us back on track. |