“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.” —Thomas Paine

After reading my piece last week (click here) – in which I chided those who vote without knowing the candidates or the issues – my wife (also a Freeborn American) told me she thought I was too harsh on well-meaning voters who just don’t have the time to become informed.  Thank you – it seems I made my point!

Since I’ve noticed over the years that she has exhibited extraordinarily good sense – going back to when she agreed to marry me – I’ll take her advice and make a few suggestions for those who wish to become more politically informed.  But first, a few comments.

What passes for political news nowadays seems to be divided into two components – issues and scandals.  (Of course both are peppered with innuendo, exaggeration, spin, and outright lies – to the point that sometimes the difference between the two are so faded as to become indistinguishable.)

The more the media and politicians of both parties can talk about scandals involving the other party, the less they have to talk about the real issues.

Scandals involving Republicans are echoed, repeated, and rehashed by the media until you’d think it was the most important issue facing the country – e.g. Mark Foley.  On the other hand, those involving Democrats seem to be relegated to somewhere just before the want ads – e.g. William Jefferson and Harry Reid.

Often the scandal of the month is bogus from the beginning, but is repeated so often that it takes on a life of its own and becomes true in the mind of an uninformed public – e.g. “Bush lied; men died” and “Bush is manipulating the price of oil”.

I think the way a political party handles scandals – both real and trumped up, involving one of their own or one of the opposition – tells a lot about that party’s integrity, direction, and faith in the American public.

But it also tells a lot about the American voters’ attention span, values, and overall political ignorance.  There is a very real question that will be answered on November 7 – will the American public vote on the issues and the candidates or will they vote on the scandals, the lies, and the distortions?

Sidebar

It merits repeating – the price of both crude oil and gasoline are set daily (in fact minute-by-minute) at the New York Mercantile Exchange.  This is where futures are traded for these commodities and prices are established by global supply and demand in an “open outcry auction” market as buyers and sellers – employees of hundreds of companies – vie for the best prices they can get.  The NYME is price neutral – in fact it would be to its own detriment if it tried to influence prices to the financial harm of either side.  President Bush has no control over these prices.

The media knows this, as shown in the following:

CBS Evening News September 12, 2006—

“Crude oil prices are set in response to worldwide supply and demand.”

Associated Press (AP) October 5, 2006—

“Wednesday, oil futures settled at $59.41 a barrel in [the] New York Mercantile Exchange.”

Yet, it is discouraging to read in the September 26, 2006 edition of USA Today that “42% of respondents agreed with the statement that the Bush administration ‘deliberately manipulated the price of gasoline so that it would decrease before this fall’s elections.’”  (67% of these conspiracy-believers are Democrats!)

End Sidebar

As I said earlier, it is a disservice to vote if you don’t know who or what you’re voting on!  If the elections November 7 are to be of any value, at least 50% of all voters will have to cast an intelligent vote in a majority of the races.  Unless we want to rely on chance that they will accidentally vote the right way, each of us needs to take on that responsibility ourselves.

Here’s a suggestion from your humble Freeborn American Blogger:

Make a list of the things that impact your life or will impact the lives of your children and grandchildren.  The list doesn’t have to be long, but it does have to include what’s important to you.  It might include some of the following issues:

Immigration

Crime

Energy Independence

Tax cuts

Government spending / earmarks

Social Security

Abortion

Gay Marriage

Education vouchers

Eminent domain

The War in Iraq / Afghanistan / Islamofascists

Spying on the enemy

Giving foreign combatants Constitutional rights

Nuclear proliferation in North Korea and Iran

The next step involves taking the time to do your homework.  This isn’t the “busy work” you used to hate in grammar school; it’s more like studying for the final exam.  And with the internet, it not all that difficult.

Check out each candidate.  Find out what his position is on the issues that are important to you.  I check out candidates’ web pages, read their speeches, and pull up their voting records.  You can even go a step or two further and write a letter asking their position on an issue or call or visit their campaign/Congressional/Senate offices.  I’ve even talked to them personally on the telephone, and occasionally face-to-face.

I said this wouldn’t be difficult, so at least at first, stick to the internet.

You may not find one candidate that agrees with your position 100%, but chances are one will emerge as the obvious choice.

If spending an evening researching the candidates and missing a night of TV seems a burden, remember perhaps the most valid thought ever expressed by Charles de Gaulle:

“I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.”