They Did What !

Who gave people like Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove, and their protégés the right to redefine words and actions? Even though these people don’t know you and me, when they redefine words and actions for use against political opponents it spills over into your life and mine.

The words "liberal" and "conservative" were for many years simply terms for two different political viewpoints. Now, liberal is a derogatory term.

Continuing to learn, becoming more informed, and using that information to reach reasonable and rational conclusions has always been a part of maturing and growing. Now it is a demeaning flaw called flip-flopping.

Who gave pundits like Chris Matthews, Sean Hannity, and their equally improbable colleagues, credit as knowledgeable political analysts? These people are guessing (just like you and me) about what will happen. They are frequently wrong and have been caught more than once repeating false or at least partially false information. Despite that, their diarrhea of the mouth continues to flow over the airwaves and into our homes and minds.

The same smear tactics that were used against John McCain in the 2000 primary are now being used on McCain’s behalf by the very same people. How then, can anyone with a scrap of intelligence believe what they say? It might possibly be understandable that reasonable people could be swayed by the massive effort to convince them that something is true simply through repetition. But when the malicious smear tactics used against someone are then used on their behalf it is so obvious, how can it be ignored?

Neither John McCain nor Barack Obama is perfect. They each have strengths and weaknesses. What we as a people need to look for is the truth about each man; then based on that truth, choose the man we want to run our country. Is it not better to honestly acknowledge their weaknesses before we make the choice? Never mind the “image” they are trying to project, or what someone else is saying about them, look at the facts.

We do not need to be distracted by those who, for their own purposes, want to influence our choice. Political players, pundits, swift boaters, and others who have their own agendas most assuredly do not have our best interests in mind. If we allow ourselves to lose focus and just accept as truth their spins and twists, we are giving them the power to decide our elections for us. What’s up with that? Are we not capable of seeking the truth and deciding on our own who will be the better president?

We complain about our government, about their incompetence, their corruption, and their lack of interest in what is best for the people of our country. What we seem to forget is that we chose this government. Vote by vote we gave these incompetent, corrupt and uncaring officials the power to decide how our country would be run.

Now, vote by vote, we are going to elect a new president and many new congress people. How are we going to choose them this time? The same way we have in the past - listening to the pundits and the swift boaters? And if we do that, do we expect to get a different kind of official this time? Why would we expect that? Are we all insane?