And the winner is... Probably not the American...

I’ve been following the presidential election when I have time. I’ve suspected that the problem is that many of us don’t have the time to follow it. We are busy with jobs, obligations, children, and whatever else it is we do. We get a few blurbs from whatever news station we chose to watch and that is really about it.

I was just thinking the other day how funny it was that someone made the comment that a stay at home mom wouldn’t know anything about economics because she’s never been poor. I suspect, she knows more than most of us, because we just don’t have the time to research it. After all, it isn’t just about knowing what it is like to be poor, it is about having the time to develop well thought out solutions to poverty and then determining what candidate’s plan to support. It might just be that some stay at home mom’s know a whole lot more than we do. And, that may not be a good thing.

I don’t want anyone to take this as an attack on stay at home moms. It isn’t. In fact, this article isn’t about stay at home moms. It is about me and countless other people who are just frustrated. This is just a reflection of how I feel.

I wish I had time to sit and research the opinion of each candidate and compare them to my own. There was a time when we could trust the regular nightly news to relay details about each candidate in a nonbiased way. That time is no longer with us. If we can’t trust the news to deliver us a nonbiased video of a shooting that really doesn’t matter in the every day lives of most Americans, how on earth can we trust any of them to give us nonbiased reports on presidential candidates.

I’m really considering not voting this year. I’ve always felt high school students should not be allowed to vote on issues they know nothing about. But, maybe the rest of us should abstain from voting as well. How can we trust anything we read? How can we know the guy we are voting for really represents our view?

The answer is – we can’t. And that makes many of us losers – even if the person we voted for wins.

Comments: 8

Susan G. Apr 21, 2012, 4:45pm UTC

But if we don't vote, we are just handing our country over to those who do not have the interest of the citizenry in mind. Voting is our only way of telling those in government that we are paying attention enough to get rid of those who are selling us out. We really should organize ourselves enough to get a "none of the above" block on our ballots given the poor choices the parties give us.

I don't mind high school kids voting. In my day, the high school kids were certainly old enough to go off to fight and die in wars. Even now, kids barely out of high school are enlisting. If we can arm them and ship them off to war zones, they certainly deserve the right to vote.

reply to this comment

Peter Joseph Swanson Apr 21, 2012, 5:49pm UTC

People said it didn't really matter when it was Gore VS Bush. I think Gore would have left America in very different shape than Bush did. Congress makes a big difference too .... and who is appointed to the Supreme Court. Party platforms are mostly what we end up with these days, and you can't tell me the Tea Party GOP haven't fought to keep their promises. You can't say they aren't as they had advertised. The biggest problem with liberals is they aren't so ideological in a way you can predict so easily. Anybody who is pragmatic isn't going to be predictable ... you make it up as you go along.

High School kids are very aware of current political events, it often being a topic in class.

reply to this comment

Peter Joseph Swanson Apr 21, 2012, 5:51pm UTC

(Your argument could have been made in any age. Are you suggesting democracy is a crazy sham and we should be ruled by a King and the aristocracy?)

LittleMissSunshine A. Apr 22, 2012, 12:30am UTC

No, I'm suggesting we are all uninformed voters. Some of us realize it, others don't. We can read every news outlet there is. But, if you work, it is very hard to find the time to sort through the muck and figure out who is telling the truth. And, even if you've taken the time to read up, we get false news from once credible news sources. - As for the Tea Party, I took my kids to a rally. It was their first protest. I loved the premise. But, it seems to be buried in the news,