Fruits and Nuts

It’s that time of year once again, the Political Season.  Time when all the candidates take to the air waves with their political advertisements.  And this year we certainly have a bumper crop of fruits and nuts.

This year has got to the nastiest campaign year I’ve ever seen.  Most television commercials are telling us how big of a scoundrel the opponent is.  He/she is a thief, a thug, an extortionist, a witch, and, yes folks, New York even has a whore.

The sad thing is that candidates use this type of advertising because it works and that’s scary!!   The fact that it works means that the American public is buying into this horse hockey and making their selections based on it.  No wonder Washington, D. C. and our state governments are in such a mess.  

There is little to no truth what so ever in the negative advertising.  The candidates are exploiting insignificant issues in their opponent’s history by exaggerating and/or embellishing the facts which pretty much means they are all a bunch of liars.  We don’t need, or want, any of them representing us.

Speaking of representing us, do you think that these people are sacrificing themselves in order to work on our behalf?  Think about it!!  They are spending multi-millions of dollars to gain a seat in government.  Would someone do that for your and my betterment?  Not!!!  They are looking out for their own interest - it’s all about return on investment.  They are spending millions and millions of dollars to increase their own bottom line (net worth).  Within a few years in Washington most of them are multi-millionaires with full pensions and health benefits for life.

It’s no longer “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country”.  It has become ask what my country can do for me and screw the rest of it.  Therefore, it has come to the point where political ads are designed to get us to hate the opponent more than you hate the candidate him or her self.

I don’t know about you, but I want to know where the candidates stand on the issues.  Whenever a candidate starts “bad mouthing” their opponent I tune them out.  I don’t need them to point out the weaknesses in others, but to outline their strengths and tell us what they stand for.  However, it ain’t happening.

So, the question becomes how can we level the playing field?  There’s an independently operated web site called Project Vote Smart which is made up of people from all parties and is designed to inform us where the candidates stand on the issues.  The following is taken from their website:

“On common ground at a unique research center high in the Montana Rockies, a struggling group of Americans, who you are unlikely to know and will probably never meet, have begun a battle. A battle to protect all of us from the selfish interests that strip us of the most crucial component in our struggle to self-govern -- access to abundant, accurate, and relevant information.

Here at Project Vote Smart, Americans young and old volunteer their time, take no money from special interest groups, and have committed themselves to an extraordinary effort that, if successful, will provide their fellow citizens with the tools for a reemergence of political power not known for half a century. Their idea is one you may have thought of yourself. It is a deceptively simple concept but enormously difficult to achieve and would not be possible without the collaboration of citizens willing to lay their partisan differences aside for this one crucial task.”

I encourage everyone to turn off their televisions and visit the Project Vote Smart website.  Take time to study the issues and know where the candidates stand on each of the issues.  If a candidate is refusing to take the “courageous test” then email him/her and let them know that they won’t be receiving your vote.

There will be no campaign reform coming from Washington anytime soon so the only way to reform is through our collective voting.  Therefore, it is very important to be an informed voter and Project Vote Smart is a good start.