Misinformation Lives On

I was listening to the national news on NPR today. They were reporting on the President’s trip to the Midwest, and especially to a small Missouri town with its new ethanol plant. Seems as if about 100 folks had gathered there the day before the event to protest the current administration’s policies. A man from Columbia, MO said he had driven there because (this is a paraphrase, but close): “Obama’s trampling on the Constitution.”

I can only assume that this same person saw no problems with the last administration’s actions on any front. If he believes in our Constitution, I think there were lots of times in W’s eight years where even Constitutional scholars could argue some really bad stuff occurred.

And the other day, I got a copy of an email (forwarded from a friend who got it by mistake) from a conservative group asking people to logon for a survey (which was in the classical form of “When did you stop beating your wife?” regarding the Democrats and the President). If they did, they would be rewarded by an “Impeach Obama” bumper sticker. What’s happening here?

Please someone tell me what impeachable offense has been committed. Again, I can only assume that this same group saw zero impeachable offenses in the last administration. And where does the Constitution say that if you disagree with a leader that you should impeach him/her? I must have missed that in my civics class.

I am no knee-jerk political citizen. Sure, I’m a bit left of center. But I read and evaluate positions on all sides and agree with some conservatives at times. I worry about folks who believe the party line (whatever party) is sacrosanct and almost God-given. There’s no discussion possible with these people. They own the truth, as they see it.

I worry about good people being driven out of politics because they’re not extreme enough. If we end up with our two main political parties dominated even more by their extreme elements, there’s no middle ground. It’s all about bashing the other side, following ideologues.

And I’m really getting fed up with blatant lies (e.g., “death panels”) and the level of viciousness we now see displayed. Where are the citizens in the middle (right or left) and why aren’t they decrying the lies, misinformation, and extremism?

You think what Arizona has done with their immigration law is rotten? Imagine the extension of all these lines of thinking, especially on the right, and it will scare the &%$# out of you.