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LETTER: Voters bear big responsibility during election season

By on September 5, 2012 7:30 am / 6 comments

 

Thanks, Central Michigan Life Editorial Board for your great editorial on Friday. We agree, the media should fact check political claims, and we also agree that too often, they merely report what they hear, as if “journalistic neutrality” required them to keep a straight face. In that climate, “truthiness” wins out over truth, manipulation over evidence, and emotion over reason.

But journalists aren’t the only ones with a responsibility here. If we didn’t fall for “truthiness” – if we weren’t so willing to believe something is true because we want it to be — politicians wouldn’t rely on telling us what we want to hear in order to get our votes!

It takes effort and skill to overcome our natural tendency to resist others’ ideas and just go with what we want to believe, but with practice, we can open our minds enough to consider alternatives, and we can learn to weigh the merits each of them – including our own. (Ouch! – that last part can hurt! But, hey, isn’t higher education supposed to teach us how to do that?)

This fall, “Speak Up, Speak Out: The Current Events Series” will give you a chance to get informed, find reliable information and join conversations about the candidates, their platforms, their political talk and their advertising. The first SUSO forum will be on “Campaign Me$$ages: Who’s Paying, Who’s Talking and What Are They Saying?” (Wednesday, Sept. 19, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the UC Auditorium.) The forum will begin with video clips from the conventions, key speeches, interviews with political figures and of course, ads. After that, the conversation opens up for audience participation. The topics for discussion are:

— What messages are candidates and their supporters communicating to the public?

— Whose money is behind political ads? How are Super PACs and special interests shaping the message?

— Are campaigns targeting some demographics over others?

— Are they telling the truth or distorting the facts?

— Do the messages reflect the candidate’s priorities?

There will be five SUSO events focused on the presidential elections this fall. Watch CM Life for information on later forums and the SUSO party on election night. (Yes, of course there will be free pizza!)

Andrew Blom (PHL/REL) “Campaign Me$$ages” Forum Facilitator, SUSO Organizing Committee Member
Merlyn Mowrey (PHL/REL) Chair, SUSO Organizing Committee

 
 
 

6 Comments

  1. I_Was_A_Teenage_McCarthyist says:
    September 6, 2012 at 1:25 pm

    None of this matters. I’m voting for president because they are puppets and make me feel better about being a slave when I can submit my vote to Diebold.

    Reply
  2. Tom Thumb says:
    September 7, 2012 at 12:43 pm

    This election boils down to one issue: Free markets or state controlled markets. Obama is a big government socialist. Romney is a free market guy. Socialism works to a point, but two of the off springs of socialism is relatively high unemployment and a decline in productivity due to government manipulation of the market place. We have seen what this kind of system looks like during the 3 plus years of Obamanomics. If I were a freshly minted college graduate I would be deeply concerned for my economic future if Obama is reelected.

    Reply
    • I_Was_A_Teenage_McCarthyist says:
      September 8, 2012 at 1:01 pm

      Well. That’s a pretty high contrast statement.
      Personally, I don’t think either of them is any more socialist or capitalist than the other. I think both of them got where they are by promising to do everything within their power to keep the gravy train going for the power that be.

      By that I mean that neither the Republicans or Democrats really have differing opinions. They may say they do, but their actions are always in the interest of those who put them there. I’m talking about banking dynasty’s completely deregulated by Reagan and quite the same by Clinton. I’m talking about the “War on Terror” put forward by a neo-con and carried on by a “socialist”. Thusly allowing us a national tailspin of unmonitored derivatives, airwaves without sense (despite belonging to the public), NAFTA, GAT, federally contracted mercenaries, secret Eastern-European prisons, the PATRIOT ACT and Prescription drug abuse through scores of men from both sides of the aisle.

      No matter who gets elected, the government still gets in. And it’s sole function is the sustain and increase the autonomy and authority of it’s owner’s – whenever possible. The larger issues aren’t even up for debate. We are thrown table scraps of sensible discourse.

      Are free markets the best idea? This country has been run like a bargain slaughter house of fifty years.

      Reply
 
 

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