Discouraged

Sometimes I cannot help but get discouraged.

The other day on the radio, a talk show host was on the phone with someone who said her occupation was a teacher. He asked her why we celebrated the 4th of July. She was not sure. He asked who we won our independence from - she said "France" (it was actually England - France was our ally). And when he asked her the name of the war, she did not know (it was the Revolutionary War, or the War for Independence).

And she is a teacher! Have to wonder just exactly what she is capable of teaching, but it certainly is no wonder why our kids are not getting a good education.

And several months ago, Sean Hannity arranged to show people on the streets of New York City certain photos of prominent, important people - Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Britney Spears and others. Of the people who were shown the pictures, most did not have a clue who any of them were. Of the ones who knew some of the people in the photos, they were able to pick out Ms. Spears, first and foremost.

When citizens of New York City were asked their state capitol, most did not know. And when I told a New York State Trooper that I was from a town near Concord, New Hampshire, he had no idea where New Hampshire was - or that it was even a state!

Now, here is why this discourages me - these people are allowed to vote! They can help choose who our leaders will be in this very dangerous time in human history.

And, looking at Congress, that explains a lot!

I once proposed a sensible solution to uninformed voters, but no one took it seriously. Too bad. I suggested a non-partisan website be built, and operated like eHarmony.com. We could call it "informedvoter.com". Every citizen could go to this website, and answer some very basic and pointed questions to determine what issues are important to him/her, and what they believe in. The answers would then be used to search the database of all politicians - local, state and federal - whose actions, statements and voting records are in accord with the visitor's own beliefs. In this way, the voter would not be affected by hype, lies or distortions, and would know exactly which candidates would be most likely to serve him/her effectively, regardless of party.

In this way, everyone could rest assured that they will be voting for the best candidates suited to serving them as they wish to be served.

And our politicians would no longer be able to hide behind half-truths, innuendo, lies and distortions. They would have to become more aware of the importance being placed on where their record says they stand.