Where Do You Get Your News?

I took Saturday off from writing as I was pretty worn out from following all the political news of the past week. I enjoyed learning things about the Democratic nominees that I had not known previously and was more than taken aback at the choice made by the Republican presumptive nominee.

While running errands in the morning yesterday I spoke with a Vietnamese American college student who just became a United States Citizen three days ago. She was born in Vietnam but raised in this country, has turned 18 and wanted to become a US Citizen. While congratulating her and applauding her decision to become a Citizen I asked if she now planned to vote in November. She replied she did but has become confused about her choices.

This young lady attends college on a full-ride scholarship and while she attends a local four year institution of higher learning so she can work in her family business during off days and weekends, she could have gone to just about any school of her choice in the country her grades were so good in high school. She has been taking advanced classes for years and intends to become a bio-chemist to help find cures to illnesses where none exist today. I mention this to point out this is not an average person of average intelligence.

I asked about what confusion she had with respect to selecting a Presidential candidate in November and her answer stunned me. She withheld stating her original preference by name but said she had intended to vote for someone that would be creating history by being the first from his race to ever be President (guess who). She went on to say she had read, on Internet message boards, if elected he likely would be assassinated, so now she was reconsidering. My mouth must have opened so wide a jumbo jet could have safely landed in my mouth. I asked if she was now considering voting for “the other” candidate because of what she read and she admitted she was conflicted. I asked if she knew anything about the Vice Presidential nominees from both parties. She stated she was trying to find out more. We talked a bit about each of the Presidential candidates and their running mates. It was clear to me she was not getting her news from “main stream” sources. I asked if she knew about the attempt on Gerald Ford’s life by Lynette “Squeaky” From, a female who tried to kill a white, male Republican President. She had never heard or read about that incident and it shocked her. I asked if she knew that a young man by the name of John Hinkley had tried to kill Ronald Reagan, another white, male Republican President. She had not heard or read about that either and was shocked again.

After a few other questions about the history of our Presidents and their brushes with being killed in office I suggested she use the Internet to obtain information about several topics. To start, the Secret Service’s reports regarding how many threats are made daily toward every major political figure from both political parties in our country. Then I suggested she go to the web sites of both Barack Obama and John McCain and read what they have to say about their visions for the future. And finally I suggested she try to find a neutral political news source, such a Politico.com., which has a reputation for being really fair and balanced and not taking sides in favor of one party or another while presenting good data and questions about all important issues of the day. She acknowledged she was a bit embarrassed about the fact she had been relying upon information that was not main stream enough to be accurate and agreed to try to find out more about each candidate and their respective party’s ideology so she could become a better informed voter in November.

I also had a haircut yesterday but instead of discussing sports like we normally do when I am in the chair, the conversation somehow turned to politics (honestly, I did not start it). Huge mistake. My barber, it turns out, gets her news from other than main stream sources as well. Unlike the young college student I had just spoken with one hour earlier, my barber is a middle aged single female who is living slightly above the poverty line and has had a fairly tough life. She started to tell me all that she had come to know about the chosen leaders of both parties and how upset she was about what she was learning.

Rather than go into our conversation let’s just say I could not wait to get my haircut and get out of the shop. I was attempting to have a conversation with a person who had fallen prey to a great deal of not only misinformation but disinformation, lies, and distortions about the candidates now running for President and Vice President and it made me ill to hear what was coming out of her mouth. Not so much because she was saying things I disagreed with but where she had obtained her information and the fact she believed it.

Yesterday’s events followed conversations with a few of my neighbors during the past couple of weeks that also made me wonder where they received their news. I sometimes feel I live on a different planet than just about everyone with whom I come into contact. Why do I seem to see the issues of the day and the potential solutions differently than so many others? Is it because of where I reside? Tampa, Florida is a melting pot of many types of people with varied backgrounds, some of whom moved here from the Mid-west. But I seem to be surrounded by people that live in caves and their ideology reflects the most primitive perspective imaginable. Am I an elitist? Hardly.

To say that I am completely informed and get absolutely 100% correct information in the news would be an over statement. But because I use various methods to get my information and feel I am better informed about what is true and what is not about important issues of the day, I am now more concerned than ever about the future of our country. I have heard and read the average American does not get accurate information from reliable sources when it comes to how our country is governed. While speaking to two people on a Saturday is not a scientific study, the fact that one is a very, very bright and well educated person and the other is not but neither had clue as to the truth of what has occurred or is occurring in terms of our politics in this country made my drive home very difficult for me.

I hope and pray my recent conversations with my neighbors, the student and my barber were isolated incidents, but, I fear they were not. Good luck to us all this coming November and as the politicians like to say, God Bless America!