"The American Voter-Essay One"

"The American Voter-Essay One"
       
                                Feb. 6, 1996

Each day the American public is presented stories on important issues affecting our lives and impacting
our pocketbooks. These stories are provided by the
media who report on our local, state and national government. As citizens we receive more 'news' about
our government than any country. We should be the
most informed people in the world. But are we? Not
according to polls that test our knowledge of issues.
And if not, why not?

Not unlike children who are guided through public
school systems but not educated; most Americans are
not educated about what government is doing for us
and to us.

The media presents us with polls upon polls, gathering
this information so politicians 'know how we feel'.
And elected officials respond to poll results.

I cannot cast stones at our politicians. They are doing
what they should do, represent us and persuade us, and nothing more. But I can throw a brickbat or two at the media. They fall far short of the mark. Most often they present our politicians argument, rarely challenging the 'facts' supporting it. They leave the public wanting,
not fully understanding an issue, yet believing they
have 'done their job'.

If the media believes they have done their job, then
we must begin to do ours. WE must take responsibility
for the information we receive. We must read, listen, analyze,and conclude the validity of this information.
Every story the media presents should be viewed as a
used car ad, with suspicion. There may not be a
deliberate effort to distort a story, but we must
question what we are told.

Is this hard work? Yes and no. Some of the issues may
be beyond our comprehension, but most are not. Most
issues, especially those affecting our Federal pocket-
book are no different than those faced by most American
families. Most fiscal problems we face are simply because
we spend beyond are ability to pay our bills. Anyone can understand this. And raising our debt ceiling each year
does not cure our government's addiction of spending the public's money.

As for non-fiscal issues, let the words of Jefferson
and Madison guide you. Don't allow the 'technology of today', such as a V-chip, allow government to intrude
into our lives. Too many of us have abdicated our
personal responsibilities to politicians; men and
women we do not know, but who ask for our trust.

We would not give our children to strangers, so why
our rights?
                                           Anthony J. Bruno