You know what REALLY grinds my gears??????
Voter Guides!
I received one today, forwarded to me from someone I barely know, from the American Family Association.
Four things that really bother me:
1. Only certain issues, ones that some religious leaders have decided are key, are included. Issues that they don't believe are key are ignored... the result? Health care is included, but foreign policy is not. School choice is listed, but economic policy is not. What the heck????!!!!! I mean, since it's a Christian organization, abortion and gay marriage are logical things to appear in the guide... but gun control? School choice?
2. Issues are over-simplified. Not all issues can be simplified into a simple yes or no answer. For example... Obama is listed as being opposed to private ownership of handguns... however, his voting record shows he has actually voted for a bill that lets people KEEP their firearms, as well as another bill that requires a child safety lock to be provided when a gun is purchased.
He actually voted exactly the SAME way on gun-related ownership as McCain, except on one bill... The bill protects gun manufacturers from being sued when the guns are used to hurt people, armor-piercing weapons were prohibited, child-locks/safety storage must be provided when guns are bought...
McCain voted for it... Obama didn't.
So why did Obama not vote for it? One small measure tossed into the bill... "Exempts lawsuits brought against individuals who knowingly transfer a firearm that will be used to commit a violent or drug-trafficking crime" I can definately understand why he didn't vote for that, and it has nothing to do with private ownership of guns.
Obviously this issue was either overly-simplified or else the AFA is deliberately misleading... I chose to give them the benefit of the doubt.
3. DELIBERATE MISLEADING. If you look on their little chart, you will see "Reducing U.S. Dependence on Foreign Oil" in BIG BIG letters, with McCain being in support of it and Obama opposing it. But if you look in the little print below, you see "By lifting ban on off-shore drilling for oil and gas." Obama is NOT against reducing our dependence on foreign oil AT ALL... one of the main points of his Energy plan is "Eliminate Our Current Imports from the Middle East and Venezuela within 10 Years" Obama wants to reduce it by encouraging growth of hybrids, increasing fuel economy standards for cars, and other measures of this type. The guide is deliberately worded to decieve us, but since the tiny print makes it true... they get away with it.
Another example of the opposite type, is "Hate Crime Laws" which are described in the little print as "Legislation that criminalizes certain actions orstatements on the basis of sexual orientation" Ummm............. Hate crime laws are not just about sexual orientation... they protect religion, gender, race, nationality, disability,...
4. NO REFERENCES!!! No links are provided where you can find out where their "facts" come from... not even places where you can find more information!
These "guides" are simply a way to deliberately manipulate people into voting for a particular candidate who meets their agenda, and that freakin ticks me off!!!!!
You know what I want to see in a voter guide? I want to see a guide with a list of websites that help you look up your candidates, their views, and their voting histories. Maybe this weekend I'll make one...
What factual and unbiased (as much as is possible) websites do you all know of that could I include?
7 comments:
I had to almost chuckle at your post(not because it's silly, please read on). Mainly because it's all stuff that I have disliked about ANY kind of voters guides there are since I became of voting age. They all can use their own agendas to say what they want. Keep in mind, however, that those voters guides are not necessarily approved by the candidates they claim to support. I also don't think there are any websites that would be unbiased either. That's what makes it so hard to make an informed choice. Me, I just have to pray and hope that I have heard the right answer.
Gotta love freedom of speech!
Love ya!
My favorite website for this stuff: http://factcheck.org/
I like their recent summary: http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/the_whoppers_of_2008.html
The site unbiased and includes sources.
~Jen
I use snopes.com a lot to check things out. They debunk myths. And they have to remain non-partisan!
Did you know that the majority of people who lost their homes due to foreclosure will find out too late that they are no longer registered to vote? The Republicans don't want them to know that and the Democrats desperately want them to vote. It's nuts!
When in doubt, do the research yourself, trust no one.
I live by that. Too many people twist the scriptures, political agendas, etc.
Always, do your own research and come up with YOUR own conclusion or OPINION. Never take anyone else's for granted.
Then you can agree to disagree or vice-versa.
I stand in awe of your research abilities. And persistance. So give us a synopsis of this economy thing - not that I'm not staying as on top of it as I know how - but I would love your input!
I stand in awe of your research abilities. And persistance. So give us a synopsis of this economy thing - not that I'm not staying as on top of it as I know how - but I would love your input!
Post a Comment