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It's That Time Of The (Election) Year

Guest post by: Michael Hume

Article Overview: Here we are now, three weeks before the mid-term U.S. elections, and it's Stupid Season. Judging from the ads we see and hear in a constant daily bombardment, we are supposed to be stupid enough to believe anything, and evidence would only confuse us.

It's That Time Of The (Election) Year

Politicians Say The Darnedest Things - True Or Not Remember that story that consumed our news media three months ago about the U.S. Department of Agriculture manager who was accused of being a racist? Yeah, remember, she was caught on tape saying she wouldn't be zealous in helping a farmer because he was white? And it turns out those quotes were taken out of context from a speech in which she was talking about something that happened years ago, a story she was using as an exhortation to her audience never to act that way?

Yeah, that was crazy. People trying to drum up more racism in America. While that was going on, another group of "media journalists" were asserting that the "tea party is full of racists" - never mind the troubling facts that the "tea party" is a large, non-centralized movement with no clear identity ("journalists" hate anything that isn't centralized) and that there was absolutely no evidence anywhere that anyone in association with any tea party event or group ever exhibited any racist behaviors.

No evidence? No problem. Not in this age of what passes as "journalism" in this country.

Here we are now, three weeks before the mid-term U.S. elections, and it's Stupid Season. Judging from the ads we see and hear in a constant daily bombardment, we are supposed to be stupid enough to believe anything, and evidence would only confuse us.

A commercial in Florida pulls sound-bites from a candidate's speech that makes him sound like a right-wing Christian zealot who expects his wife to obey him... he was giving a speech in which he was making exactly the opposite point.

A major governor's race is mired in an accusation that one candidate employed and then heartlessly fired a self-proclaimed illegal immigrant. The candidate's opponent (who happens to be the state attorney general and has done nothing to prosecute the only sure criminal in the case - the illegal immigrant) asserts that the other candidate knew she was employing an illegal when it was to her economic benefit, and then quickly scrapped the poor unfortunate when she decided to run for governor because it would look bad, of course. There are absolutely no facts to substantiate any of those assertions; in fact, there are a few facts that refute them.

A national ad proclaims that one party's supporters are taking "secret foreign money" - it even shows a ruffling stack of Chinese yuan bills - and paints the picture for Us Stupid (U.S.) Dummies that, basically, the Chinese are putting forth that evil party's candidates to take over the country and do their bidding. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is implicated (those capitalist pigs!). David Axelrod, the president's longtime friend and advisor, appeared on a "media journalism" program over the weekend and was actually asked if he had any evidence of this serious charge - in reply to which Mr. Axelrod asked the "journalist" whether he had any evidence that it WASN'T true.

No evidence? No problem.

These are supposed to be our leaders. Oh, boy. I suggest you not wait around to be led by these people, because you don't want to go where they're going! Start a business of your own so you can build your entrepreneurial skills and have an income of your very own... don't expect your employer to take care of you. Start a health-kick so you can keep yourself energetic and vital... not just because you'll need that energy to drive your business and run your household, but because you can't expect the government's health care program to take care of you. And start getting a real education about the global conspiracy against your money, before it's too late.

It's Stupid Season. Let the stupid have their season... meanwhile, take this time to quietly build a future around personal responsibility and personal values. After all, if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.

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Article Tags: entrepreneurship, government takeover, health wealth and happiness, personal responsibility



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