the shadow knows

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
- VOLTAIRE
i do believe this quote by Voltaire.  It was proved to me in glaring detail when our nation decided to invade Iraq, but this is not why i use this quote today.  Today it relates to the upcoming elections and a chat i had this morning, while walking at dawn.

As the sun was rising we discussed the failings and attributes of those running for our local Governor.  Local politics are interesting because they are exactly like National politics just on a smaller scale.

Here in the islands we have the sitting Governor running for re-election against a man who was a previous Lieutenant Governor and commissioner of the Public Finance Authority.  Both representative groups are out blaming the other for gross misuse of public funds. 

The sitting governor has a security fence around his private home, built by the taxpayers that is enough of an injustice to cause some voters to vote for the other guy.  The ex commissioner had a hotel reconstructed under his watch that went millions and millions over budget that will also cause some voters to vote for the other guy.  Which misuse was graver is not discussed nor are the circumstances that led to the alleged squandering of public money by both sides.

Unfortunately these two issues, not what they both did during their careers, not how they changed things or kept things the same in government will be the deciding topics for why people will vote the way they do.

Today no one has time to really examine the politicians they vote for.  All political parties know this and capitalize upon the negative.  President Obama has been slimmed since before he took office, no one looks at his actual record.

Melee is known as a confused struggle.  Our political arena's are nothing more than confused struggles between groups of people that lack important information.

A lot of what goes on in our political discourse today and leading up to the elections next week is based upon blame.  Blame, that more often than not is irrational.

"Blaming is a way of devaluing others. The end result is that the blamer feels superior. Others are seen as less worthwhile making the blamer  "perfect". Off-loading blame means putting the other person down by emphasizing his or her flaws." (Snatched from Wikipedia)

Today in politics the blame game is the only game in town.  If you can make your constituents believe that your opponent engaged in some heinous activity you have captured their vote. 

It is as simple as that.  Blame the other guy for all the nations ills and you get back in, after engaging in two wars, wrecking the economy, and bailing out your buddies with TARP money. 

Demonize them, demonize liberals, demonize minorities, demonize Muslims, demonize immigrants, demonize LBGT people, demonize non-christians, blame them for all the nations ills.  Just don't look too closely at those you might put back in, don't ask them important questions, like who is paying them to represent them, or how are they buying their seat.

No longer do politicians take questions that they have to answer for.  They don't want to debate today...you might catch them out.  No longer do they have to prove that they can do the job.  All they have to do is insinuate that their opponent took something from you.  Make you feel abused and they have your vote.

We are a nation of uninformed voters.  Too many people go to the polls knowing nothing about who they will vote for.  So here are a few myth busters before you go to vote next week.

1) President Obama tripled the deficit.
NOT TRUE: Bush's last budget had a $1.416 trillion deficit. Obama's first reduced that to $1.29 trillion.

2) President Obama raised taxes, which hurt the economy.
  NOT TRUE: Obama cut taxes. 40% of the "stimulus" was wasted on tax cuts which only create debt, which is why it was so much less effective than it could have been.

3) President Obama bailed out the banks.
  NOT TRUE: While many people conflate the "stimulus" with the bank bailouts, the bank bailouts were requested by President Bush and his Treasury Secretary, former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson. (Paulson also wanted the bailouts to be "non-reviewable by any court or any agency.") The bailouts passed and began before the 2008 election of President Obama.

4) The stimulus didn't work.
  NOT TRUE: The stimulus worked, but was not enough. In fact, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the stimulus raised employment by between 1.4 million and 3.3 million jobs.

5) Businesses will hire if they get tax cuts.
  NOT TRUE: A business hires the right number of employees to meet demand. Having extra cash does not cause a business to hire, but a business that has a demand for what it does will find the money to hire. Businesses want customers, not tax cuts.

6) Health care reform costs $1 trillion.
NOT TRUE: The health care reform reduces government deficits by $138 billion.

7) Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, is "going broke," people live longer, fewer workers per retiree, etc.
  NOT TRUE: Social Security has run a surplus since it began, has a trust fund in the trillions, is completely sound for at least 25 more years and cannot legally borrow so cannot contribute to the deficit (compare that to the military budget!) Life expectancy is only longer because fewer babies die; people who reach 65 live about the same number of years as they used to.

8) Government spending takes money out of the economy.
  NOT TRUE: Government is We, the People and the money it spends is on We, the People. Many people do not know that it is government that builds the roads, airports, ports, courts, schools and other things that are the soil in which business thrives. Many people think that all government spending is on "welfare" and "foreign aid" when that is only a small part of the government's budget.

The above is from the Campaign for American Future

As T.S. Elliot put it:
"Between the idea And the reality. Between the motion And the act. Falls the Shadow"

Investigate the shadow before you vote, become an informed voter and vote for your interests, not those who want to continue to offshore American jobs.