Thoughts on the Election

Official Election Day is Tuesday. Many have already voted early. In 2008 I voted early and had to stand in line then to do so. Not this year. I will stop by my polling place before I go to work.

Much info is out there by way of radio and television to help us make a decision or to validate our decisions. The way I see it is that CNN and the big three networks were biased toward the left, so the entertainment giant Fox saw an opportunity for profit to bias news to the right. That's business. Spending money to be elected is business also. I heard that three billion dollars has been spent on television campaigning alone so far this year. All that money for the approximately 225 million Americans eligible to vote! And probably half that many who will.

We have choices. Some of us align with the Libertarian, Green, Constitution, or The Rent Is Too Damn High party. Some folks don't really care. However most of us agree enough with one the two major parties to accept their thinking as we understand it. So here we are, individuals with different life experiences and education joining in with one of two huge groups. No wonder there are different voices within the parties. As there should be.

One thing I liked from the Restore Sanity rally this weekend was the mention that in spite of what the various news feeds may lead us to believe, we do get along. Television news invites and suggests strong discord among us and pits us against one another (ratings - follow the money), but differing opinions don't have to lead to hostility. In my hospital for example, like any other microcosm of society, there are all different kinds of people. Whatever the political party and whether nurse, housekeeper or physician, we work together peacefully, help each other, and actually like each other.