methinks

The Moral Majority

As a nation, how do we choose a president?

Do we thoughtfully weigh the issues?

1)What are the long-term implications of creating a national health care plan? Of not creating one?

2)What are the long-term consequences of our current war in Iraq?

3)What are the long-term effects of our 5 trillion dollar deficit?

4)How feasible is it now to assemble a coalition of nations to continue the war in Iraq?

5)What are the short-term effects on your life from a tax cut? A tax increase?

What percent of the voting population could (regardless of their conclusion) thoughtfully answer more than one of those questions? We could all nail the last one, but what about the others?

What if President Bush got up and said, "I stand by everything I've standed by before, for the good of the American people, but I just thought it would be fair to let y'all know I'm gonna leave you with a deficit larger than Texas is wide." Would he win? Or what if Kerry said, "In the spirit of fairness, I'd like to amend my previous statements on domestic issues, particularly those regarding taxes, with the admission that my administration intends to "roll-back" the tax cuts from the previous three administrations." Would he have a chance? The answer to both is "no". So it must be cost. We vote for whoever is cheaper, right?

But both candidates claim to be equal in that regard. They usually do. No new taxes. Balance the budget. Blah blah blah. In fact, that's claimed so frequently that we've become accustomed to being deceived in that sphere, which means that even though we understand the tax issue and the concept of a balanced budget, we can't totally trust that either candidate is being honest with his financial plan.

So...from an analytical standpoint, I don't really understand most of the issues, and the one that I do, I can't really trust...how am I going to decide? Well... I still have my feelings and my morals. And the politicians, they know it's a complex world, so they boil the issues down into moral absolutes to help me out.

1)There are 40 million people - families with children - who do not have health insurance. When they are sick, they can't afford a doctor. Is that fair?

2)Saddam Hussein killed thousands of innocent people. They could've given terrorists WMD to kill your children. Do you want that?

3)We are shouldering all the costs, all the deaths. We should share this with the world, right?

4)We have to do everything we can to get those terrorists, don't you agree?

The candidates thoughtfully put their moral compasses out there so I can pick the one that most closely points in the direction of my own. I mean, it just seems right. He's a moral man, a man of the people, a man with values who can lead us through a tough time and make the tough decisions in a way I find morally agreeable. That's comforting.

Posted by dacriss at October 17, 2004 01:49 PM | TrackBack