The media age seems to fuel as many problems as it creates opportunities. We seem more interested in "catching" someone doing or saying something noteworthy and seem to evaluate all based on their latest sound byte.
Watching the news make me wonder if anyone can run for a political office who is human. All people make mistakes in speech, conduct, and struggle with inclusion, exclusion, and biases.
We surround our leaders with sound vultures, making them so careful with their word choice that they usually say nothing.
We understand that whoever sits in our oval office will be criticized more than comforted, misunderstood more than realized, used more than loved, and often have his/her patience tried.
Whoever the leader, whenever the time, our ideas will always be better than theirs, and we will listen to newscasters who agree with us and support our agendas while implying that our viewpoint is what is best for the nation.
When a non-political person becomes President, they are relentlessly attacked for challenging the system even though the system seems hopelessly broken.
It seems to me that this broken system benefits members of the system, who also create the rules for the system, causing it to limp along while trying to convince us that limping is normal.
To run for political office in our country, you need to have a lot of money, a thick skin, and be willing to destroy your enemy (for a noble cause, of course.)
If you are a person who loves God and his/her family and focuses on obeying God and helping others succeed, you seem unqualified. If you speak against the system, the system will relentlessly attack you.
I think those that are most qualified to hold public office never run for office and for that reason I think we need a change.
I would start by suggesting that we starve the current political candidates for money, so we do not continually hear them attack each other. Let's take any money we would donate to political causes and find a non-profit, non-political organization that is doing what the government should be doing and support them. (Contact me for suggestions.)
Secondly, I would suggest that we all refuse to participate in polls. (At least polls that ask us who were most likely to vote for.) We need those who are running for office to tell us what they are going to do and not spin it to sound like something we want them to do. This would minimize the "bandwagon votes" and force people to vote by their convictions.
Thirdly, let's maximize the time we spend with the people we love. Let's spend time talking, playing games, etc. while minimizing access through various media formats. We will never build healthy families by having a strong nation. However, we will have a strong nation if we have healthy families.
The newsmedia is hopelessly out of touch with people like myself. We do not care about most of what they report and have grown weary of their agendas and continual "gotcha" stories. The sheer volume of news stories has rendered them meaningless.
I do not want to hear any more debates, so I will not watch any. I do not want to hear about what the other candidates are thinking or doing. I refuse to give creditability to such nonsense and will use my vote to elect those who give us the best opportunity to once again honor God, the family, and system of law and order.
I am not very important, and my opinions probably matter to very few people. I am OK with that and still enjoy the fact that I live in a nation that allows me to express my viewpoint.
