From the Desk of David Harrington
"Our Civic Recovery"
Everyone knows that politics is a blood sport full of acrimony and intrigue. Unfortunately, in this blood sport, personal attacks are the norm casting opponents in unflattering terms. This, of course, pushes aside what is most important, the issues; and what most matters to voters-improving our quality of life. Voters, in fact, are spectators in an arena where they do not matter with the intent of keeping them ill-informed instead of being engaged.
With a month away of making choices that will impact a generation, we are left with name calling and rudeness. Name calling that is disrespectful and rudeness violating every creed that we teach our children. The question that must be asked is: “how did we get here?”
Suggest we got here because of our indifference. For what has been and is at stake, we remain in a posture of indifference and ignorance. Reports cite that 60% read only the newspaper headlines with only 24% going into any depth. Meaning, that politicians and other pundits know that you only care about surface news crafting their message to whet your appetite. This gives the allusion of being informed, when, in fact, you barely understand the depth of any issue.
We must demand more! Demand that we must be informed over being entertained. Demand that we get unbiased reporting over needless commentary. Further demand civility over combative discourse! Demanding a different climate and dialogue will, hopefully, motivate us to vote and make informed choices. This may be aspirational, but for the sake of our democracy- we must demand better!
To all those running for office, for our civic recovery- engage in an informed debate that advances our democracy not embarrass it.
