Michael Koby

I’ve been chewing on some things the past few days.  One of those is Glenn Beck and his recent run in with the liberal left and their smear campaign over the fact that he called Obama a “racist” but this is just one piece of a much larger problem.  I think the main issue people have with people like Glenn Beck, myself, and others is that we question our government.  With the government wanting to start socialized health care, people like me ask “why do we need that, there’s such a small percentage of people without insurance?”  People like Glenn Beck wonder why our president, who is in control of deomocratic republic has people who are communists, radicals, and people of questionable pasts in charge of things.  People like me wonder why we have “czars” (synonomous with “emperors”).

There is a reason why the first amendment of the United States Constitution gives the right of freedom of speech and press (also religion but that’s not part of today’s discussion).  It is so that we as citizens can stand up in public and question our government, our leaders, and those spending our tax dollars.  It is the press’s job to poke, prod, and question our leaders decisions, pasts, and acquantinces.  However, the media, especially outlets like the New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, and other television and newspaper outlets have become little more than mouth pieces of the liberal left.  This isn’t just my opinion but the opinions of others I know, several who would be decidedly liberal left.  It’s no secret that the media has a liberal slant.  It’s no secret the right wingers hate it.  It’s no secret that people like Glenn Beck, and Bill O’Reilly give in to sensationalism.  But they aren’t the only ones.

What I want to see more of is informed debate.  We have so many people yelling and arguing from both sides and they have zero clue what they’re talking about.  The left say the right’s uninformed, and the right says the same of the left.  Problem is, they’re both right and neither side wants to admit it, become educated, and have intelligent conversation that is helpful and informative.  When I go political on this blog, I really try to be informative and not just in attack mode.  I’m not saying I’m always successful at it, but I know that I make a concentrated effort to inform, debate, and listen to the other side.  People who know me, know this to be true.

But it all comes back to basic point.  How much do you trust your leaders, especially politicans.  We all know politicans are stereotypically double speakers, yet people who question the president (any president mind you) are looked at as crazy right-wingers, or leftist nutballs.  It is our job as the citizenery to question our government about everything, it is our right to protest publically against that which we don’t agree with.  We’re all different and not everyone is going to agree on everything.  I don’t agree with socialized healthcare, but you might not agree with teaching abstitence in public schools.  We all have different things we’re passionate about, but it’s those difference that lead us to compromise.  Problem is, we can’t compromise if everyone is name calling and yelling at each other.  So instead of yelling at each other as citizens, why don’t we target our energies at our politicians and leaders and make them understand what’s important to us.  Question your government, your leaders, make them scared of us (the citizens), we have control.  If you don’t like what your senators and representatives are doing, vote them out.  Speak with your vote, your petitions, your public assemblies, and your letters.  Call them on their double speak, call them on their indiscrestions, call them on their past affiliations, this stuff needs to take place on both sides.  A democracy in which the leaders do not fear their constituants (the citizenry) is not a democracy.