From now until election day in November, you’re going to be assaulted day and night, in your home and on the road, about things political or criminal or both.
We’re already hearing people say they’re tired of it, and they’ll be happy when it’s over. Here’s how you can make it easier on yourself and stay friends with neighbors and coworkers while being a responsible citizen participating in your self-government.
The trick is to pick and choose when to tune in and when to tune out, and how to know the difference between facts and theater. Facts take less time to sort through. You can get the facts in two or three places, spending less than an hour a day, and be well informed.
What you need to know is who, what, when, where and why, and sometimes how. The “why” is the tricky part, and it’s where opinion writers, analysts and publicity experts come into play. Analysts can be fair in their reports, but public relations personalities are usually pushing a candidate or point of view on an issue. With the rise of AI, we will see more disinformation and dirty tricks.
Pick your sources wisely. One of the problems with our form of democracy is that freedom is rated above responsibility. Some news publications and programs are popular because they entertain.
Avoid sources who practice freedom of speech without an obligation to tell only the truth. Take note and avoid sources who use freedom to tear down with words with no responsibility to build trust with honorable discourse.
This sounds simplistic, but I believe much of the turmoil we have in American politics is because winning has become like a contact sport, with a goal more important than getting things right. I recommend taking a half hour or so daily to gather information from reports on public television and radio and be skeptical of most of the “expose” bombshells on the internet.
Democratic debate is not just disagreement over abortion versus right to life or balancing the budget or fixing border and immigration issues. It does not have to be partisan war and hypocritical rhetoric, reduced to winner takes all. The dialog worth following will consider the need to win a little here, lose a little there and be open to compromise on timing or degree of change instead of wielding absolutist power.
Leadership ability is best assessed by vision for unity over the long haul ahead, not on vengeance for divisions in the past.
If your source is manipulating words instead of explaining reason, switch the channel, but take note of the showboat tricks and don’t revisit just because it’s entertaining.
Escaping election talk and citizen participation isn’t easy. We don’t want to turn off the TV, car radio, internet, cell phones and any device that leaves a recorded message.
People can cancel newspapers and magazines, shut down podcasts, dig a hole in the woods and sit in it until a week after election day in November. Longer, depending on how long it takes them to count votes. Sometimes the best action is to hit the mute button.
But for those willing to pay attention to facts and shun the disinformation and manipulation, there can be some satisfaction in knowing you had a part in making the best of a platform for personal liberty and social responsibility, serving not only yourself, but others.
Dean Minnich writes from Westminster.