LOOK IN THE MIRROR

As I look at todays headlines, I am continually nagged by one question: Who's fault is this? Well, if we look to our "leaders", we see a herd of conveniant scapegoats just begging to have a sea of fingers pointed at them. One party blames the other, all while competing for holy grail of media compliance.
Which party is correct in their assertions is really not that important in the grande scheme of things. At the end of the day, the real culprit responsible for most-if not all of our ills can be found in the nearest reflective suface. In other words, it's our fault.
Consider this. At no other time in history has a regular guy had so much access to so much information...for free. Twenty years ago, if a talking head told you something on the evening news, you had little choice but to accept it and assume it was the truth. This meant that we had no choice but to trust the individual reporting the news, regardless of any agenda they might be hiding. Today this is no longer the case.
Now, if somebody tells us that we have the power to control the weather with the use of compact flourescent light bulbs and crappy cars, why do we have to accept it? If someone tells us that we went to war in Iraq because we wanted to steal their oil, why do we have to accept it? If someone tells us that having a strong national border is really not that big of a deal, why do we have to accept it? If someone tells us that taking our money away in the form of higher taxes actually makes us more prosperous, why do we have to accept it?
The answer is simple...we don't. Unfortuanately, if our national poles are even remotely accurate, about one half of our population is perfectly happy with accepting whatever idea that can be packaged in a socially acceptable way. Only after the S%& hits the fan do we see the unintended consequences of not taking the time to look at the big picture.
When we cast our vote for someone, it is our duty to know what they really stand for. It is our duty to not fall for fancy packaging and slick keywords such as "change" and "hope". It is our duty to understand their policies, or if they even have any. If we buy into the hype, who can we blame but ourselves?