Uninformed voters

An excellent Letter to the Editor originally published in The Mercury. The writer responds to an earlier letter from a Democrat who said the best presidents have been Democrats, so by his logic, everyone should vote for Barack Obama. It's easy to develop tunnel vision when you put party ahead of the merits of individual candidates. Any reasonable person would come to the conclusion that Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, is the worst president of the past 100 years. Had Bill Clinton confronted terrorism during his eight years in office, 9/11 never would have happened. And for all the good that John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson did, can you overlook the fact that they got us into Vietnam?

Here's the letter:

Voters must do a better job of educating themselves on issues

Mr. Fitzgerald's reasoning is quite simplistic in his letter in Readers' Views on Aug. 11. His listing of Democratic presidents who worked for laws and programs in America's interests without question made our country stronger and knit us closer together — no one can rationally argue against that. However, Carter was a disgrace in terms of foreign policy and Clinton had the chance to remove Osama bin Laden but did not; he also seriously weakened our military strength. Terrorism is and will continue to be an issue that must be dealt with. The point is that there are good and bad on both sides of the political equation.

It is simplistic to be either a die-hard liberal or a die-hard Republican in this day and age. America has a problem; I refer you to a book titled, "The Dumbing of America." In essence, the author says America is lazy and uninformed. Americans do not do their homework to become knowledgeable to fully understand issues and their affects of programs and objectives of the politicians who want to lead us.

Americans need to educate themselves on the details and whether what is being proposed will really foster economic, social, and national strength and growth and not a quick fix or as is usually the case a devious and deceptive distortion of fact and reality. We too readily respond to superficial statements, rhetoric, without getting specifics on who, how, and when will they be paid for. "The Devil Is in the Details," regardless if pushed by liberals, conservatives or powerful interest groups behind the scenes.

Let's educate ourselves first on costs/affects, who benefits and who does not, and is this good for all of America; then be proud of our understanding and preferred voting position. To do otherwise is counterproductive to electing the best for the greatest nation on earth.

DR. GEORGE FERENSICK
Douglassville