For use Sunday, March 15

Separation of fact, fiction job of informed electorate

In America in the first part of the 21st century, public discourse has come down to this as far as the average taxpayer is concerned: Listen to all viewpoints, but trust no one.

It’s a sad statement, to be sure, but it doesn’t necessarily paint a gloomy picture of the state of our republic.

It’s not that the people charged with making laws and policy in our representative form of government are outright liars, it’s merely that each one of them has his own version of the truth that serves to advance his or her particular self-interest with regard to almost every issue of interest to the citizenry.

This practice, which has come to be known as “spinning,” makes it imperative that the voters not take anyone’s statements at face value anymore.

In a debate concerning any given issue, Democrats spin everything one way and Republicans spin everything the other way.

And the mainstream media, which is relied upon much too heavily to sort out the truth, is too busy stirring up controversy by pitting one side against the other because conflict is always sexier than a rational, reasoned analysis of the issues.

If you want a strict interpretation of any bill that is pending before any legislative body, you should go to the source. You should read the document in question for yourself and make up your own mind whether it is good or bad law.

Then, armed with a thorough understanding of all of the questions involved, you can decide if your position is being represented in the debate over the issue at hand.

If, at that point, you decide that your interests are not being served by your elected representatives, it is incumbent upon you to contact them and make them aware of your concerns.

And don’t stop there. Follow up by checking to see how your representatives voted on each of the issues of interest to you.

Fortunately for those of you who want to take an active interest in your government, a wealth of information is available to you on various government Web sites, including those of both houses of the Florida Legislature and Congress, as well as those of all of your elected representatives.

In the final analysis, because most of the information you will get through the media will be spun by sources to favor one side or the other in the debate over an issue, it is imperative upon you as a taxpayer and a voter to separate truth from fiction and conduct your own fact-based analysis of any measure that comes before a deliberative body.

It is not only the news media that benefit from strong open records/open meetings laws such as those on the books in Florida, but everyone who wants transparent, honest government in the sunshine.

That is why it also is important for voters to encourage their elected representatives to resist pressure to take the teeth out of the measures that are now on the books and, in fact, to strengthen them wherever appropriate.

It was none other than President Richard Nixon, who is not remembered as a strong defender of a free press, who said, “When information which properly belongs to the public is systematically withheld by those in power, the people soon become ignorant of their own affairs, distrustful of those who manage them, and — eventually — incapable of determining their own destinies.”

Or, as someone who will be remembered as a staunch defender of unfettered access to public records and meetings, legendary CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite, put it: “A democracy is not a democracy without an informed electorate.”

When all is said and done, none of us can shirk our responsibility for determining our own fate. It rests upon our collective shoulders, and we cannot afford to shrug.

Reproduced courtesy of The Villages Daily Sun.
Permission is granted to reprint in part or whole when The Villages Daily Sun is credited as the source.
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