Miss Information

Peach Blossoms

Originally posted at Writeindependent.org on November 19, 2011

A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce, or a tragedy, or perhaps both.
–James Madison

Of all the disappointments I face in this upcoming election season, none frustrates me more than the misinformation that my friends espouse over tea or coffee. Somehow, they have gotten hold of thoughts with no basis in fact. A case in point: one of my friends said, “the Democrats have held majority in the house for most of the past 30 years…”

I looked it up and my friend is overstating the facts. She would be right if she had said that the Democrats held majority (over 50% of the house) for 16 out of the past 30 years. That’s hardly the major portion of the last 30 years. It’s 53%, which is pretty close to half the time. If she had said “more than half” it would have sounded a lot different than what I heard, which sounded like “way more than half” or “most”…

Before you make any claims, check the facts, please?

In any case, does it really matter who had over half the house if what we have now is just a mess? Do you think we have a better country when one or the other party has higher numbers in the house? What difference does it make if they both can’t be trusted to vote in the people’s best interests?

Who is really running our government today, anyway?

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