Coming Soon: Election Info on the Blog
We’ve seen the political ads and heard the Babbling Heads on TV. We’ve read the newspaper OpEd pages. Perhaps we’ve even listened as political talk radio stars hyperventilate in public. During a presidential campaign, information comes rolling down on us like the storm surge from a Cat 5 hurricane.
We have lots of information. But are we really informed? Apart from stump speech slogans, do we really know what Senator McCain and Senator Obama propose to do if elected. (What they will actually do, of course, is an entirely different matter!) And do we have any way to compare and contrast — that wonderful phrase from college tests! — the positions of the two candidates?
I think voting is both a civic and moral duty. And church people ought to inform themselves about the candidates and issues, because so often the issues in play impact our responsibilities as disciples of Jesus Christ. But becoming informed is really difficult!
Yesterday John Gork and I met to talk over this problem, and John came up with an idea. Could we not snoop around the Web, looking in particular for information that compares and contrasts the candidates on the various issues? Could we not then post the URLs (links) for these sites on the Blog so that you, if you are interested, could read the information yourself? I think it’s a brilliant idea, a good use for the Blog, and a way to help St. John’s folk and others explore the issues.
We’ll call this part of the Blog ElectionStuff ’08. Stay tuned. In a few days we’ll begin posting some sites. If you come across a good comparison, e-mail John or myself and let us know.
– Fr. John +