I find the elections to be pretty depressing. We are in full campaign mode and the country is being forced into artificial panics as part of campaign strategies.
The chances of getting Ebola for the general population about the same as getting hit by a meteor, but the Republicans have escalated the fear in this country to ridiculous proportions as a way to attack a Democratic president and get out the vote.
And the media escalates the fear, of course, because the more afraid we all are of dying, the more we will breathlessly watch the latest minutes of fear mongering on TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, etc. Depressing to me.
Islamist extremists know that the best way to gain credibility amongst bloody minded jihadists is to compete amongst themselves to be the most brutal jihadists. Plus, their strategy is to bait the U.S. into invading Muslim countries. That’s what bin Laden did, and it’s what ISIL is doing. It makes them seem important, and does wonders for recruitment into their religious wars. I’m sure we have to respond to some degree, but the knee jerk Republican critique of anything the administration does is not helpful. I’m old enough to remember when the political rule in the country was that politics stopped at the border, meaning the country had one voice, as much as was humanly possible, when it came to overseas military issues. Wanting to drag the country into the civil and religious wars in the Middle East seems to be a very bad idea to me. But, it’s election time so attack, attack, attack.
I will be glad when this election is over, but, oh yes, there is another election “right around the corner” so, fear monger, fear monger, fear monger...raise campaign contributions, get out the vote, demonize the opposition, keep the country in a continual state of agitation…depressing.
I think I may just ignore the media, even more than I have recently, until the election is over.
