2024 Election, Trust the Facts, Not the Heart, It’s Easily Deceived
By Norman Franklin
Norman Franklin
We love our country. Love for America has become the central campaign issue of federal and state elections. Nothing fans the flames of love for the country more than the fear that we are losing our sovereignty.
Fear is an emotion that grips the heart. It consumes, paralyzes, and disconnects the prefrontal cortex. The ability to process truth and facts is irreplaceably impaired. Lies, once seeded in the belief system, refuse to die.
Our ability to sort out conspiracy propaganda from facts, truth from lies will be put through the test during the days leading up to the November election.
Politicians, in their zeal during their run for office, regularly exaggerate, misstate and just lie. We have come to expect that, but campaigns have taken a nasty turn, lies and conspiracy theories ratchet, facts are relative, and truth is subjective.
VP Kamala Harris heads the Democratic ticket, Fmr. President Donald Trump the Republican ticket.
A successful run would make Harris the first woman, and first woman of African descent to be elected President. Trump would be the second former President to regain the office after losing reelection. Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th POTUS. Donald Trump would be the 45th and 47th.
Media coverage of the candidates on the campaign trail will be slanted, biased, or just spin propaganda. Supporters, pundits – in the pulpits, and on social media, are screaming headlines of love, patriotism and fear. It is a volatile mix.
Elections are important. They are a vital part of our form of government. We are a democracy, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Elections give the people the opportunity to determine the tone and direction of the country. Voters give voice to their choice for leadership.
All elections are important. The 2024 presidential election is very important, it is a pivot-point in our history. It is pivotal because of the polarization of the people, politics, religion, class and ethnicity. There is an ideological divide that is pulling the nation into divergent camps.
We wonder whether we will continue as a democracy governed by the will of the people. The 900-page Project 2025 document, authored by various conservative thinkers of the Heritage Foundation, is a threat to democracy. It proposes broad brush changes to the form and operation of governance.
We will not recognize our democracy if the recommendations are implemented. Truth is, it will no longer be a democracy governed by the people.
Before the first debate, the field was set – two aged white men, one a politician, one a celebrity; these were the candidates of the two-party system. Cognitive acuity was a concern, the debate performance proved the concerns valid. This is the backstory to this historic moment: President Joe Biden passed the baton to his VP. The run for the White House is now between a younger, intelligent, competent, strong woman and an aged and cognitively diminished man.
The political landscape will become a minefield for lies, misstatements, exaggerations and alternative facts. Both parties will be guilty; be sure to fact check. Here are two fact checking sources: FactCheck.org and Snopes.com. Trust the facts. Vote informed and intelligent.