I will be so glad when the presidential election is over. While I (unlike many of my contacts on Facebook and MySpace) have mostly kept my politics out of the social network, there comes a time when one has to comment. This is that time for me.  As a friend, I've exercised restraint. As a performer it makes no sense to actively offend roughly half of my potential audience by shoving my personal, political views down their throats (like I'm doing now *grin*). We have the right of free speech. We also have a responsibility to be judicious in our use of that right and to be accountable for what we say.

I have neither made it a secret that I support McCain/Palin, nor have I actively campaigned for them in the social network. Unfortunately, I have seen ugly, snide attacks on those candidates, been told to uninvite myself from some of my friend's lists, and had it suggested that I MUST be a racist because I do not support Barack Obama for president. I would never ask you to uninvite yourself as a friend because I disagreed with your politics. I relish the knowledge that my friend's list is an amalgam of differing views and experiences. I cherish the knowledge that I can hear an opinion diametrically opposed to my own, challenging me to re-examine my core beliefs, as long as I'm allowed to disagree without insult and slander. I'm all for intelligent discourse, but I am SICK TO DEATH of propaganda (from both sides). When did we, as a society, forget that the root word for 'civilization' is 'CIVIL'?

I have watched with absolute disgust as the national media has actively taken sides, presented opinion as fact, utilized subtle phrasing and coy questioning as a substitution for journalism, and ignored ... IGNORED important issues. That last point is unforgivable: the sin of omission. While browsing the web this morning, I found this:

http://cbs2.com/local/Sarah.Palin.mannequin.2.849299.html

I don't think anyone can say that if it had been an effigy of Obama it would have received nationwide coverage, especially if it had happened near where I live, in Florida. But because it happened in California, and because of whose effigy was being hung, it receives scant coverage only in the area where it occurred. That's inexcusable irresponsibility on the part of the press.

This is symptomatic of the double standards I have been noting privately to people I know for months: If there is something disparaging the McCain/Palin ticket it gets a banner headline. If it's about the Obama/Biden ticket, it's on page 5... if it gets printed at all.

When Sarah Palin can't tell Katie Couric what newspaper she reads the media bombards us with the soundbite for 5 straight days, with occasional reminders up through today. When Joe Biden says that Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed us about the Great Depression...on television...it's covered for 15 minutes and then NEVER brought up again.

Look without bias at the relative amount of coverage you saw in the last week on your local and national news between Sarah Palin's wardrobe budget and Barack Obama's proposed federal budget. Which has more bearing on the future welfare of the nation?

Last week the Associated Press stated that their previous polls had some problems with the formulation. After they accounted for that, their latest national poll showed Obama at 44% and McCain at 43%. EVERY national media outlet (even Fox News for crying out loud) listed the national polls that showed spreads as high as 51% to 40% for Obama, without much (if any) coverage of the AP poll.

I could cite hundreds (literally hundreds) more examples but that would defeat my purpose. I don't seek to be cast aside as another one of the 'fringe' people. I'll let my case stand on the merits of my four examples. You can judge whether or not my point is valid based on those.

I'm NOT trying to sway your vote in the election. I want you to vote for the candidate who most closely represents your personal beliefs and your political goals. In the end, whoever is elected will be my president and I will support them during their term and would hope that you would do the same. The United States functions best when it is precisely that: United.

I AM trying to do 2 things:

1. Make you think about what 'news' is, and what the 'watchdogs' of our nation are choosing to do with the power inherent in that role. Might I suggest that members of the 'reporting' field use their sense memory and exercise what used to be called 'ethics'? Or is that too much to ask? Is the word 'unbiased' even used in journalism courses anymore? The ONLY agenda the media should have is the truth. Period. We deserve much better than what we're getting from the press.

2. Make you think about how you treat your friends. We can disagree about politics without attacking or ostracizing each other. We deserve better than that from each other.

Thanks for reading.....NOW GO VOTE!