To my fellow citizens in Otero County:
Meet the Candidates night in La Junta turned out to be quite informative. It was helpful to hear from local commissioner candidates as well as our House of Representatives candidates. Thank you to all those who participated.
However, for me, one of the most interesting parts of the evening was provided by those who spoke on behalf of the Presidential candidates. The McCain camp was given the first slot and Silver Salazar of Pueblo, a Democrat, was the speaker. He summed up his statements by urging voters to “Check the facts! Do the research!” That sounded like a sensible request to me.
The Obama camp’s speaker was Darlene Derbigny of La Junta. She quickly told us that we didn’t need to check the facts and we didn’t need to do the research. Pardon me? Did I hear that right? (I did.) She went on to say that all we need to do is read the newspapers. I wonder which part of the newspaper we’re supposed to believe? A report in one paper gives one impression, while a report elsewhere gives a very different impression of the same event. The columnists are often on opposite sides of any particular topic.
Regardless of what you think about the fairness of various newspapers in their reporting, are we really supposed to believe that research and verification of information is unnecessary? In school, we were taught to do research papers and science fair projects to investigate the evidence and then to reach a logical conclusion based on that evidence.
This particular election has seen a barrage of false rumors that has eclipsed past campaigns. I have received numerous pieces of information about Obama that are un-true. I have done (and continue to do) the research. I am a McCain supporter, but when I hear lies about Obama, I inform people that we don’t need to be passing on false information; just stick to the truth.
Why would anyone discourage fact checking? Why would anyone discourage research?
I’ll leave you to ponder that while I continue to follow Mr. Salazar’s advice – doing the research, looking for truth, making decisions based on facts. Better yet – wanna join me?
Teresa Wadleigh
Cheraw
