If ignorance is bliss, many should be acting more blissful

Volume 7, Issue 3, March 2008

If ignorance is bliss, many should be acting more blissful

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Josh Carples
Managing Editor
Capital City Free Press

“If ignorance is bliss, then knock the smile off my face.” -Rage Against the Machine, from the song “Killing in the Name Of”

Dirty politics works. If it didn’t, it would have gone extinct by now, but we know that it hasn’t. And no matter how many times Americans talk about how they are tired of the dirty politics and partisanship, it seems that they take part in it themselves by forwarding emails and filling message boards with false information.

The problem is that many of these people who write the posts or forward the false emails seem angry. Am I to believe that ignorance isn’t so blissful?

How many emails or posts have you seen that include people saying they won’t vote for Barack Obama because they won’t vote for a Muslim? And how long does it take to find out that he is not a Muslim? All you need is two minutes and a Google search.

As of this writing, the newest scandal involves John McCain and his lobbyist ties along with what some former, anonymous aides think might have been a sexual relationship. Republicans seem to be using the term “smear” or “hit-job” to describe the New York Times reporting on the issue. I guess blaming the media for reporting a story is the easy way out.

If you are concerned about “smears” then it’s up to you to find the facts. Obama is a member of the United Church of Christ. Without focusing on anything sexual, it is a fact that McCain has ties to many lobbyists as well as a long history of those ties.

And while we’re talking about “hit-jobs” and false information, to this day radio commentator Rush Limbaugh still accuses former President Bill Clinton of having people murdered.

So to all readers out there, I issue a challenge: If you hate dirty politics so much, don’t participate in it.