"Just the facts, ma,am"

Who fishes around in the sea of ideas, checks out the facts, thinks about them, chooses the crappy ones and then ... throws the offal at both the wall and the fan (not taking any chances) hoping some of it sticks in the minds of a gullible public? Answer: big government in Washington. I prefer to do my own thinking, be a shopper thinker. What about you? Especially regarding candidates in the up-coming election. What should the President of the most powerful nation in the world represent? Power over the people’s wallets to waste the monies collected from taxes? A campus feminist still plying her trade in the same manner as in her Wellesley days? An anti-war pacifist appealing to global diplomacy? A perfect coiffure? A member of the rich preaching to the poor and ignoring the middle class he impoverished by lawsuits? A perfect coiffure? Personal wealth? A specific religion? A religion that is not Christian? A cute lisp? A crisis manager? A heroic war veteran? A moderate thinker? An anti-free trade protectionist? A closing of our borders? A businessman? An opponent of a trans-American highway? An advocate of a consumption tax? Platforms and labels run the gamut of Presidential hopefuls, both Democrat and Republican. Each policy statement requires my analysis of the facts that will determine the future of America.

With so many diverse issues up for consideration, why believe in any of those we hear until we ascertain the facts? Without regard to the experts. Experts practice the art of contradiction when it comes to advice about virtually every issue. Becoming an expert implies accumulation of facts, insights or experience, but too much consensus today is agenda driven and not a synonym for fact. What does the data say about climate change? Here’s the one-two punch. 1. The earth is totally dependent upon the sun. 2. The earth has warmed and cooled many times throughout time. What are the facts about fats and health, energy dependency, math and science deficiency in our schools, stem cell research, health insurance costs and nuclear proliferation? First, without fats we die and we only need to ask centenarians how they managed to live so long? Nuclear power plants are not being approved to alleviate our electrical grids. There is an innate appeal of science and math to the masculine mind, women gravitate to other disciplines. Seems to me we need a call for manliness. All types of stem cells other than embryonic stem cells have shown promise in scientific breakthroughs. It’s only fair for each American to arm himself against illness and disability in retirement with choices about health care are personal savings. Many countries around the globe already have missile defense systems in the works. We just must face this fact.Experts and government (especially in those disingenuous public service announcements) hope we’ll fall for their facts. Happy and successful Americans are smarter than that.