Weighing Their Words

The gullible believe anything they're told;

the prudent sift and weigh every word.

Proverbs 14:15

I have never been a political person, and am certainly not rabid when it comes to our nation's political process.  I don't like to debate the pro's and con's of the different political parties, because they have become so partisan, they no longer talk good sense on almost any subject.  When it comes to the presidential election, however, I try to diligently listen to as much spoken and written word as possible in order to make an intelligent choice.  I do not vote for a party affiliation, I vote for a person.

I am firmly entrenched in the bottom half of the middle class, and sincerely wonder at times if any of the political candidates know who I am - not me personally, of course, but my section of the economic terrain.  I read in CNN the other day that Americans only seem to want to elect wealthy politicians.  I wonder why in the world we do that?  Republican candidate Mitt Romney is a multimillionaire who once wanted elevators for his luxury cars, and whose wife wears $1000 designer t-shirts (CNN).  How can she (or he) possibly understand my life: $8 t-shirts from Target, with an occasional splurge for a $20 one from Ann Taylor's Loft.  I work two jobs just to make ends meet, something that Michelle Obama will never have to do, with assets for the presidential family weighing in from $2.8M to $8.3M (Huffington Post). 

I do not begrudge either family their money.  I do, however, believe that their wealth blinds them to the real needs of the majority of this country.  So I listen to their rhetoric and I try to sift through the spin doctors, the obvious lies, the subtle lies, and the empty promises.  One man will say anything to get elected, the other man will say anything to keep his job.  And this woman will continue to watch, listen, read, and weigh every single word.