"Don't Stop Listening!"

Last summer I was sitting on my recliner chair a soda by my side happily watching my White Sox on a warm afternoon, it was the eighth inning and the game was in hand, then the unthinkable happened! My faithful Toshiba of over fifteen years of service decided it would no longer meet my entertainment needs. One quick pop and years of World Series, Super Bowls, and Bulls games ended for my veteran television. My wife, who was upstairs, heard my cries of despair, as if I had lost an old friend. I told my wife we should wait until we saved some money before we purchased a new set, as I still had a set in our upstairs TV room and a smaller set in our bedroom. My wife agreed that a new television was not a priority and we should wait and then shop around for the best deal.

When it comes to shopping my wife is the all-time champion. She is like a great hunting dog, she can sniff out a deal at ten thousand yards. She checked out every television for price, and reliability, warranties and serviceability. Phone calls, Internet searches, and product reviews were all looked at before we decided which set we would purchase. We were educated buyers.

Last week Barack Obama made some disturbing remarks about not watching political pundits or cable news shows, as they would clutter your mind when making decisions. My only conclusion about this statement is that Barack Obama wants the American public to act as a group of uninformed morons who will blindly follow any policy he dictates without question or criticism. This is a frightening statement as it reflects Obama's arrogance, it reveals his belief that only he knows what is best for America and no other voice or opinion is worthy of consideration. Obama doesn't want an educated electorate, he doesn't want the citizens of the United States to know anything that is not approved by Barack Obama's administration.

I'm sure there were other presidents who felt the same way about the press and the people as our current Chief Executive does, yet none of them had the audacity to make a public proclamation about it. His attitude of "only listen to me" certainly shows his lack of respect for the 1st. amendment and the citizens of our nation.

If we become a nation that stops questioning leadership, that believes everything one person or party dictates, we will be on a fast track to the end of America as we know it. Be it a Republican or a Democrat neither party is omnipotent. We must guard ourselves against any administration that shuns the light of criticism or dissent. Those are the actions that keep politicians honest and accountable to the citizens.

America we must be educated buyers, we must listen to all sides of every issue, we must make informed choices. Beware of the "salesman" who says " look no further". If we choose to quickly we may end up with a bad case of "buyer's remorse".