Politics - accepting responsibility

Of course those of us who are political junkies are somewhat compulsively absorbed by the federal elections. We will, in the next month, spend much of our spare time watching TV - listening to the paid political junkies discuss who said what, where and why. We will endlessly listen to commentators argue over the significance of those frequently less than pithy comments. And of course, for most of us, those discussions will do little to change our minds. We already know who should win and in some cases we already know that our votes will be wasted as we have seldom, if ever voted for a person who got elected (perhaps at some other time I will discuss the absurdities of "first past the post" electoral process).

However I have noticed this time a significant increase in the demands for a discussion of "real issues" as opposed to the 6 second attack ad sound bites. There is no doubt that any of the debates that will occur in the various libraries or other public spaces (or for that matter on TV) around this country will consist more of what the other party are/or will do wrong than what the individual will do right. Those debates will be tiresome and they will at best appear to be scripted. But whose fault is it?

It is all to easy to blame the Americanization of Canadian politics upon the media, the handlers or on the youth who do not care. And perhaps some of that blame is justified. But I think most of the blame lays upon us. If we the public do not participate, do not ask questions (not just now but all of the time) of our politicians; if we don't vote or attend meet the candidates meeting, if we don't talk about this stuff all of the time, it is not surprising that the handlers, the strategists and the politicians believe that we are just too uncaring and too poorly informed to make a decision based upon anything else that personality.

It is perhaps crass to re-state the old saying " we get the politicians we deserve" but it is hard to expect/demand more form others when we are unable or unwilling to ask the same of ourselves.

Get out there and listen to what they are saying, read the material, and for heavan's sake vote!!!!