How did I get myself into writing this column?

Note: This essay is my first column in the Red Oak Express. My column will appear bi-weekly beginning Nov.22.

I freely admit to being a political junkie. But I didn’t set out to write any columns. So how did I get myself into this?

I grew up with a quiet father, a farmer, who observed the world closely. He didn’t say a lot, but he didn’t miss much. And he read constantly. I spent evenings in his lap as he pored through the Des Moines Register and a stack of magazines. He built shelves for his growing library of history and biography books. He watched public TV. He asked lots of questions. He listened, and as a shy man, he spoke only when he felt called to speak. Usually, his comments delivered a whole new perspective to the discussion. I can also remember Dad writing letters to our representatives in Congress and serving on local boards. Mom did, too, and politics was always a lively topic of discussion at supper. (Mom was a Republican; Dad was a Democrat.)

That’s how I was raised. And like my father, I read – a lot because I learned from Dad it mattered. The political decisions we make – not individually but as a society – set our course. So if we choose poorly, we all pay. That is the tyranny of the majority. That’s democracy.

So for 30 years I’ve been tracking our political record. I’ve paid more in student loan interest, earned less and am now watching my kids (and yours too) struggle even harder than I did because my generation and succeeding ones have made poor choices based on misinformation we’ve been fed by corporate interests and media.

How do I know this? I’m part of the system.

I was trained as an artist to create illusion, and I work in business communication and public relations. I know how word choice affects perception, and I know how color, perspective and design play on emotions. So I can spot the spin, frame or sales pitch – whatever you want to call it.

Additionally, I care about the people I live with. I’ve spent 30 years watching family, friends and neighbors get hoodwinked by politicians bought and paid for by corporate interests. Election after election I watch them vote based on party, “likeability” and emotional reactions to ads and mangled rhetoric, rather than facts. Then they wonder what happened when their interests are ignored.
Consequently, I get a little frustrated when people assume I’ve just “drunk the Kool-Aid.” As I did with the still life in drawing class, I try to walk around situations and see them from as many sides as possible. I came very late to choosing a political party, and I’m not terribly comfortable there yet.

So I search for facts and policy solutions. I ask questions and look beyond the morning radio broadcast and the evening TV news for information. I delete chain e-mails. I check sources and track who’s paying for them. In conversation, I may ask uncomfortable questions and want to know your sources. And when I absolutely feel called to provide an alternative viewpoint, I write letters to the editor . . .

I guess that one came back to bite me.