Bombastic letters don't aid discourse
Typically I read the letters tot he editor to gauge how some of my fellow community members feel about issues of the day. Lately, I've had to view the letters section as one more type of entertainment, since few if any of the opinions expressed are based on fact - even though the points made are stated with the rock-solid certainty of truth. My high school English teacher taught us a name for such opinions - bombast.
I suppose it is to be expected in the era in which we live where ridiculous stories spread across e-mail and the Internet take on the weight of fact if not urban legend, regardless of evidence to the contrary. How many stories have we each received about something that later turns out to be false?
The same is true of many of the issues raised by The Daily Herald's letters to the editor. For example, to bombastically proclaim that the health care reform bill promotes socialism, will ruin the country ... Really?
Apparently folks expressing this particular brand of bombast are both clairvoyant and prescient. In truth, there are multiple bills in both the House and Senate and tens of thousands of pages of text. So, to claim they know what's in the bill and how it will be enacted as law seems bombastic. Evidently we need to seriously consider returning civics education to our schools, since most people falsely blame? the President creating the legislation.
The President doesn't make laws - Congress does. Before any bill can become law and begin to have an effect on any citizen, it must go through committee markup, negotiation and refinement and then it is voted on by both the House and the Senate. Only then does the President exercise his authority to sign it into law. It's called checks and balances.
I applaud my fellow citizens' passion and involvement. But I beg everyone to do three simple things:
• Check your facts. By that I mean more than simply finding reinforcement for your beliefs or trusting someone else's interpretation. This is simple, but not always easy, since there is way too much misinformation available. You may be surprised by what is true and what is not.
• Be civil - disagreement is fundamental to a strong republic. Disrespect is damaging because it short circuits the exchange of ideas.
• Stop the bombast.
Tim Springer
Batavia