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[neffernin]

Hello,

I have been mostly an observer online for an extremely long time, generally reading CNN for my news and watching the polls fairly closely on RCP; reading comment sections to cnn or drudge or yahoo to get an idea of what people are thinking. My ride to work everyday is generally spent listening to NPR. I suppose much of my political news also comes from The Daily Show/Colbert Report as well; understanding that it is through the comedic lens.

I'm a fairly faithless person, nearly everything we do in society has been done before to some extent so there should be a precedent set that we can look back at and make logical deductions as to what our actions will lead to in the future. While there is some room for opinions in my beliefs, I think an opinion without factual evidence is fairly worthless.

What I am struggling with in life is it seems nearly everyone follows faith and emotion while logic, reason and truth are thrown aside. This is the exact reason I really enjoy watching Stewart/Colbert (2016) because they continuously make fun of the fact that truth means little in today's culture, especially politically. When I say I watch CNN, occasionally I'll catch an interview but I find it hard to stomach CNBC or Fox News just because they are too sensational (many of the things they do are obviously chasing ratings, not the truth). Also, not saying that Fox News is the same as CNBC; anyone with a sound mind would be able to spot the difference quickly in terms of intelligence of audience.

When talking about a topic, people quickly go to their talking points, their opinions and beliefs and are quick to discount truth and reason. I am a registered Democrat, will likely always vote down the ticket that way with no wavering in my decisiveness there, and nearly always agree with what their intentions are; yet I have no issue with pointing out the flaws in people's arguments on either side or playing devil's advocate when I do not see enough backing for an opinion. An example is in one thread people comment about how weird Mormonism is yet don't mention Harry Reid. I understand that collectively as a group Romney is the enemy, but I wonder if this is a topic that could be brought up here due to the partisan lens.

I went door to door for Kerry when I was 18 and the loss in that election made me feel disenfranchised, but I find myself more interested than ever. Maybe this isn't the right place to look for it, but I would love some true intellectual discourse so I can further understand why anyone in their right mind would want someone with the lack of honesty that Romney has produced be president.

Thanks,
Alex