We know your vote counts - make sure it's logical too!

We know your vote counts - make sure it's logical too!

Political ad writers COUNT ON YOU TO NOT THINK FOR YOURSELF and to not know how your own government works. Here is my rant of the week - not against, or for, any candidate, but about putting on our thinking caps - and knowing what we are talking about before we speak!

An ad against Vernon Parker says he told Tea Partiers he wants to get rid of the Department of Education (yes, he did say this), and therefore Arizona will lose $800 million dollars in educational funding. This is NOT A LOGICAL CONLUSION!

The DOE basically says 'teach what we tell you to, or we won't give you federal money for education. We don't care if you want to teach to the needs of your students and your geographical area. No local control of curriculum allowed." (My own words.)

But if there is no DOE, the DOE can't take away our funding for not doing what the DOE says we have to do. (See how that works...)  So the claim is ILLOGICAL.

Later (not in the ad), it appears that to cover up for this lack of logic, the ad writers say there will be no Pell Grants for college without the DOE. Who says there will be no college grants without a DOE? Not Vernon Parker. In the video quoted, he says that the DOE educational rules have resulted in kids who can't read at a third grade level and don't know history - - responding to charts and a presentation obviously made before he started speaking, about poor test scores, something very few will disagree with.

Clearly the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, creators of the ad, did not learn critical thinking in school either.

Here's a link to a Press Release (not news, but Public Relations), accusations related to the quote, and oddly the entire video of Vernon Parker's speech, which does not support the accusation. I guess they are counting on you to not actually listening. http://azdem.org/news/releases/Vernon_Parker_Cuts_Education_AZ_CD9/

 Heather J. Kirk

Colbert's Call to be Christian

My brother posted the following quote from Stephen Colbert on his Facebook page that quickly garnered a bunch of 'Like's.

"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it."
- Stephen Colbert

Since Colbert is both a comedian and a political pundit, we have to assume that he is exaggerating something (that we as a nation don't give to the poor - look up the numbers, we do) and making a dig at someone (no surprise that his target is the Republican Party).

But let's just step away from all of that, and instead of choosing to point our fingers at the other guy (the other political party, our leaders, the government,, the rich, the poor, the whoever) and realize he has a profound point to be made when it comes to each and every individual.

A Christian nation must include Christian individuals. Each person reading Colbert's quote should ask themselves, "Am I personally giving? Do I care about the poor?" If the answer is, "I'd like to, but I just can't right now..." then we have forgotten the "unconditional" part of God's love, and our own call to be generous.

In spite of what some televangelists would have you believe, Jesus and the disciples were not rich. And they gave - if not of their money (though some did, like Matthew, the former tax collector), then of their time, talents and love.

Let's forget for a moment to point our fingers at the rich, and imply only they should pay their "fair share", what about you? (And yes, I have to ask myself the same.) Are you giving your "fair share" when it comes to helping the needy?

I know that the word 'command' is a dirty word in a democracy, but if the commandment is to love - what's there not to 'Like'!

Heather J. Kirk, Photographer, Author, Graphic Designer."We..." an e-book at: photographicartistry.citymax.com/BooksFind her art at: Artist Websitesand HeatherJKirk.com