Credit: Getty Images
Credit: Getty Images
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Convention season is here and for political junkies like me it's the Super Bowl, World Series, World Cup and Christmas all rolled into one.

The Republican National Committee has commenced it's nomination convention in Cleveland.  The Democrat convention is next week in Philadelphia.  It's the real launch of the campaign for the White House.  There will be lots of speeches and balloons and accolades to last the week but one thing in short supply, specifics.  The parties adopt platforms at their conventions but don't spend a whole lot of time telling us how they plan to accomplish all of the things they say they want to do.  Details come later in position papers and at the debates.  Also absent is the drama of conventions gone by as these things tend to be pretty well scripted in advance.

One thing we can count on for sure is that the news networks will flood us with opinions, analysis, comparisons, graphs, charts, polls and statistics.

Some folks say they are turned off by the process.  I think they are just lazy.  There is a lot to be excited about and a lot to pay attention to. Seems we say it every four years but this is a turning point for our country. The next president will make some important decisions regarding foreign policy, terrorism, the Supreme Court, immigration and a lot of the issues we should care about.  Yet so many people say they won't participate in the process. " I don't like the candidates," they say.  More laziness.

Americans have an obligation to take part in the electoral process and to abstain is a dereliction of your responsibility to your country.  Take a bit of time to learn about the candidates and make an informed decision based upon issues and research and not on what some celebrity says on Facebook or Twitter.

If America is to survive and prosper it takes all of us to do our part.  Get involved.  watch the conventions.  Listen to the debates and go to the polls to vote. There are no acceptable excuses for not doing so.

Barry J Richard

 

 

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