Liberty also means Responsibility

I have always intended this blog to highlight the good work that dairy farmers do everyday for their animals and land.  I have never intended it to be a place for talk of politics, but today, while driving tractor and listening to the radio, I was prompted to include a little politics in my blog.  So here's my story...

Here in Minnesota our media has been filled with so many political ads!  Yesterday, in the mail, we received mailers about our Republican candidate for US House of Representative.  The flier was printed by the Minnesota DFL, and they reported that the Republican candidate had received thousands of tax payer dollars but, if elected, would vote to end government funding to the "poor" and "middle class".  After further inspection of the flier, I discovered that the tax payer dollars that this candidate received were from various Farm Programs for his farming enterprise.  Some of those same funds were distributed to our neighbors and my in laws.  This definitely was a shock to me, to see a simple fact found on the Internet to be skewed in such a way to portray a candidate as an abuser of the system.  I will definitely acknowledge that each political party is guilty of this practice, but that doesn't make it right.  Even more angering was to find out today on the radio, the millions, yes millions of dollars being pumped into the political machine built to confuse and persuade voters. 

As a voter, I take this liberty seriously!  We are so blessed to live in a country that give us a say in how our government operates.  I don't care what political party you vote for or with, but what I do care about is that you take time to seriously consider the responsibility that comes with the liberty of voting.  In my Agricultural Policy class in college we often talked about how ill informed the voters have been in the last few years, and how this has been accelerated through the media.  Instead of researching the issues, voters will vote based on the letter D or R behind a name, or even with the more popular commercials on TV.  As we draw nearer to the election in a few days, I ask each of you to take the time to review the issues that are important to you.  Please vote on those issues instead of voting on the R or the D.  Please take the time to consider issues that are important to you before you vote....and make the best decision for your communities, because voting carries a great responsibility with it, make wise decisions.