Yesterday, I had lunch with a co-worker. As we headed out, he asked me if I had heard what one of the Presidential candidates had said about something. I shook my head and responded sadly, “No, it’s the just daily ‘he said, he said’ game”.

And this is truly one of the saddest things about this Presidential election in 2012. It seems as though the public is not voting “for” anyone but waiting for a gaffe, followed by a media frenzy that will tilt their vote one direction or the other.

As I said to my co-worker, if you sneeze around one of these guys and they say “Bless you” versus “God Bless You” it is likely to dominate the news. Truly, something that simple could spark a national controversy.

Our country is so electronically charged, celebrity-obsessed that we are more interested in the gaffe than the facts. People, wake up! Democracy did not come easily. As I often say here, it continues to be a great experiment. We have chosen self-governance and freedom of speech (expression) as tenets of our system. Go on and study the candidates and the issues. Stop basing your opinions on a 140 character Tweet.

Please understand that I’m a fan of social media. I love linking to articles off of the many Tweets I follow. These Tweets often lead me to well-thought out and reasoned information that I might not see otherwise. This just expands my reading and knowledge base. It just doesn’t take much to click through and read more information.

Alas, however, we are in a world where Kim Kardashian’s every move garners more attention than an incumbent Presidential candidate and his opponent. And, when they do garner attention, it is because of some Kardashian-type statement or remark.

“We the people, will get the government we deserve, be it good or bad!” Get the government you deserve by studying and casting your vote wisely.