Use the Internets....

Look it up on The Google, people!

How is it that so many people are still so uninformed? I'm not talking about folks who have to work two jobs to pay the electric bills, or people who don't vote and don't care, but educated, intelligent (supposedly) people who are interested in the current election (or current events, or anything at all for that matter).

An example:

Billy (not his real name) confronted me earlier this week with a story he'd just seen online and he wanted me to defend Senator Obama - or he wanted me to fail trying. Apparently Billy had read on The Drudge Report, that bastion of indisputable truth, that Senator Obama favoured redistributionist practices. I hadn't seen the article, which was apparently accompanied by a short audio clip of Senator Obama on a WBEZ programme seven years ago. I couldn't respond to Billy's assertion that my pick for president favoured socialism (which delighted Billy to no end) but it didn't feel quite right.

Back at my desk, I Googled the story and was quickly directed to the WBEZ site, where the producer of Oddessy, the show in question, had posted a VERY short (about 200 word) comment on the story. It seems that the original programme had been mashed up, with sections of the comments made by Senator Obama taken rather out of context (shocking!) and posted on YouTube and the Drudge Report. I read a large section of the trasncript, enough to realise that the comments were taken very much out of context (Sen Obama argued for access to equal education and the "redistribution" of funds that would lead to equality).

Armed with this information, I dropped Billy a short note and included the link to the WBEZ site. I asked Billy to have a quick read and re-think his opinion on the story.

He didn't.

He outright refused to read the 200 words - he couldn't be asked to take five minutes to read the truth, straight from the producers mouth. His view was that while The Drudge Report might not be right, WBEZ might be un-truthful as well. I pointed out the transcript, readily available online, and the full radio programme - but no, Billy was interested in taking the time. And he was pretty sure my side was lying.

This shocks me. I don't know why; it certainly isn't the first time I've encountered this lack of interest in information (yes, I'm looking at you, Mr. Still President Bush).

BUT I AM STILL SHOCKED. That someone would CHOOSE to believe what he knows may not be true instead of taking a minute amount of time to do a quick fact check - to confirm or disabuse his original notions - absolutely f**king baffles me.

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!

Seriously, send your answers. If we know what causes the problem, we can figure out how to fix it.