Critical and Political Thinking

I mentioned the importance of critical thinking to the democratic process the other day and it got me thinking about my own experience with our government. The last eight years pissed me off so much and President Obama has said and done so many things just in his first few days in office that I am in an near-constant state of elation.

This is both good and bad.

The thing I have to remember is that every thing the Obama administration does isn't going to be something with which I agree. The trick, here, is going to be for me to keep a truly open mind. If they stick to their rhetoric, though, I will at least know that they are about to do something I don't like.

The very fact that this administration is doing a lot of things I have been wanting government to do for a long time means that I need to watch them even more closely. And they are providing the tools for the American people to do that watching. Chief among them, Recovery.gov (which currently has no content) and the White House's website (which has plenty of content).

No matter what your political beliefs are, make your opinion known and look for evidence behind the words of our leaders. Don't just trust or mistrust blindly because the person saying something is a career politician.