The gap between public opinion and fact when it comes to the Obama administration

Barack Obama has done more things since becoming president than many of his predecessors. These include the stimulus act, health-care legislation, the biggest expansion of wilderness areas for decades, an expansion of SCHIP, among other accomplishments. It can be argued that Obama has made more changes to the current American system than any president since Ronald Reagan. It is interesting to see how an uninformed public interprets these changes, being as complex as they are. These responses vary from confused to misinformed to generally informed. When you have a public that does not respond to anything other than 60 second news stories, it is hard to convey the policies your government has enacted.

I have a habit of having intense partisan arguments with people in parties, and doing this in Vermont has given me a new perspective. It seems that liberally minded people are relatively informed about what Obama has done. This is predictable. The real problem is where independents and conservatives fall on this spectrum. They clearly have responded to the calls of socialism by fox news. One person claimed that Obama was trying to abolish social security. Another claimed that his administration has restricted gun ownership. Neither of these are true. Obama has consistently voiced opposition to the privatization of social security and has vowed to strengthen the program. When it comes to gun rights, Democrats have given conservatives many victories on this front to avoid 1994-like cultural conflicts.

Most liberal bloggers love going after fox news, and I am no different. Having a conservative perspective does not mean twisting the facts to appease a crowd angry with having a moderate president. Fox News and liars of their ilk are not the real problem here. The problem is a general public that does not question what it hears and does not care enough to do simple fact checks.

My question is: what will it take for America to wake up?