THE BOTTOM LINE: A Bloody, Messy, Downright Dirty Business, But ...

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  • Can we set aside the keyboards and refrain from baseless character attacks and debate?
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Campaigns will always be a bloody, messy, downright dirty business. If you truly believe you or your candidate are the best choices, you will fight with every fiber of your being. After all, everything from the fate of humanity to your child’s future is at stake. Just about anyone who has been a part of a campaign will tell you that they would add politics, along with love and war, that all things are fair in.

But, at what point do the games end? At what point do we set aside the animosity and vitriol of politics and actually govern? At what point do we decide that a meaningful debate about policy is more productive than a pack of half-truths, whole-lies and misinformation?

Over this last weekend, there were a plethora of keyboard warriors who were on a mission of misinformation. Post after post called into question the motives and character of those duly elected by the citizens of Lawton. It seemed that social media had run amok with accusations of impropriety, incompetence and the notion that elected leaders were there merely to increase their own personal wealth.

As a journalist, when I hear someone say a politician is corrupt my ears perk up, my attention narrows and I begin to look at it like a puzzle that must be solved. But these most recent attacks don’t even rise to the late musician Marvin Gaye’s standard. This isn’t a case of hearing something “through the grapevine.”

This is rather a group of people with a limited view of the world and an agenda who have decided to engage in misinformation, misdirection and, at times, make claims they cannot support. They compare the cost of car ownership to economic development and the city budget to that of a household budget. The City of Lawton requires more planning and forethought than a household.

When I ask for the proof that city leaders are corrupt, I am told, “It’s there. You just have to look for it.” No, I don’t. You are the one making the accusation, beseeching this man’s character. Shouldn’t the burden of proof fall to you? I used to ask the question, “When will they stop slinging mud and actually govern?” Now, with the advent of social media and the ability to spread baseless accusations, half-truths and misinformation, I wonder ... should I ask “if”?

So, here is my new question. Can we set aside the keyboards and refrain from baseless character attacks and debate?

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