It's always been funny to me to see it when a newspaper endorses a political candidate. Or a syndicated TV show airing a completely-biased news piece favoring one candidate. Or an interview is snipped short to make one or the other look poor. The supposedly objective reporters of the nightly news and the paper we start with each morning give their backing to a singular group of ideals and morality. Does this color their perspective on the daily news?

This being one of the first presidential elections with the Internet in full bloom, popular entertainment websites are scrambling to share their views on politics, many even endorsing candidates. So that raises the question: Should we use our power to endorse a group of ideals and then subject our visitors to that, those who certainly aren't coming here with the intention of asking for voting advice? Absolutely not, it's as unethical as a newspaper who endorses a certain ethical and sociological view saying they represent the public, despite when the public at large votes into office a different candidate. I think it can show how out of touch the media is with the people of the next generation, or bias in the mainstream press.

So what am I getting at? Vote Tuesday. That's it. You've got the right to vote and the worst sacrifice of our freedom any of us could make is to not vote at all. Exercise your right to vote, and know you're right to vote when given the opportunity. Instead of endorsing a candidate voted on by our staff that you shouldn't even care about anyhow, why not take the time tonight to get some kind of voter's guide and take a few minutes to get to the polls tomorrow and make a statement.

It shouldn't matter what I think about a candidate or what the consensus of the (US) TFN staff is, you should judge your candidates based on their choices, opinions, and record. Find someone you can trust and a person of integrity that will lead the country and represent you the best way possible.

I'm not even going to tell you who I'll be voting for tomorrow, win or lose, but I will tell you this: at least go out and vote.

Joshua Griffin

November 6th, 2000