Is context important?  Atticus Finch was a lawyer who defended a black man charged with raping a white woman.  The locals were pretty angry with Atticus.  And angry people will do just about anything to discredit the perceived source of their unhappiness.  Imagine the headlines in the morning paper after Atticus shot the rabid dog.  They might scream “ATTICUS FINCH KILLED A DOG”.   There would be little mention of the rabid sickness, the threat to community, and the need for immediate action.  Highlighted would be the additional fact that Atticus discharged his firearm within the city limits.

Of course we all know that the entire story was fiction – contrived in the mind of a gay loving Harper Lee.  We know her by her close association with the homosexual Truman Capote.  You see how easy it is to take some facts and present them in a very distasteful and erroneous manner.

We see this mentality playing out again on our national political stage.

President Obama appointed an Energy Secretary who hopes for higher gasoline prices.  The objective is to force Americans to pursue alternative sources of energy.  Are these true statements.  Somewhat.  Do the statements, as presented, reflect truth? No way!  The Energy Secretary said something about people not changing habits until there is some pain involved.  He mentioned the European gasoline prices as an example.

President Obama has approved programs allowing errant alternative energy companies to steal from our government.  True?  There was a company that received government subsidies to develop alternative energy sources.   Their business failed.  Taxpayer dollars were lost.  Can we honestly say that the President was funneling money to his buddies on the left to be siphoned off for self reward?  How preposterous!

Nitt Romney strapped the family dog to the top of their car while they drove away on vacation.  Can we reasonably say that Romney seeks clever means to be cruel to animals?  What a foolish thought.  But there are those on the left who make this characterization.

Rick Santorum has said that our constitution should be interpreted in light of the Bible.  All right – this is a bad example.

The point is folks, we are approaching an election where the leader of the free world will be chosen by about half of the eligible voting Americans.  We owe it to ourselves and to our country to not judge Atticus until we know the truth of the matter.  We must make informed decisions.  We cannot be responsible by merely believing anything that is broadcast on FOX or MSNBC.