Is an informed electorate really too much to ask?

President Obama is a socialist communist from Kenya who wants to kill all your babies and let all the illegals overrun our country.

Mitt Romney is a flip-flopping elitist who is incapable of feeling anything for struggling Americans because he's so freaking rich his maids have maids.

These lies are flying all over the internet - on blogs, on social media, in the form of memes (the pictures with a quote slapped onto it) or simply via divisive statements from your Facebook friends. How do we sort out what's real and what's not, without blindly accepting what we see as gospel?

Well, Fox News and even MSNBC would rather that you didn't. They'd rather that you simply believe the talk. And the American people seem to agree with them.

I recently came across this photo on Facebook along with an angry note about how President Obama is letting illegals vote but taking away military voting rights. If that was true, I'd be outraged and angry too. The problem is, that it isn't even remotely close to true.

Looks like the source is aclj.org - more on that in a moment.

The ACLJ, if the above is to be believed and if it indeed came from them, has put this in no context whatsoever, and is actually putting out a blatant falsehood. This one gets a Pants on Fire rating. If one were to go to their website, you'd find out how much President Obama hates Israel, and what a horrible person he is. The ACLJ stands for the American Center for Law and Justice. Sounds fantastic, right? It is, until you read the fine print in their website footer:

American Center for Law and Justice is a d/b/a for Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism, Inc., a tax-exempt, not-for-profit, religious corporation as defined under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, specifically dedicated to the ideal that religious freedom and freedom of speech are inalienable, God-given rights. The Center's purpose is to engage legal, legislative and cultural issues by implementing an effective strategy of advocacy, education and litigation to ensure that those rights are protected under the law.

In the midst of voter suppression efforts across the country, Ohio's move sought to end early voting for all Ohioans except the military. This would strongly affect voting in heavily urban districts where the opportunity to vote on the weekend and/or additional chances to vote on other days can often mean the difference between voting or not, and between keeping your job or losing it because you took the time off to do your duty as an American citizen and vote.

Sidenote: I'm extremely fortunate and glad that my company grants us 2 paid hours on election days to vote. They view it as our constitutional duty, and therefore pay us to find the time to do it. So, thanks to my company and our most generous benefits package! If only every company across America were to do this, then early voting days would be unnecessary. End sidenote.

During the course of this political wrangling in Ohio, two Democratic party election officials were fired for simply voting to keep expanded voting hours. We are now at a point in America where you can be fired for doing your job - the job you were hired to do, people.

Anyway... the Justice Department has had its hands full these days trying to keep Americans' voting rights intact. States all over the union where Republicans are in charge are trying to take away eligible voters' rights and access to the polls. The Justice Department filed suit against Ohio - NOT to take away early military voting, but to restore it to ALL Ohioans. Here's where reading your local newspaper instead of listening to Fox might be helpful for many.

The judge even quoted the Supreme Court ruling on Gore v Bush when rendering its decision in favor of the Obama Administration and all Americans. The judge ruled that the

"court stresses that where the state has authorized in-person early voting through the Monday before Election Day for all voters, ‘the state may not, by later arbitrary and disparate treatment, value one person’s vote over that of another. Here, that is precisely what the state has done.'"

In other words, yes, the military has done wonderful things for us and deserve the right to vote, but each military members' vote still counts as one vote and it counts the same as the plumber's vote next door. That is because we live in America, where we ALL have the same constitutional right and responsibility to vote.

I write this not to embarrass the Facebook friend in question. In fact, I applaud her willingness to read up on the issues when I pointed out the correct information to her. Her response that she should do more research is EXACTLY what we ALL need to do!

The only defense that voters have amidst all of the partisan news and sound bites is to educate themselves on the issues. With Facebook and twitter rapidly becoming where so many get their "news" we rely far too heavily on the partisanship of voters and media and not nearly enough on our own investigative skills.

Yes, researching all of the issues and the candidates' stance on each is time consuming and can sometimes be difficult. But we're electing the leader of the free world here, people. People fought and died for our right to vote in just such a way. To allow each and every eligible American citizen the right to have a say in who their elected officals are.

Do not squander this right. It's said that this election is the most important election in our lifetime. I disagree. While this is extremely, extremely important, and the differences between the candidates has never been more pronounced and distinct as it is in 2012, I hold the belief that every Presidential election is the most important. At any time, our elected officials can tank the country or lift it up. Any election. Any candidate.

It is our job - no, it is our DUTY - as citizens of this country to learn about the issues and make informed decisions. I don't count partisan news outlets such as Fox on the right and MSNBC on the left. Read your local NEWSPAPERS. They are available online, and still offer the most in-depth analysis of issues.

Don't rely on Facebook's pretty pictures with a quote slapped on it or partisan news channels to make your election decisions. They rely heavily on emotional appeal, not on facts. Find out who is talking to you and what their motivation is.

If your local news channel only reports what the candidates said, but doesn't fact check them, I urge you to contact that news station and beg... BEG them to not just repeat the sound bite, but to inform the voters if that sound bite is true or not, whether it was taken out of context, what that context actually was, and what the truth actually is. I realize that it's not as sexy to them, and may not sell as many ads, but as citizens and as the 4th estate, it is their job, their DUTY as journalists. If they don't do it, they should lose the right to label themselves as such.

It's ok that we have philosophical differences - that's what makes us America and Americans. But it's not ok to inform ourselves with falsehoods and then vote based upon those false accusations.

Be informed with REAL facts. Be a good citizen and go to the polls armed with facts so that you can make an INFORMED decision in that election booth.

And above all, VOTE.

It's the best gift that you can give to America.