We started the week examining issues facing the country as Tennessee moves toward a critical election this Tuesday.
We learned about the loss of honesty among public officials, the lack of universal health care, the shift in values and how the economy has failed to provide a livable lifestyle for most Americans while transferring wealth to the top 20 percent.
Unless you're among that wealthy 20 percent of Americans, you're missing out on what the country has to offer. We're missing out because of the lies we've been told and effort to shift money and power to a small group of people without regard of how it impacts the bulk of Americans.
America's next president will choose the path we take. He or she will decide the importance of truth, what values are important, whether we should all have access to health care, and how the country's financial resources should be allocated.
He or she won't make those decisions alone. It will require a Congress that shares those values and believes the country's current path is flawed.
But the most important element in determining America's path is the people. The president, the Congress and all other parts of society look to the public for direction. Whether they are acting as voters or as consumers, the people set America's ultimate path.
While Tuesday's vote is important, it's not the end of the story. Without our involvement, our leaders are free to make other choices -- ones that aren't necessarily in our best interest.
Between now and Tuesday, we have the opportunity to decide for ourselves what path America should take. We then must decide which candidate can best follow that path and what we can do to keep them from losing their way.
- Jim Grinstead
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