If you don't have anything nice to say...

then you're probably talking about the election. I'm not able to vote in this election, because I'm not an American citizen, but I still think it's interesting and I try to read as much as I can and learn about the different issues. November 6th is coming up fast, I can tell because of the number of friends on Facebook I've had to "hide" until after that day. I think it's awesome that everyone is so passionate, but there is so much negativity, and being subjected to that day after day can really affect your mood.

The main thing that bothers me about a lot of the posts and tweets I read from people I know, is that they are SO negative, one-sided and honestly pretty ridiculous. Obviously people are going to have an opinion about who would do a better job based on how they feel about certain issues, but is it really possible that one of these guys is capable of fixing all the worlds problems, and the other is so incompetent that he has trouble getting out of bed and dressed in the morning without help?

I think we can all agree that whoever you are voting for, or whichever side you generally support, both Romney and Obama would have needed to be fairly intelligent to get to where they are today, and while they certainly have different ideas about what needs to be done, especially with regards to social issues, neither of them is going to be able to fix everything.

This is especially true when it comes to the economy. The most intelligent economists in the world aren't even in agreement about what needs to be done to fix things, and just as soon as you hear about a plan that is bound to save us all, you flip to a different channel or read another article about how such a plan would doom us to "a thousand years of darkness." There are a lot of different things that can be done to try to improve the current situation, but there are also many outside factors that have an effect, including wars, currency and economic stability in all of the other countries in the world. One person is not going to be able to fix or control all of that.

Also, I think people need to take a more active role in learning about the candidates. If the most you are able to offer in a debate about why you are voting for one candidate over the other is "because Obama and Osama sound the same" or "because that one lady on that one show said..." or "if you vote for him then you're stupid. and ugly. and you can't read good. and neither can your mom" then maybe you need to do a little research.

That also means listening to both sides of the story. Even if you are completely against something or someone, if you don't know exactly WHY and WHAT that person is doing and saying, how can you make an informed decision, or be able to have an actual conversation about it?

A few years ago I was on my way home from University on the bus, and I was reading a book by Ann Coulter, not because I agree with anything I'd ever heard her say, but I figured if I don't at least TRY to read her book and form my own opinion on it, how will I really know, and more importantly, how will I be able to have a debate with someone that does agree with her?

As I got off the bus, an older man cornered me, and gave me a lecture about reading that book and how I "shouldn't believe everything I read.." Well that's true, for sure, but it's also very true that you shouldn't believe everything that you hear. Find out for yourself, and then you'll know for certain.

One of the websites I like to go to for information is Factcheck.org. It's a non-partisan website that fact checks political speech, ads, debates, etc from both sides, and tells you exactly what was true, what was false, and what was misleading. Check it out: http://factcheck.org/.