By Michael Cole

The Bible tells the tale of the snake that tempted Eve. How his charming words and charm made Eve doubt God and planted the seed of evil in humanity.

Today the snake would be a spin-doctor in politics or a talking head on a news station. They have found ways to charm our people and cast doubt on the sincerity of people we differ with.

They crave power. They demand respect, even if it is unearned.

They, however never feel they should be responsibility for their actions. It is always someone else’s fault. There is always a scapegoat, a patsy, a person to cast blame on to distract from their misdeeds.

They are not as concerned with doing the right thing as appearing to do the right thing. They feel the spin is more important than the fact.

They have turned politics from the art of communication, compromise and responsible governance into a blood sport. To that end, they are willing to embellish any lie, destroy any reputation and grind everything to dust to win.

They are in both parties. They are liberal and conservative. Unfortunately, they are not true Democrats or Republicans. Nor are they true liberals or conservatives.

To them, anyone who disagrees or does not blindly follow their spin must be destroyed or discredited.

Their win at any cost attitude quiet possibly is the single greatest threat to our country and the freedoms we enjoy.

When they say let’s sit down and talk, run away quickly. They are not interested in meaningful dialogue, but are searching for things you say to be taken out of context, or to personally spin their narrative.

In my years as a candidate, I saw this first hand. Careers destroyed, reputations trashed, lives ended as a sacrifice to the altar of the spin.

I usually look to find common ground with everyone. A hero of mine, Winston Churchill said, “Courage is what it takes to stand up; courage is also sitting down and listening.”

Unfortunately, meaningful compromise is impossible with them. One opened, outreached hand means the other is holding a knife ready to attack when you least expect it.

This type of politics must end. We have seen it become commonplace on the national and state level. It existed in the past on the local level and still makes its dying gasps here.

We must come together as friends, neighbors and family and in one voice say we demand that mature and serious people who are willing to build with respect and not destroy with spin. We must as a reasonable and rational people and refuse their apple.