NOFOS, LOFOS, MIFOS, AND OTHER VOTERS

You’ve heard of them. The “lofos.” Who are they? Why are they in the news? This column will be a discussion of lofos and others who have been identified recently. They are today’s voters.

Let’s start, however, with the “nofos.” They are the no information voters. You will often find them in these “man in the street” interviews. These people don’t have a clue. When you ask them who is the Vice President, they are dumbfounded. They know Lady Gaga, or as I call her “Lady Gag Me”, but they couldn’t tell you anything about the elected leaders of this country. This is especially tragic when those interviews are held on college campuses as they often are. On a happy note most nofos don’t bother to vote. They are much too busy with their noses in some electronic device with earplugs in their ears or they are playing video games. These voters, the nofos, don’t concern me too much.

Next we have the “lofos.” They are the low information voters. They know what newspapers are but rarely partake of them. What news they get comes from headline grazing. They watch a little television but don’t pay a lot of attention to news programs or news analysis. They also spend a lot of time on the internet but not to research news stories. No, they are looking for gossip from their “cyber friends” whom they have never met. They have discussion groups among questionable people who offer opinions with no possible way of determining who they really are. This sounds like a terrible way to develop political opinion. Almost as bad as getting their news from comedians on the comedy channels, which they often do. This group seems to just stumble through life expecting someone else to take care of them. A problem with this group though is they often vote.  

Next is the group which I believe pose the biggest risk to our Republic. Those would be the mifos. They are the misinformed voters. How else could Hillary Clinton even be in a Presidential race? They are people who watch the news but only from selected sources. They look for news reports that help them with their preconceived notions. What news they get comes from only one perspective. They never question what they are being told because the news they get serves to further their own thoughts. If, for example, you watch MSNBC, and fortunately very few people do, your news isn’t news at all. It is leftist blather with very little fact. If you watch the major networks, you are going to be fed mostly left leaning opinion.

So what to do? Today understand most reported news isn’t news anyway. It is opinion. I have long believed that unless you experience something personally, all you can know about it is what you are told. If you limit your news sources to, for example, CBS news or the New York Times, all you know about an issue is what they want you to know. An interesting experience is to take any news story and watch it on three different networks, such as ABC, CNN, and Fox News. You would be amazed by the differences in that story. What is the truth? It is then up to you to decide.

The mess we as a country are in today is caused by the fact that so many voters fall into the nofos, lofos, and mifos and they have chosen our current crop of “leaders.” We absolutely have to take the time to learn the issues and know who the candidates are. The direction in which we are headed is unsustainable. We either turn this ship around or it won’t matter what kind of voter we are. It will be too late.

Ron Scarbro