A week ago Monday night I was standing in the hall of my apartment complex with three of my neighbors. Our impromptu gathering and subsequent informal discussion was the result of a power outage. Save for a few emergency lights, we were literally in the dark, so we amused ourselves for a time by shooting the breeze.

As is often the case when people talk, the subject of politics came up. It was shortly after this that I concluded a few of my fellow apartment dwellers were in the dark, so to speak, when it comes to politics.

The discussion started off with one of my neighbors decrying President Bush’s religiosity. I had no idea what he was referring to when he said Bush compared himself to Jesus Christ. I know that Bush is a Christian and as such is a great admirer of Jesus, but I’ve never heard Bush equate himself to Jesus. It was at this point that another neighbor, showing a complete lack of understanding regarding the First Amendment, wondered if Bush’s religious beliefs were a violation of the separation of church and state.

The first neighbor then delivered an anti-Bush tirade. He said Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and claimed that nation was an imminent threat to America. I think it’s fair to say Bush (and every other major intelligence agency in the world and the U.N.) was probably wrong about such stockpiles of weapons being in Iraq. However, being wrong is not the same thing as a lie – defined as a deliberate act of deception. As for Iraq being an imminent threat, Bush said just the opposite in his 2003 State of the Union address, noting America must act before the threat becomes imminent!

As readers of this column well know, I, for the most part, support President Bush, but that doesn’t mean I arrogantly believe my opinion is right. Opinions can’t be right, as by definition they’re subjective.

My neighbors are, of course, free to disagree with me, as some of them obviously do. What bothers me isn’t so much their opinions per se, but the ignorance and lack of logic and reason behind their stands on the issues.

Emotions are running especially high this presidential election year. I just hope people are up-to-date on the issues so they can cast an intelligent vote for the candidate of their choice.

“My Two Cents” is a weekly column where the author – who’d like to think he’s reasonably well-informed – gets in his two cents worth in spite of the old saying that states you only get a penny for your thoughts.