“We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.” President John F. Kennedy at the Yale University Commencement, 1962.

We all think the other guy listens and reads Fake News and we are right. The other guy does listen to Fake News and we are all, to somebody, the other guy. By way of example, here are a couple of headlines from June 20th. After Iran’s Drone Attack, Trump Says This Country ‘Will Not Stand for It‘ is from the New York Times, whose default position is that Trump is more dangerous than a box of snakes, and the headline and the accompanying article suggest that Trump might attack Iran any time. Over at Fox, whose default position is that Trump is close to the Second Coming, the headline is: Measured Responses Ahead – Top lawmakers speak out after Situation Room briefing with Trump on Iran Threat suggests a more reasoned response, while, over at Al Jazeera the headline also suggests Trump is more reasonable: Iran accuses US of ‘provocation’ as Trump downplays drone strike. All are factual and all are filtered news and, to a certain extent, Fake News.

There seem to be two groups of Democrats, people who are already for a candidate – and I am sort of in that camp, having several people I favor and several that, right now, I wouldn’t vote for – and people who want to wait until they hear from everybody. My pitch is that no matter what group you fall in, if you are going to vote, you should watch the upcoming debates. They will probably be the only unfiltered look at the candidates that we will ever get. I’m a political junkie so the fact that I enjoyed the 2016 debates might not count for much, but enjoyment is not the main purpose here, one of these people might end up running the country and, even if you view spending two hours out of your life watching the debates as a pain in the ass, this year we do need to pay attention. All that said, I watched both the Democratic and Republican debates four years ago and the earlier ones, especially, were fascinating; there were more people and a bigger range of answers that seemed less processed.

The first night, Wednesday, June 26 – at 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time on NBC, MSNBC, and Telemundo – will feature Senator Cory Booker, former San Antonio Mayor and HUD Secretary Julián Castro, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Maryland Congressperson John Delaney, Hawaii Congressperson Tulsi Gabbard, Washington Governor Jay Inslee, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, Former Congressperson Beto O’Rourke, Ohio Congressperson Tim Ryan, and Senator Elizabeth Warren (in alphabetical order). Yikes! that is a long list – it’s hard not to drift off in the middle – clearly Elizabeth Warren is the heavyweight in this group but I am also interested in how Tulsi Gabbard and Jay Inslee will do. And why is Castro almost invisible in this race? He is a very impressive guy.

The second night, Thursday, June 27 – same time and place – will feature Colorado Senator Michael Bennet, Former Vice-President Joe Biden, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, California Senator Kamala Harris, Colorado Governor Hickenlooper, Bernie Sanders, and almost local, to me, Congressperson Eric Swalwell, along with two interesting and more serious than they, at first, might seem, outsiders, self-help guru Marianne Williamson, and businessman turned social media star Andrew Yang. Like the Republicans in 2016, the debaters who poll highest will be in the middle so Biden and Sanders will be next to each other, the archetype political glad-hander next to the political loner should be very interesting.

Watch the debates; not only is being an informed Citizen good for you, it is good for the Country. The debates are on NBC, MSNBC, and Telemundo, Wednesday and Thursday, June 26th and 27th at 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time.