Voting Critically
It is getting harder every day to discuss politics, simply because the electorate is too polarized. I believe that to be on purpose, a ruse to keep people from talking about the things that matter. Politicians want this situation to be commonplace, in order that we stay disgusted with the process and don’t look at it too closely, or begin to think that we can repair the current abysmal state of government. The mainstream media is certainly complicit. They talk about what the politicians want to talk about, which has nothing to do with meaningful issues. It’s all fluff.
We are kept focused on non-issues; the age, color, or sex of candidates, not what they believe about critical issues. We don’t even talk about critical issues. We talk about the difference between pro-life and pro-choice, two meaningless word-sets if I ever heard any, and not about the deeper societal issues around sex and birth. All issues are polarized, all have buzz-words, while most mean nothing. They are words and phrases meant to confuse, sound bites meant to divide us into ever smaller groups.
As long as we let it be about Republican vs. Democrat, conservative vs. liberal, man vs. woman, and so on down a long list, the politicians and the monied elite that have bought and paid for them them will have their way with us. Thay will have the control; we will be subservient. We will not talk about the important things that could make our lives better, could alleviate the suffering of citizens, and stop the bleeding of our institutions. We vote instead on buzzwords, wardrobe, and haircuts, not substantive matters. This ludicrous process is killing our citizenry and our country.
You can help to alleviate this critical problem. Pick an issue that means something to you. Figure out why it means something to you, exactly how you feel about it, and why. Then find out how the candidates feel about it. Read their position papers, the long versions. Dig into it. See if what they say changes your mind. Look at their records and see if it matches their words. Finally, decide which candidate is closest to your position, and is likely to stick to it.
Then select another issue. Repeat. Do until done.
On The Transition of News Sources
I have been having an email conversation with a friend that owns a small string of rural Kansas newspapers. As a part of that conversation, I have come to realize even more fully that the news sources of the masses are currently in the phase that economists call “transitional.” That just means that the economists do not yet understand what is going on. They may never understand what is going on. ;o) They are, after all, economists.
Even economists must have noticed, however, that the way people get their news is changing. The fastest growing news sources are not CNN or Fox. The fastest growing are Slate, and the Onion, and blogs of all kinds. Newspapers are probably not here to stay in their current form. The real problem, however, will be transitioning the ethics of the brick and mortar newspaper business into the virtual media. It is not as bad as we think it is, even now, but it has a ways to go.
The Media and Diapers
The horribly crass people that comprise our national media have found another “provocative” buzzword to overuse. This time it is “diaper.” As in adult diaper. I don’t think they find the regular baby diapers to be nearly as lurid, as a way to attract people into their idiotic little stories about grown people in diapers. In my opinion, however, this sort of media work and baby diapers are full of exactly the same thing.
It all started, of course, with the Diapered Astronaut, who now says she was not diapered at all. Once the media has an astronaut doing diaper-denial, they have her right where they want her. Of course, with all the diaper-drivel going on, it’s easy to lose track of how truly wacko this particular astronaut was on that particular night, or that she physically assaulted another human being. Instead, it’s all about the diapers in the “minds” of the media. Read more
Celebrity Weak People
It seems that we are moving back toward a very sad period of reverse racism and reverse ethnism in recent months. It is a trend that dismays me. We should not be polarizing these issues further; instead, we need to be bringing people closer together on these issues. Some people, though, cannot walk by a box of dry tinder an not throw a match into it. Were I nearer these people, I would politely request that they shut the hell up.
First, there is Ruben Navarrette Jr., who is a “commentator” on CNN. He has been irking me for quite some time. As far as Ruben can see, and he cannot see far, if it has a Latino connection, it is good, period. From his writing on CNN, one would never know that any Latino has ever been less than saintly. Our ex-Attorney General, a black eye to Latinos everywhere, was the apple of Ruben’s eye for a long time. Ruben has been very quiet of late. I remember that he was also much less than objective about the immigration issue, column after column. Read more
The Shrub and Spin
I woke up to a headline in our local paper that said. “Bush Puts Positive Spin On Katrina Recovery.” In it, little George said that he thought the efforts at rebuilding New Orleans after their personal hurricane were going pretty well. Just for review, lets note the the Federal Government is still holding back on providing almost all of the funds they promised residents, the most disadvantaged parts of town are being treated much worse than the wealthier parts, the murder rate has skyrocketed, and people are living in FEMA trailers soaked with formaldehyde.
Using the word “spin” to describe his comments is spin incarnate. What little George is doing is flat out lying to us. Some more. Under his administration and tutelage, politicians seem to have become about twice as sanguine about telling bald-faced lies to cameras, reporters, and their electorate than ever before. And why not? George has done little but lie to us, one way or another, since he crapped his pants in an elementary school on the morning September 11, 2001. Read more
