[thechat] US Elections

[Judah McAuley]

aardvark wrote:
> perhaps with a republican, people can get their dander up... it's
> easier to be outraged at republicans because the press does such
> a good job of quoting out of context, and the average american
> doesn't have a clue what makes for a good
> environment/school/business/etc. and is too willing to listen to
> anecdotal arguments that rarely apply to anything outside of the
> one sad little case...

This is such crap.  Mainstream media is completely right-wing biased
when it comes to a great deal of modern politics (i.e., business).
Corporate influence of modern politics has made for very, very
conservative media coverage in the econmic sphere.  Now in the social
policy sphere, business interests have not had a terribly unified
agenda, so they haven't had so much of a consistent influence.  So the
social agenda slant of many editorial boards has given the media
(especially print media) a "liberal" label.  But most of recent
political activism has centered around economic agendas.  You could
argue that the economy wasn't the central focus in this year's
elections, but the main focus was war/strong national defense/support of
the president which has a primarily economic/business interest
underlying it.

The right wing has done a fantastic job of portraying the media as
"liberal" on the social front while ignoring the corporate bias on the
economic front.  Democrats have done a shitty job of standing for
anything other than re-election.

No one in this country has the combination of brains, balls, and skills
to lead us in a useful direction.  I had hoped that Bill Clinton was
going to be that person, but he wasn't able to get anything done because
he was constantly dogged by scandals.  He was an embarrasment and
couldn't get over it.  George Bush can't lead his way out of a wet paper
bag.  I don't think Gore could have either.  Ralph Nader would have been
a horrible president.  I wanted Bill Bradley to get the nomination, but
he didn't want it enough.  I don't blame him.  Running for President in
this country sucks.  I wouldn't do it.

> i tend to be wary of people who assault a particular party like that...
> and i'm not even republican (i just vote like 'em)...

I'm not a Democrat either.  I've been registered as an independent since
day one.  But I can tell you that Republicans in power now make me feel
more sorry for my country than any Democrat ever has.  I've never heard
a Democrat say "You're either for us or you're against us".  Well, I
guess I'm against them and I should get the hell out of the country,
shouldn't I?

Judah