It wasn't you, but someone laughed when it was suggested that Howard Stern could swing this election. I've often posted that, despite the concentration on the issues here on SI, the American people support Bush on terror and are even willing to believe that the Iraq war was a part of making the world safe. Most view the PR goofs as more of the inefficiency and incompetence in government, and not the fault of particular administration individuals. Most Americans support Israel and recognize, even with its imperfections, there is no comparison in comparing them with those who inflict intentional mass murder on civilians. I'm not debating that, at this point, and understand (and even respect) the arguments both ways in these issues, including yours that resources would have been better used directly against Al Queda.
My point here is that if Kerry really wishes to mobilize voters, he needs to focus on the crazy religious fanaticism that is being courted. IMO - the worst is the attempted prohibition against stem cell research. This would be an incredible issue if properly brought before the voters in a way to attract attention. Almost every family has someone who could be helped by this research. Government should not be in the business of wasting resources regulating private behavior. Billions spent on a war against drugs have not led to a reduction in the drug industry. Concentrating on obscenity, and Stern's show is pretty tame when compared to US Cable and European TV, is at best a tremendous waste of effort. Amending the constitution to prohibit gay marriage denigrates the sanctity of the Constitution, which is only to be amended for truly earth shattering reasons. I wouldn't be surprised if many religious fanatics want an Amendment to require prayer in the schools, maybe even specific prayers to a specific deity.
Anyway - interesting article about Stern, which pretty much reflects what I posted a couple of weeks ago.
boston.com
Could Stern's anti-Bush rants shock the vote?
By Matthew Gilbert, Globe Staff, 3/18/2004 |
