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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: combjelly who wrote (218107)	2/8/2005 11:29:51 AM
From: TigerPaw	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1578542

I don't think we are any brighter than our ancestors, and they had a lot of history to draw on. Roveco has even more history to draw upon, and new technology. There is also an unprecidented concentration of Radio, TV, and Newspapers (for this country at least). TP

To: combjelly who wrote (218107)	2/8/2005 3:02:24 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1578542

This isn't a red state/blue state issue, it isn't even a uniquely American phenomena. Dirty politics go back to the founding of the country, which is one reason the FFs tried to eliminate political parties. There are times when it is worse than others, and it doesn't always work. But it can work, especially if one of the parties tries to pretend that it doesn't exist. Now it may be true that Roveco is more sophisticated than those past attempts. I am dubious though. I don't think we are any brighter than our ancestors, and they had a lot of history to draw on. I am not sure about that. There is a blue state perception that politics are dirtier in the red states. Is that just a regional bias? Could well be. I don't know how you would prove it but I want to believe that politics are cleaner here than in OK. You can fool some of the people all of the time. Those are the ones to concentrate on... Scandal sells. Look at the history of William Randolph Hearst. Fox is cut from the same cloth as yellow journalism. They also pretended to just report the facts and let the readers decide. The mainstream newspapers in reaction, tried to elevate the level of discourse in the wake of that. When television news started, they followed in the same mold. But Fox cut them off at the knees because people prefer scandals and hype. They always have. I in no way, shape or form am claiming that people are stupid. But they do, as a group, seem to like the yellow journalism approach. It sells. CJ, I think you are simplifying it way too much. We have always had scandal rags.......like the Enquirer. I believe Fox is more than that.......it gives air to a POV that previously had been discussed only among close friends or in bars or under one's breath. FOX says the things that formerly were not PC to say in public. I believe FOX's core population is the typical American redneck who thinks that minorities are getting a free ride and that America is getting scammed badly in the world. These are the guys who are usually stupid and typically are unaware of what's really going on in the world and the game we play in that world. However, there is a whole bunch of others beyond FOX's core who identify to some degree with the FOX POV but only in limited quantities and not with the extremist stuff. These people are not stupid but they are not always well informed. I believe its these people who made Bush president. I think one example of them is my cousin. He's clearly smart, heavily in debt from medical school, has a successful practice that's not paying as much as it should because of medicare and medicaid, has a wife and kid, and a horse ranch, a boat, couple of cars and lots of toys. Underneath the presumed good life, my cousin is not a happy camper.....his marriage sucks, he is becoming morbidly overweight and he is working his butt off. In fact, he is angry.......the focus of which is the rising cost of malpractice insurance and all the malpractice lawsuits. He feels like his practice is in jeopardy over this issue. He believes the Dems have sold out to the trial lawyers, that the federal gov't is out to screw him and that the GOP is his only hope........much like the Dem's were the only hope of the blue collar little guy of 50 years ago. Of course, we all know that that's BS.......after two attempts at malpractice insurance reform legislation in Congress, the GOP has not come through and will not come through. However, over the past 5 years, my cousin has become a believer. Fox commentators annoy him, particularly Bill O'Reilly, but they make more sense to him than Brian Williams. He's an MD that goes hunting on weekends........a killing MD.......an oxymoron if ever there was one. In theory, he is the successful, well educated MD of American dreams......in reality, his life is not working all that well. Those are the intelligent people who are buying into the GOP BS program. These are the people that are bolstering FOX's viewership. They are smart enough to know that its all BS but they still want to hear it and believe in it. They are not happy with their lives. The world as it really is does not please them. The world that FOX and the GOP promise is a much a better one.......a world where the US runs roughshod over the bad guys and fights the good fight all alone bereft of allies....not unlike the loner good guy in the movies......characters like spiderman or Nick Cage or Batman who must battle evil all on their own. Forget that they are movies and fictitious characters........they want to believe in them.......be like them. They are tired of NOW, the NAACP, gay rights, PC stuff and European allies. Bush embodies that energy/spirit for them. Forget that Bush is a joke.........he is their great white hope......and he is on top. They like the feel of it, the power, and they are not about to listen to reason. That's what I think is going on and that's why I am worried. I don't think Rove is simply another version of American politicos. I think he is something more than that. We may not be smarter than our ancestors but we know a lot more and we have a lot more ways to communicate and manipulate the system. And frankly, I don't think Rove believes in democracy. I think he only believes in winning and seeing his guys on top. That's called megalomania and when left unbridled, can be very dangerous. ted