Government By The Ignorant, For The Angry And By The Hateful

[sixdogsmom]

 
Government by the ignorant, for the angry and by the hateful
September 8, 2008 - 6:41am.
By DOUG THOMPSON

When you get past the rabid rhetoric from both sides of the political fence, the partisan political pandering of cable TV networks (Fox on the right, MSNBC on the left) and the too-often inane patter of the blogosphere, you are left with an upcoming Presidential election that will be rough, tough and too close to call.

America is a country split down the middle by political, philosophical and cultural differences - a bitter, hybrid nation with no clear consensus, too much anger and too little unity.

The fire that once drove the great melting pot has blown out, leaving a hodgepodge of special interests, single-issue political platforms and fragmented panderers driven by targeted demographics instead of leadership.

The America that votes on Nov. 4 does so through the fog of anger, misinformation and emotion. Rational debate is gone, replaced by rabid partisanship and disassociated shouting about trivial matters.

This country is not a nation governed by an informed electorate. We are a fragmented society driven by fear, hate and hyperbole - a mass of sheep following the pied pipers of propaganda from the right and the left, conservative and liberal, Republican and Democrat.

This will not be an election decided by important issues like the economy, Iraq war, and honesty in government or freedom. It will be decided by racism, sexism and raw, unbridled emotion controlled by the basest of human failings.  The final decisions made in the voting booth will be based on McCain's age, Obama's skin color and Palin's gender.

It should not happen that way, but it will. Too much political debate in this country is filled with invective, childish behavior and outright ignorance. Those who lace their commentary by calling candidates names like "McSame" or "Billary" or worse add no substance to the debate:  They only showcase their inability to deal with real issues in a cogent, adult manner.

Both sides have good and bad plans for America. Both sides have extremes. Both sides have successes and failures. Both sides have positions that deserve reasoned debate. But such debate is not possible when we get bogged down in name calling and long, drawn out shoutfests that question one candidate's birthright or another's patriotism. Nothing is served by painting one side or the other as evil.

In less than two months, we as a people will make a decision that could well decide the survival of a nation in trouble.

At this point, I doubt we're up to the task.

Technorati Tags: The Rant The Rant Doug Thompson politics partisanship Republicans Democrats history
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[dnalexander]

I agree and disagree with DOUG THOMPSON on so many levels that I just don't know how to respond to this article.

David

[pam]

This will not be an election decided by important issues like the economy, Iraq war, and honesty in government or freedom. It will be decided by racism, sexism and raw, unbridled emotion controlled by the basest of human failings.  The final decisions made in the voting booth will be based on McCain's age, Obama's skin color and Palin's gender.

I really think this fella is underestimatin the majority of American people. This is the same kind of election we've had for about the last 150 years. There are always the dirt diggers and rumor starters. Underneath all the bull tho is the citizen listenin to all the crap and watchin the hystrionics while at the same time payin attention to what really matters and figurin out what is important to them in their decision of who or who NOT to vote for.

[Catwoman]

I agree with you, Pam.

[Diane Amberg]

I think I'm going to stop paying much attention to any of them, if they are going to use diversions such as lipstick to keep away from real issues. Sarah Palin doesn't need anyone to plead for any apology.  She's a big girl. I think I'm going to back to just reading things such as articles from the CATO Institute and Bankrate.com and Tax Prof Blog to see if I can better find out the implications of the election on both sides. I will watch the debates, but unless there are some key questions asked, I'm not sure I'll ever hear about what I'm interested in.

[Teresa]

I think that they should just drop it all together.. I'm not standing up for BHO.. and whether or not he knowing said it with a cute little innuendo tone so his crowd would react ( which they did) ... I could care less.. and actually I am sure Sarah Palin could care less too.

[sixdogsmom]

I just wanted to comment that this article was written on September 8th, and I posted it the next day, long before the comment that Senator Obama made about the McCain economic policy was just like George Bush, that you could put lipstick on a pig but it was still a pig. This is the same thing that McCain said about Hillary Clintons' Health plan, that you could put lipstick on a pig but it was still a pig. Just wanted to make that clear.

[pam]

Ain't that whole business a big flap about nothin!? I was watchin the speech when he said it and then I heard the news later, it was bein shown in a whole different context than when he said it and what he was talkin about lol.

Just some more smoke to catch peoples attention. Both sides need to get down to brass tacks and give us some hard info.