Am I getting too old?
I don't know, but lately I've found it hard to be inspired by political speeches, even the ones people call "inspired" and "masterfully delivered." There just seems to be too much tactical dishonesty going on, too much erasing of distinctions, too much pandering to the prejudices of the audience. Of course all these things are exaggerated at political conventions. Even when I want to get behind the message, like last night watching the DNC, I find myself getting turned off by the dumbness of it all. There's Biden up there, who, admittedly, I've never liked much, telling us over and over that "Obama was right, and McCain was wrong!" And there were other slams at McCain that were so patently unfair, that I started to feel a tinge of sympathy for the man. Help!
I guess my defenses just rise when I detect propaganda, that sense that the words are calculated only for their effect, not their truth value. Another way to put it is to compare it to something I've always hated at baseball games. Fans judge the correctness or incorrectness of a call only on whether it helps or hurts the team they are supporting. What actually happened in front of their eyes does not matter.
Maybe it's a built-in problem with a democracy that relies on half-informed people not paying full attention. Or maybe it's just me.
posted by Hudson @ 5:34 PM
4 Comments:
Yes you are. I am still a sucker for those messages. So please don't ruin it for me.
I think that campaigns rely on people being half informed. I'd say a good 50% of the people that will vote this year will vote without knowing who Joe Biden is and what he has done. Now we have the Alaskan governer Sarah Palin that hasn't been all that popular entering the race as McCain's running mate. I find this choice as a bold one at the very least. Now we have this battle of populations that have not held these positions in the past and at this point in the election I think it's going to take a lot to not have people voting based on these principles.
As for the 50% of Americans that will go to the poles uniformed they may very well veiw Sarah Palin in the same way that they would Joe Biden, just another politition that they have never heard of. Although it is unfortunate that so many citizens will not research the people that will potentially be running our country in less than six months, I think this may benifit some candidates that have choosen unerqualified running mates.
I believe that everyone does some research....some people are satisfied hearing different ideas and stats from thier friends, some people are political junky's and know everything the media puts out, others get info from non-news related sources like the Colbert Show.
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