Perspective

[filkertom]

I'm very bitter and hateful towards the election process right now. Because Clinton is screwing up the party and damaging Dems for the fall, no matter who wins. (Hint: It'll be Obama, by the math.) Because the press is giving McCain an absolutely free pass. And because all anybody's been able to talk about for the past month and a fucking half is Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who hasn't made anything easier by putting his foot in his mouth.

At least John Cole, recovering Repub, has a little perspective. So does the god Greenwald. Hell, even Andrew Sullivan.

How are you feeling politically lately? Not who you're voting for, but your feelings towards both the process and the media.

Comments

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

Except that the media will talk about it starting at least two years earlier, regardless of what the candidates do.

Candidate am only pawn in game of life.

[partiallyclips.livejournal.com]

In a word? Hopeless.

[annearchy.livejournal.com]

The process makes me want to tear my hair out. This election cycle makes me yearn for a parliamentary system like they have in the U.K. Moreorless proportional representation and short campaigns sound like heaven to me right now.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

The US used to have proportional representation, some places. We don't, now, because the Communists would occasionally win a few seats, back when. (Info courtesy Poundstone's (http://www.motherjones.com/interview/2008/01/verdict-is-in-our%20voting-system-is-a-loser.html) useful book Gaming the Vote (http://www.amazon.com/Gaming-Vote-Elections-Arent-About/dp/0809048930).

[ladystarblade.livejournal.com]

I was so excited about this race for the longest time...but now I'm just burned out. The six week gap before Penn did me in, because all they had to keep them busy was to dig up dirt and start the name calling...and now they're stomping through my state of Indiana. I attended an Obama rally last Wednesday, and it was a marvelous experience, but battle fatigue quickly set back in.

It breaks my heart to see what was such a spirited, fascinating race degenerate into business as usual...and I point the finger directly at the media. They just have to make everything into a story...not necessarily news, but a story...blowing things out of proportion, making a fuss where there is none, and changing horses in midstream so many times that it makes me dizzy.

And people wonder why my generation is so politically jaded already.

[mathmuffin.livejournal.com]

ladystarblade has hit the nail square on the head: "...and I point the finger directly at the media. They just have to make everything into a story." I did not see the Bill Moyer's segment. I did take the time to read a transcript (http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/04/28/transcript-rev-wright-at-the-national-press-club/) of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's speech to the National Press Club. It is interesting how my local newspaper took juicy sentences out of that speech, which gave the false impression that Wright was angry at Obama.

For example, the newspaper quoted Wright as saying,

"He [Obama] had to distance himself, because he's a politician, from what the media was saying I had said, which was anti-American."

Really the full transcript is,

MODERATOR: Were you disappointed that he distanced himself?

WRIGHT: He didn’t distance himself. He had to distance himself, because he’s a politician, from what the media was saying I had said, which was anti-American.

Barack Obama had been careful not to denounce his friendship with Rev. Wright, and Rev. Wright acknowledges that. Obama distanced himself from the strawman views misleadingly attributed to Wright rather than from Wright himself. But the shortened quote in the newspaper gave the impression that since Obama was distancing himself from the media flurry around Wright, he was distancing himself from Wright too.

However, another impression I got from reading the transcript is that Wright is a pompous fool. He correctly criticizes the media for jumping on small sound bites to reach their conclusions. Then he provides a whole fresh bushel of such sound bites.

Furthermore, Wright seems to have jumped to a good number of conclusions himself. He says that he got his views on the deliberate creation of the AIDS virus from Emerging Viruses: AIDS and Ebola by Leonard G. Horowitz. That one author can weave a conspiracy theory out of World Health Organization announcements, allusions to top secret biowarfare research, and a few coincidences does not prove a case, nor even make a conspiracy anywhere near likely. But Wright believes Horowitz's tale sufficiently whole-heartedly. Wright claimed that "...based on this Tuskegee experiment and based on what has happened to Africans in this country, I believe our government is capable of doing anything." He jumps to conclusions out of anger at old wrongs and thus imagines new wrongs.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

Is it November yet?

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

I've been reading Digby (and her cohorts), David Neiwert and Sara Robinson, John Cole, and a couple of others, and ignoring the MSM. I know what I'll hear there, and that it will depress me, because it's either Republican shills and noisemakers, or Democratic (read: Obama) capitulation to same. I'd love for both potential Dem candidates to address issues and challenge McLame to face his many, many problems (just WHOSE money is it anyway, and if he's so poor, why's he afraid to show it?).

We won't even talk about the reprehensible SCOTUS and requiring photo ID, except to note that if I were Howard Dean, I'd be arranging legal and logistical assistance to potential voters NOW so that they had that ID ASAP.

But it won't happen, and if Pennsylvania is any sample, the Dems are going to have to do a MUCH better job of getting the new voters (especially the young ones) out in the fall. With or without papers, please. :-(

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

I think we'd do better by hosting an open game-show called "Who wants to be the President?"

Run it elimination style for a year. Spend 4 months living on minimum wage. Spend 4 months living on average wage (40K).
Spend 3 months playing a grueling "Weakest Link" on everything from law to foreign policy to history.
The last 2 standing on October 1 can campaign for a month.

It couldn't be any less dignified.

The problem is, Rev. Wright is RIGHT, and he's being made to apologize for it. There is no more cardinal sin in politics than being right with an unpopular message.

[ladystarblade.livejournal.com]

The problem is, Rev. Wright is RIGHT, and he's being made to apologize for it. There is no more cardinal sin in politics than being right with an unpopular message.

*stands up and applauds*

Amen.

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

*In the voice of Glum the Lilliputian*
We'll never make it...

This whole process is so screwed up and needs to be fixed but that is unlikely to happen as long as people focus on "Beer & Nascar" issues.

As for Mr. Reverend...*shrug* He shouldn't even be involved in this process and I fully resent the fact that the media has focused on him.

On top of all this I'm sooo sick of negative ads, muckraking, clueless media personnel, clueless people in general...*sigh*

Ahhh, the Hanna-Barbera NEW ADVENTURES OF GULLIVER

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I quote Glum all the fucking time.

[min0taur.livejournal.com]

At present we have the most amazing opportunity to put one of two avatars of disenfranchised populations -- African-Americans, women, which? and why does it "have to be" either/or? -- in the White House. If I were one of the (imaginary?) sinister agents of the toxic status quo, what I'd do is get 'em fighting each other, you bet. Set it up so that no matter who wins, the disenfranchisement survives just enough to prevent a powerful alliance. A rearguard action to mute progressive change while the next gang of goons gets its act together.

At least, one way or another (or another), the Bush era is already in its death throes. The idea here will be to try to limit the damage, while simultaneously trying to survive the shitstorm of bad karma.

Aside from that, about the only justification I can see for politics is that the barbarians get just distracted enough that fewer people die than in a total war. But that's about as optimistic as a political primitive gets.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

*never* underestimate the enemy.

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

It would be nice if Reverend Wright would shut up, even nicer if the media would stop paying attention to him, and even nicer if the media would listen to Obama's speech about why Wright and his opposite numbers get so angry and make a reasonable attempt to communicate it to the general public. It would be nice if Clinton would stick to discussing real issues, and it will be nice if Obama can keep discussing real issues, and it would be nice if the media encouraged both of them to discuss real issues, and nicer if the people demanded discussion of the real issues from all of the above. It would be nice if my opinions on the matter were going to be important any time before the primary season ended, whenever that is.

Things could be much worse. McCain's getting a free pass because he's getting no attention, and he's getting no attention because a large portion of the country thinks that the next president is being decided in the Democratic primary. Democrats are feeling burnt out because most of our primaries have passed, and we got to feel like we were at the center of a wonderful drama for a few weeks and now we spend a few months being irrelevant. We get to be relevant again in a couple more months, and meanwhile people get to vote who are normally never relevant in the primaries. This is a good thing, if only because it will stop the rush to move everything into February next time around. And at the end of the process, we're going to have a president who's better than Bush. That's not difficult, but it will probably save the country.

[wormquartet.livejournal.com]

If Clinton wins, I will not vote for her. I can't. Her bullshit, her dirt-digging, and her constantly latching onto every possible thing she can to bring Obama down are just intolerable - particularly when Obama's not playing her game. I don't see how anyone can watch these two in action and support Clinton. But then, we ARE the country that re-elected Bush.

Not that I'll be voting for McCain, mind you, but I'll suddenly become very interested in who the Green party puts up. At least my vote could give a third party some much-needed credibility.

-=ShoEboX=-

You've just declared

[capplor.livejournal.com]

that you'll LET McCain win, by those actions. Third party candidates are non viable and a failure to choose is a choice.

But your personal hands (so you think) will be clean. Nope.

[marcgunn.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Clinton is just not waking up. What the frack! The only thing I can hope hope hope is that all of her attacks on Obama will just make it easier for him when he has to face McCain. Glad he's winning though.

Unfortunately, I'm a wee bit out of touch on the process recently. Just been busy recording.

[wormquartet.livejournal.com]

YAAAAAAAAAAAY for recording!

-=ShoEboX=-

[biomekanic.livejournal.com]

That being a Quaker is sometimes really hard, because I want to break out the clue by four and set to with a vengeance.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Suddenly I want to see Quaker 3 Arena....

[hanabishirecca.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty pissed off right now about how Bush is out blaming Congress for the economic issues when the problem is from people in big companies that get government hand outs and make billions. That is, the Oil Industry which is making a billions of profit by driving Cost of Living through the rough and those who made a fortune creating portfolios of sub-prime mortgages and selling them off.

Neither industry will face any financial or legal responsibility for their actions.

[ginevra007.livejournal.com]

Agreed!

It seems so unfair that the folks who led others to think they could afford mortgages that they really could not, get off and maybe even bailed out, but the hard working person with a family who doesn't understand all the mumbo jumbo that they have to go through to get a mortgage, loses their home and credit rating.

A person I know is trying to get a condo, and the Realtor told me that when he first started out there where not so many forms, in the last 10 years more than 20 pages of legal stuff has been added to the process, mostly to save the mortgage companies and banks.

[sdelmonte]

I want a national primary day. In June. We make the process shorter, and we make things fairer. The top two candidates move on to a runoff two weeks later. No more delegates, no more superdelgates, and no more conventions. This system doesn't work.

[bald-ruminant.livejournal.com]

I'd be willing to settle for 50 consecutive days of primaries, and each state having its primary on its own day, as determined an annual lottery. Make it run in April and May, so that social studies teachers can assign homework based on the current events.

[liddle-oldman.livejournal.com]

Numb resentment?

We didn't even need Nader this time to screw any number of pooches.

[kirylyn.livejournal.com]

Bush stole both elections.

I hate those electronic ballot machines that do NOT provide a paper trail because they will be reprogrammed to vote for whoever their Master wants.

Florida is getting hosed all over again. Almost makes me want to move to another state by the next election.

Yeah, love how Bush is blaming Congress for the high fuel prices. Uh-huh, sure, right.

what TERRIFIES me is people BELIEVE him!!!

and those who do want to keep McCain in office, tho, I suspect very few actually support the war but they do want to keep being narrow minded. Gee, we can vote for yet another white male or *gasp* a BLACK man or *HORRORS* a woman!!

/headdesk

[boywizard.livejournal.com]

Move to Ohio. I don't trust those machines either, even when they have a paper record (the program can be adjusted to hose them, too, and who bothers to verify?). Fortunately, in Ohio we can vote absentee without giving a reason, and the ballot is old-style dead tree. I'll probably never go to the polls again, especially after the total frak-up that occurred here in 2004.

[tomreedtoon.livejournal.com]

I have been waiting for nearly everybody to grow up. Seriously. Forget the candidates. I would like someone to tell the entire nation - voters, the media, the candidates - to shut up and pay attention to Teacher.

And that includes Reverend Wright, who somehow thinks that after a lifetime of work in his church, he's entitled to the public's attention to rant about whatever the hell his subconscious throws up. Even if it sinks the candidacy of the guy who sat through his sermons. Wright has joined a long tradition of black "spokesmen" who love the spotlight more than doing anything for the black community.

Meanwhile there's a real war, real victims, real job loss, real energy shortages, and all we care about is Miley freaking Cyrus or Reverend Wrong-Way Wright. When did this country start copying Idiocracy? And how can I find a planet with intelligent life on it?

[ailsaek.livejournal.com]

How are you feeling politically lately? Not who you're voting for, but your feelings towards both the process and the media.

Worn out and bored. I can't believe everyone's still on about Rev. Wright. I've started ignoring posts having to do with the nomination process of the nominees. My mind's made up, I'm not interested in all the soap opera and I am disgusted with the American press.

[dement1a.livejournal.com]

I've been trying to ignore most of the traditional media and just watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, since I figure I'll probably get just about as much real news out of it, and maybe it won't be quite so depressing.

[wormquartet.livejournal.com]

The Guardian isn't bad. http://guardian.co.uk

More real news, way fewer missing white women and dead babies than CNN.

-=ShoEboX=-

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

I've been burnt out since 2000. I keep voting anyway just to keep my "I told you so" rights.

Yeah, ban the electronic voting machines because everyone knows you can't rig an election with paper ballots. Right.

Paper trails

[baronet.livejournal.com]

You can rig an election with paper ballots, but it takes a lot more leg work and a lot more people. If I can decide how many votes someone should get from my computer, then I am much less likely to get caught than if I have to convince a couple of hundred people to slip a couple of hundred extra slips into their ballot boxes. Also, I'll leave a lot more evidence behind.

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

I feel nothing but anger and crushing despair. Two years ago when this campaign started, the Democrats started crafting their suicide pact by supporting Hillary. At the time, I thought that Hillary would be a decent President if she could be installed by magic fiat, but I was absolutely convinced that there was no way that someone who is the single most hated political figure since World War II to half of the population of America could never win a general election, regardless of who was running against her. Those Democratic core voters who never get outside of the liberal blogosphere should think about the idea of Rush Limbaugh being President. That level of revulsion is EXACTLY what the Bible-and-Fox-News demographic feel at the idea of Hillary Clinton being President. I started to feel some hope as other Democrats started to be taken seriously as candidates and Hillary's coronation became a contest. Even though I don't think he was the best choice, I was delighted when Obama started winning; he had a great message and the charisma that could actually bring the disaffected younger generation into politics in the tens of millions. But then Clinton really started pouring on the slime; it's clear that she would much rather be the nominee and lose in November than see the Democrats actually win. At this point if she manages to grab the nomination McCain wins due to Clinton hatred, and if Obama manages to pull it out after all, McCain is likely to win because the Democrats are too demoralized to fight for real and McCain can get 75% of the anti-Hillary vote by just continuing to saturate the media with Rev. Wright's "God damn America" sound bite.

Which brings me to the likelihood that McCain will win in November. I've been utterly disillusioned with McCain -- whom I liked so much early in the 2000 primary cycle, when it looked like he might actually beat Bush, that I might well have voted for him if he'd been Gore's opponent -- since he sold me and everyone else who'd liked him in the primaries for running as the anti-Bush down the river with his ass-kissing speech at the Republican convention and subsequent campaigning for Bush. He will not fool me again; I now know he'll say anything expedient to get himself elected, and then do anything that the big corporations want once in office. Look for America under McCain to be a big economic success like Zimbabwe.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

Why oh why didn't anyone think that Obama might have negatives, too?

Puny voters! Who can save you now?

[madmanotl.livejournal.com]

The people I would be most comfortable with as president either never ran or were eliminated from the race early.

I do wish everyone involved would focus on how to fix what is wrong with the country rather than the opinions by an old preacher who decided to get his 15 minutes of fame.

[laurel-potter.livejournal.com]

I just ignore everything and vote Democrate.