Barbara Walters -- American Badass

[Sean]

Originally Posted by kagenaki koe

i like how he justifies the blatant lies of his campaign ads. "well he (obama) didnt want to do what i wanted him to do which is the townhall meetings, F him then."

Yeah, that was good. I also love that after eight years of a Republican Administration, they try to say that the two years of a Democratic Congress is what's actually behind all the problems we're facing right now. Ballsy.

[gambit]

I wish one of them had said, "Well, if this is Obama's fault (the tone of the campaign), then why don't you take the high road?"

[dubman]

should i just merge all of this under one AMERICAN BADASS thread

i'd love to know what mccains thinking about various people asking him what the hell happened to him.

i dont believe for a second this 'i'm the same guy' line and neither does he. does he miss it and cant admit it? has he rationalized it?

[Deckard]

My guess is the latter.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

Originally Posted by dubman

should i just merge all of this under one AMERICAN BADASS thread .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ........................................... ..... ........ .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ...... .... .. .. . .. ..... . . . .. . . . .....................

I'm not so sure about the spelling? Should that not be two words? I want to pronounce it "Bahh-Dauss".

[gambit]

Why McCan is going so negative, so often.

Current campaign aides and other Republicans who’ve closely watched the race, however, have a very different response to the media elites and good-government scolds: We don’t care what you think.

McCain seems to have made a choice that many politicians succumb to but that he had always promised to avoid — he appears ready to do whatever it takes to win, even it if soils his reputation.

“We recognize it’s not going to be 2000 again,” McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said, alluding to the media’s swooning coverage of McCain’s ill-fated crusade against then-Gov. George W. Bush and the GOP establishment. “But he lost then. We’re running a campaign to win. And we’re not too concerned about what the media filter tries to say about it.”

So is that what McCain means by country first?

[Deckard]

All this kind of raises the question: who's most to blame? The candidate? Or the electorate?

The huge numbers of ordinary voters who respond to this type of campaigning? Or the candidate who simply accepts that reality?

The only thing that I keep coming back to in my head is the importance of education in any democracy. Not just of an informed public, but of a public that knows how to think. One with an awareness of the value in resisting the urge to respond from the gut, from fear and from ignorance. One in which intelligence is not seen as a bad thing.

Until we (any nation) reach that point, we'll always have this kind of politics, and the kind of dumbass news media that further encourages it.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by Deckard

All this kind of raises the question: who's most to blame? The candidate? Or the electorate?

I think both are to blame, but I'm more troubled by the way the electorate responds positively to the negative campaigning. McCain is just one man, but there are huge numbers of these raging morons out there that could play a direct role in my life at any moment.

[Sarcasmo]

Agreeing with Sean here, both sides are to blame for this kind of situation, with a larger portion of the blame resting on the electorate's shoulders. Because we (and I mean the participating members of this particular forum - I can't speak for anyone else) have taken the time and the initiative to learn about the way our governments work. We sift through the PR and the sensationalism and the partisanship. It can be done. The government doesn't help, but why should it? It's byzantine and boring by design, because they know we're a society based on instant gratification and seconds-long attention spans. They don't have to hide much of anything, because the citizenry is way too lazy or distracted to look for it anyway.

The effectiveness of education is directly proportional to an individual's desire to be educated. No amount of civics, economic, or poli-sci classes are going to help a society so concerned with Lauren Conrad that they'd be willing to read a book by her:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080912/...Q0f4sGi71xFb8C

I'm going to mutate a favorite saying of mine and say, "Democracy would be great if it wasn't for the people."