The results of the 2008 election clearly show a shift in America from the conservative politics of George W. Bush to a more liberal set of American values. With numbers like a 2-to-1 Electoral College advantage, a pickup of between five and eight seats in the Senate, and anywhere between 20 and 25 seats in the House of Representatives, this shows a very large rejection of conservatism, and dare I say it, a mandate for liberals in American politics, but also a mandate for a change in Washington, D.C. and not just inside the beltway politics as usual. The results show that a large part of the American people want liberal change brought to Washington and have rejected conservatism for now.
But you would not know it from all the talk in the media. Everywhere you look, Obama is being praised for assembling a team of rivals that have opposing view points. This is good for forming ideas, but the members of the media are ignoring the fact that Obama ran on a platform of ideas from the left, and not from the center.
The fact that the media is completely ignoring this fact, and that you never see anyone on major networks criticizing Obama from the left just goes to show how afraid they are of debate, and how much their corporate interests rule what they do.
I have heard almost no criticizm from anyone on Obama keeping Gates, a prominent Republican around, no complaints about Hillary Clinton, and no complaints about anyone else. And it's making me sick.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
poverty discussion
You know what irked me in this past election, the fact that for all the bluster about the economy and Americans losing their jobs and how the middle class has been hurt, there was no discussion at all about the the lower classes. No talk about how to help them improve their standing, or what they should do to help themselves. I think it's because a) if people started to talk about it, they might actually have to do something about it, and b) people are afraid that if they make even the slightest comment about how these people can and should help themselves, they will be lambasted by people for insinuating that it's not the man that is keeping these people down.
Discussions of poverty and race (not just African-American, but any minority group) in this country often either get de-railed or don’t even happen because to suggest that people’s problems are even in the slightest bit their own doing is considered insulting. Of course that question is a multi-faceted one, and poverty is certainly not entirely someone’s own doing, but the suggestion that that could even be a part of it at all draws vehement opposition from people like Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, and results in whoever said such having to apologize for what they said and it shuts down any kind of discussion that might have taken place.
This type of fear also comes in the form of almost refusing to criticize someone. People are afraid to criticize things that take place in a particular minority community, be it a racial community or a religious community that is perceived to be slighted or mistreated. For example, it is almost impossible in the United States to criticize Israel without being labeled an Anti-Semite. At American University where I spent my freshman year, I remember people who expressed pro-Palestinian positions being labeled “Nazis”. Any political candidate who proposes taking a critical look at the way Israel has conducted itself in the last half-century basically forfeits the election because they are labeled as anti-Israel.
Discussions of poverty and race (not just African-American, but any minority group) in this country often either get de-railed or don’t even happen because to suggest that people’s problems are even in the slightest bit their own doing is considered insulting. Of course that question is a multi-faceted one, and poverty is certainly not entirely someone’s own doing, but the suggestion that that could even be a part of it at all draws vehement opposition from people like Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, and results in whoever said such having to apologize for what they said and it shuts down any kind of discussion that might have taken place.
This type of fear also comes in the form of almost refusing to criticize someone. People are afraid to criticize things that take place in a particular minority community, be it a racial community or a religious community that is perceived to be slighted or mistreated. For example, it is almost impossible in the United States to criticize Israel without being labeled an Anti-Semite. At American University where I spent my freshman year, I remember people who expressed pro-Palestinian positions being labeled “Nazis”. Any political candidate who proposes taking a critical look at the way Israel has conducted itself in the last half-century basically forfeits the election because they are labeled as anti-Israel.
political correctness
Political Correctness. The concept of political correctness has enveloped our country. People are almost afraid to utter anything controversial or make any statements that may be considered unkind or offensive to any one particular group of people. It seems like every five minutes some kind of public figure, be it a politician or a celebrity, is in front of their respective press corps making an apology for a comment that seemed innocuous at the time, but after hearing it over and over again, has been deemed offensive.
Now don’t get me wrong, people should watch what they say. Making broad generalizations about any particular group of people is often misguided and insulting. Labeling one particular group of people responsible for ills is irresponsible and wrong. People like Don Imus and Mel Gibson who make racially insensitive comments and blame whole races of people for the world’s ills are vilified in the court of popular public opinion, and rightly so. So in cases like this, our obsession with political correctness is a good thing.
However, political correctness is also detrimental to the solving of a problem, or even just discussion of a particular issue. Very little debate on any major issue gets anywhere in this country because everyone is always so worried about offending someone else.
I believe that was one of the problems with media coverage in this past election. Major stations were so concerned with offending someone either outside their company or higher up in their company that they avoided the real issues in favor of just covering horse race and talking about numbers in a fluid electorate.
Now don’t get me wrong, people should watch what they say. Making broad generalizations about any particular group of people is often misguided and insulting. Labeling one particular group of people responsible for ills is irresponsible and wrong. People like Don Imus and Mel Gibson who make racially insensitive comments and blame whole races of people for the world’s ills are vilified in the court of popular public opinion, and rightly so. So in cases like this, our obsession with political correctness is a good thing.
However, political correctness is also detrimental to the solving of a problem, or even just discussion of a particular issue. Very little debate on any major issue gets anywhere in this country because everyone is always so worried about offending someone else.
I believe that was one of the problems with media coverage in this past election. Major stations were so concerned with offending someone either outside their company or higher up in their company that they avoided the real issues in favor of just covering horse race and talking about numbers in a fluid electorate.
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