The United States’ Presidential Election 2008 is proving to be an excellent case study in the realm of “Think For Yourself, Schmuck”\u00c2\u00a0 I say that because, more than ever, the media has become pervasive and invasive in our daily lives.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m not just talking about the 24-hour Cable News cycles.\u00c2\u00a0 You also have to include the internet media, the blogs, the political forums, anyone with a little bandwidth and an opinion.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0The daily drumbeat of this Presidential Election, has been polls, polls, polls.\u00c2\u00a0 Or I should say, that is part of it.\u00c2\u00a0 The other part has been this Reality-TV style coverage of every utterance, every breath, every movement each of the candidates have made.\u00c2\u00a0 Now, this might be okay, if it were on C-Span, where you have little commentary.\u00c2\u00a0 You just get to see what is happening and decide for yourself what’s going on and what it means.\u00c2\u00a0 But it isn’t C-Span.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s MSNBC, ABC, CBS, Fox News, and all of the Internet “news” outlets.\u00c2\u00a0 So there is a barrage of “what’s really going on” messages.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0“Oh my God!\u00c2\u00a0 Obama is a horrible bowler!!!!\u00c2\u00a0 If he can’t handle some 10-pin, how’s he going to handle Iran???”<\/p>\n
Yes, I know that’s one of those trivial little things that happen on the campaign trail, and it doesn’t compare to more important “scandals” like Rev. Wright, bitter comments, phantom sniper fire, nut-job pastors endorsing candidates, and the like.\u00c2\u00a0 But the point is, at every turn someone is telling you how you should think about these things.\u00c2\u00a0 Or, if you are getting multiple scenarios, it’s typically an either\/or paradigm.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
We’ve all heard how a candidate is all style and no substance, an empty suit.\u00c2\u00a0 That he or she is relying on soundbites and talking points.\u00c2\u00a0 But the thing of it is, the media who is telling us that is doing the same thing.\u00c2\u00a0 Their coverage is all about soundbites and talking points.\u00c2\u00a0 Save for the debates, how much actual coverage of actual policy proposals do we get?\u00c2\u00a0 And so this is why Joe Schmoe is so easily swayed by the talking heads, because he has little else to go upon.\u00c2\u00a0 And he certainly isn’t going to give up his nightly ritual of worshipping the boob-tube while swigging some PBR, to go do some actual research on the candidates.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
What does this mean for the future of U.S.A. Democracy(tm)?\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
We will explore this next week….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The United States’ Presidential Election 2008 is proving to be an excellent case study in the realm of “Think For Yourself, Schmuck”\u00c2\u00a0 I say that because, more than ever, the media has become pervasive and invasive in our daily lives.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m not just talking about the 24-hour Cable News cycles.\u00c2\u00a0 You also have to include … Continue reading The Laboratory of Democracy (a special series)<\/span>