dilemmanade
Thursday, April 01, 2004
 
Perhaps I'm being too hard on the American public...posted by C

And not hard enough on the press.

Matt Yglesias here (thanks to Digby) refers to studies that show that most Americans would have opposed the Bush tax cuts for favoring the rich, but were misled by the Administration, and not enlightened by the press.

Similarly, the majority of those who support the Iraq war were (are still?) under the misapprehension that a) we have found WMDs in Iraq or b) that Hussein was in bed with Al Queda or c) that world opinion was with Bush.

As I wrote in regards to the Emperors new clothes (two posts down)-- and is no secret-- the press has largely relegated itself to reporting sound bites on two sides of each issue, and allowing the chips to fall where they may. If the Administration is more effective in telling lies than the opposition is in countering those lies, then so be it.


 
 
The Emperor (again)...Posted by C

E is busy, and so doesn't post much. (Me, too.) But yesterday he wrote me privately. So that the blog will not remain silent when I am, in fact, writing, I'm posting the part of my response that deals with national politics.

"Bush is the first evil and senseless person to become POTUS because of heredity. Monarchies have dealt with it-- it's not new historically speaking-- but it's new to us. So new, in fact, that this naked truth is rarely uttered.

"These are truly dangerous times. I'm still pretty confident that Bush the Second will not be re-elected, and that his thugs will not dare to steal the election. But a lot of damage has already been done.

"And it will not be easy for Kerry to reverse it. The American people are stupid: a recent study found that 20% of us believe we are in the top 1% of earners, 20% more think we will get there in our lifetimes. That means 40% of us right there are inclined to vote against our own economic interests and for the economic interests of the super-wealthy. Another recent study found that poor whites (who presumably know they are poor) tend not to favor redistributive economic policies due to fears that ethnic minorities will benefit. Can Kerry wise everyone up? Does he understand himself just how lopsided things have become? I am not encouraged by his plan to lower corporate taxes.

"I fear that the economy, and for that matter the environment, will have to be deathly sick before we can generate the public will to create sustainable and socially just solutions."

 
When life gives you dilemmas, make dilemmanade.

ARCHIVES
11/01/2003 - 12/01/2003 / 12/01/2003 - 01/01/2004 / 01/01/2004 - 02/01/2004 / 02/01/2004 - 03/01/2004 / 03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004 / 04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004 / 06/01/2004 - 07/01/2004 / 07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004 / 08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004 / 09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004 / 11/01/2004 - 12/01/2004 / 12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005 / 01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005 / 05/01/2005 - 06/01/2005 / 07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005 / 08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005 / 11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005 / 01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006 / 02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006 / 03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006 / 08/01/2006 - 09/01/2006 / 10/01/2006 - 11/01/2006 / 04/01/2007 - 05/01/2007 / 05/01/2007 - 06/01/2007 / 06/01/2007 - 07/01/2007 / 10/01/2007 - 11/01/2007 / 01/01/2008 - 02/01/2008 / 04/01/2008 - 05/01/2008 / 06/01/2008 - 07/01/2008 / 09/01/2008 - 10/01/2008 / 10/01/2008 - 11/01/2008 / 11/01/2008 - 12/01/2008 / 12/01/2008 - 01/01/2009 / 08/01/2009 - 09/01/2009 / 09/01/2009 - 10/01/2009 / 10/01/2009 - 11/01/2009 / 11/01/2009 - 12/01/2009 / 03/01/2010 - 04/01/2010 / 05/01/2010 - 06/01/2010 / 07/01/2010 - 08/01/2010 / 08/01/2010 - 09/01/2010 / 10/01/2010 - 11/01/2010 / 11/01/2010 - 12/01/2010 / 03/01/2011 - 04/01/2011 / 05/01/2011 - 06/01/2011 / 01/01/2012 - 02/01/2012 / 02/01/2012 - 03/01/2012 / 05/01/2012 - 06/01/2012 / 06/01/2012 - 07/01/2012 / 08/01/2012 - 09/01/2012 / 07/01/2013 - 08/01/2013 / 10/01/2013 - 11/01/2013 / 11/01/2013 - 12/01/2013 / 12/01/2013 - 01/01/2014 / 01/01/2014 - 02/01/2014 / 03/01/2014 - 04/01/2014 / 04/01/2014 - 05/01/2014 / 07/01/2014 - 08/01/2014 / 08/01/2014 - 09/01/2014 / 03/01/2015 - 04/01/2015 / 06/01/2015 - 07/01/2015 / 03/01/2016 - 04/01/2016 / 04/01/2016 - 05/01/2016 / 07/01/2016 - 08/01/2016 / 08/01/2016 - 09/01/2016 / 10/01/2016 - 11/01/2016 / 12/01/2016 - 01/01/2017 / 01/01/2017 - 02/01/2017 / 02/01/2017 - 03/01/2017 / 03/01/2017 - 04/01/2017 / 01/01/2018 - 02/01/2018 / 06/01/2018 - 07/01/2018 / 07/01/2018 - 08/01/2018 /


Powered by Blogger