Comments on: The truth about “straight talk”

By: A disenchanted non-voter

A disenchanted non-voter — Wed, 07 May 2008 00:43:37 +0000

I love you for writing this.

I like to think I’m smarter than the average person, because the media wouldn’t be such a wasteland of dumb if everyone got as pissed at the Reverend Wright B.S. as I did. I also like to think that people are individual and get stereotyped as the “Dumb Southerner” or East-Coast Liberal.” But obviously not everyone is smart, politically. I’m trying not to be an elitist jackass, but this country….re-elected George Bush. People are getting lazy, complacent, and don’t want to hear anything bad. Guess what? The media may have not provided the full facts pre-invasion of Iraq, but you let yourselves be manipulated. You let Hilary Clinton stand on the bed of a 1950s pickup truck in Indiana and not be totally disgusted at her disingenuous demagoguery. It’s your fault. (Not mine, I was like 14 when the War in Iraq started). Hindsight is illuminating, but people are refusing to learn from the past.

By: Jack Tierney

Jack Tierney — Tue, 06 May 2008 21:05:59 +0000

Good essay. See Benjamin GInsberg’s book, The American Lie.

By: Russ Wellen

Russ Wellen — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:51:48 +0000

Truly elegant post, Dr. BS. “All individuals together are seen as a collection of individuals and never in terms of the system.” Indeed.

As venerable a saying as â€œWe have met the enemy, and he is usâ€ is, so is “You can’t handle the truth.” If the system is corrupt, we’ve spent our lives in vain supporting it.

By: pookapooka

pookapooka — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:29:43 +0000

It wouldn’t be so bad if all those gotchas you enumerated were applied equally to all candidates. The fact that they are exclusively wielded against Democrats should points directly to a root cause — the ownership of the most influential media in the hands of a few, who control the message and perpetuate what they see as maximizing their personal profit at the piddling cost of the way the rest of humanity will be forced to live. At this moment in time, I see this as the much greater crime. To be successful in countering the “ignorance is strength” attitude currently ingrained in our children, the airwaves must be returned as they were originally set up — as a public utility.

Without proper civic appreciation of education and an electorate which comprehends the grave consequences of being willfully uninformed, there is no chance of addressing the greater issues of containment of the “naturally” greedy and power-seeking.

Media oligarchy or no, ironically the exponential nature of climatic and economic consequences of overpopulation will ineluctably bring about a much stronger civic desire to be truly informed — just as in the late ’50’s the US suddenly realized and supported the value of education, when the USSR sent the ugly surprise of Sputnik circling the globe. Only this time it will encompass much, much greater numbers of the population. Nothing like no food or job or health redress or housing to force one’s waking.

By: Dr. Denny

Dr. Denny — Tue, 06 May 2008 17:15:51 +0000

Bones, old boy, I commend you. I also confess to acts of sloganeering at times.

But a system needs a communication lifeforce, a blood stream if you will, on which the system’s architecture runs. And it’s color is green â€” money.

Follow the money. I repeat endlessly: Follow the goddamned money.

By: www.buzzflash.net

www.buzzflash.net — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:56:46 +0000

The truth about â€œstraight talkâ€…

That McCain is shooting straight is a simply laughable idea, and the same goes for Clinton and Obama. But ultimately, itâ€™s not really their fault that theyâ€™re unrelenting liars. Itâ€™s yours….