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 Democracy Now! April 17

by Kevin Gosztola (172 articles, 88 quicklinks, 62 diaries, 705 comments) on Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 7:49:51 PM
 

Entertainment TONIGHT is more informative.

What do I think of last night's debate ? I think that my time is precious and I could have spent it playing with my 3 year old rather than try to become better informed by watching a rerun of Entertainment Tonight disguised as a 'Presidential Debate' - It was real garbage and it makes feel more cynical and , yes, bitter too.

by PulSamsara (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 5 comments) on Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 9:17:26 PM
 

I'm planning to be out of the country on Election Day!

If I were younger I would leave this country. It is no longer the country that I have loved for so long. Is it the Karma that started with the treatment of the first residents of this country before Columbus " discovered" this country? Or is it the fact that there is no candidate who inspires my respect?The obscenity of raising so much money so that one person could inhabit the White House sickens me. Of course the big question is- who gave them all that money? Do you think those people aren't going to want special favors?

Maybe some of both is the answer. I am a rebel and have always been one but nothing I can do will change what is going to happen after this election. I have roared, screamed, written reams of aticles and comments about the corruption in government all to no avail. Nothing will change no matter who "wins".

All of the candidates are whores to big business and the MSM and the lobbyists. I expect to see Abramoff at the White House soon after the new resident is sworn in. No big surprise, right? That is if the Bush crime family hasn't cooked up some way to avoid the election. He probably thinks that if Iran is invaded, that would preclude having an election.

God forbid! But would you be surprised? Not me! Where could I go to escape this debacle? Does anybody have a suggestion?

by Caronome (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 190 comments) on Friday, April 18, 2008 at 2:08:38 PM
 

Too true...

"That is if the Bush crime family hasn't cooked up some way to avoid the election. He probably thinks that if Iran is invaded, that would preclude having an election."

Call me cynical, but I have been expecting that. For me, that'd be my cue to leave the country.

I had thought about maybe Switzerland for the sole reason that no one ever invades that country because they don't meddle in foreign affairs. I have a friend of mine that loves the Philipines (but it might be too third world for my tastes).

by Dooglio (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 30 comments) on Friday, April 18, 2008 at 11:07:22 PM
 

It's all theater, Kevin

Kevin, have you ever read “The Machine Stops” by English author E. M. Forster?  It’s a wonderfully eerie short story or “novella” about a “futuristic world”, “The Machine Stops” was written in 1909, in which personal accomplishment is looked down upon and everyone depends on “the machine” for everything, including life.  If for no other reason, I recommend it for its literary brilliance. 

However, where we are here in The FUSA (The Former United States of America) is sort of where the people ultimately find themselves in “The Machine Stops”. 

In fact, in “The Machine Stops”, people are encouraged to be sure that their thoughts are “second hand”. 

If newborns are judged at birth to be potentially athletic, they’re euthanized. 

Success in general and, specifically, creativity, is discouraged. 

It’s amazing that people like George Orwell, Aldous Huxley and E. M. Forster knew us better before we existed than we know ourselves today.  We don’t know ourselves. 

We find unpaid or minimally compensated “ordinary Joes and Janes” willing to make fools of themselves on what’s called “reality TV”.  Wealthy executives know that the average Americans will do anything to get on TV, so they don’t have to pay the average American what they’d pay an actor.  Yet, those who aren’t looking like idiots on TV are home talking about the reality shows as if they’re meaningful.  I’ve seen a headline – yes, a headline – on the front page of the local newspaper which informed the readers who had won the latest American Idol. 

We’re just not smart enough to realize that this is just another way that the wealthy take advantage of our neediness and, quite frankly, our narcissism, to make themselves even wealthier. 

I submit that, for every one of us who watched the debate or as much of the debate as we could stand, and saw it for what it was, the television version of The National Enquirer, there are three Americans who watched it and said, “There, see?  I told ya that Obama didn’t wear a flag on his lapel!  I ain’t votin’ for that (fill in the blank).” 

Or maybe, “Hillary looks like she put on (or lost) a couple of pounds.  Did you notice that, dear?” 

Or, “I won’t vote for any (fill in the blank) who’s too stupid to leave her husband after he’s cheated on her.” 

What do these people know about the issues? 

Iraq: Put an “I support the troops” sticker on your SUV. 

Iran: “Did you hear what that little pip squeak said about our president?  We otta nuke the (fill in the blank)!” 

The gap between the haves and the have-nots:  “Those people are poor because they’re too lazy to work.  There’s plenty of work out there if they want it.” 

Chávez: “He’s comminist dictator and Reverend Robertson’s right.  We gotta take out that gibbering idiot!”  

I could go on, but this is your article and it’s a damn incisive and perceptive article at that. 

American politics is nothing but theater today and Americans eat it up, just as they’ll eat most anything that has no nutritional value. 

Michael Bonanno

by Michael Bonanno (67 articles, 16 quicklinks, 23 diaries, 114 comments) on Saturday, April 19, 2008 at 12:03:02 AM