The Republicans seized Obama's pig remark and claimed it was sexist and aimed at Sarah Palin. Can you see me rolling my eyes? This morning, Obama slammed the GOP for not discussing the issues and "seize on an innocent remark, take it out of context, throw up an outrageous ad because they know it is catnip for the news media."1 And, that got me thinking. What if all these divisions between the red states and blue states are solely because of the news media?
Think about it, Obama and McCain debate each other and stick totally on the issues, how boring is that? How many news magazines would that sell? How many news stations want to cover an adult debate? How many papers would sell if it was only issues McCain and Obama mentioned? I'm going to do this when I'm President and my opponent wants to do something else. How many times a day would you check CNN if the breaking news was: McCain announces his healthcare plan?
I'm not sure who decided dirty campaigning made for better news, but isn't it time that the American public stopped paying attention? Don't click on the headline that states McCain slaps Obama or Obama sticks it to McCain. Click on the headline that says McCain's withdrawal plan for Iraq or Obama's solution for the North Korea problem.
And, while I'm on the subject, stop paying attention when they feed us stories about Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears. Don't buy the magazine with Brad and Angelina's twins in it. For that matter, don't buy the one that tells you all about Jennifer Anniston's break up with John Mayer.
Buy the magazine that gives you real news, not eye catching headlines.
Then, maybe, we can deal with the issues.
God Bless
1 comment:
Interesting post. Especially when you look a few back and see the postsecret blog. Now, how much time did you spenmd wandering through people's secrets thinking Thank god I am not that bad, or Oh, I have felt like that too? The same mentality applies to the Jennifer Aniston and Brittiany Spears headlines. Only they are *gasp* celebrities.
Imagine you are in a loser job, husband left for some cute thing, he forgets to pay child support and you are working at Micky D's 3 nights a week on top of a dead end day job. You hate yoour jobs, your self-esteem is low and there are days you hate your kid.
Then you see a head line that says Spears is a lousy mother. Well at least you are better than that! Immediate self-esteem raise - you may not have money, but you have ethics (or morals or honor or whatever the head line and situation may be.)
You see somewhere along the line we became a society that has a class structure. The structure is based on fame and money. People equate money with power. Couple that with the myth in America you can be anything and you have a handful of the elite and a lot of unhappy people.
Now move this same thinking to the political field. Who cares what Obama's or McCain's health care plans are? they aren;t going to affect the working poor. Hell they probably won't get passed. At least that is the idea in most people's heads. Great it's a plan. But plans are just outlines and too frequently the American public have seen them wither and die.
Yes, the media is in love with its own power. They make or break candidates based on what they choose to show and in what light they show each candidate. Even to the point of what camera angls and lighting they use. Politics has become nothing more than a show put on by paparazzi masquerading as journalists.
Here is an idea. TURN OFF THE TV. If you must watch it for news, remember the media have their own agenda. They want to sell advertizing. to do that they have to be watched. To do that they must have sensational stories because if they were reporting on real issues like the economy and war in the middle east, they might have to actually take the time to understand the issues in order to explain them to the public.
Think about it. How much time in school and when you were living at home was spent really preparing you for the realities of the world? How much time was spent teaching you how to make an informed decision. Most people parrot or react to their parents' views. Why should the media spend the time educating them? People don't want to think too much. Especially when their feet hurt from standing all night, they smell like fry grease, and they are worried about paying the electric bill this month.
They rather have sensationalism and flaws shown in the beautiful people who can afford to run a presidential campaign. They know all the campaign promises are no more true than the Great American Dream of having enough. Because face it. If we have enough, the entire Capitalist structure falls.
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