Vindibudd
Where I work, they have two break rooms and both of them have CNN on 24 hours a day. Now, people love to complain about Fox News being soooooo far right wing, making retarded jokes like Faux News (HURG), and so on, but let me tell you why CNN is the spawn of Satan.
Last night on Paula Zahn, she had a minority issues writer, a democrat strategist, and some other politically left individual, I think she was from Obama or Clinton's campaign.
Now the topic was OMG, a black man and woman are running for president! OMG OMG OMG.
First of all, I don't care that Obama is black or that Clinton is a woman, I care about what they would do as president. So anyway, that is the first thing, but this whole segment was about how this is so unusual that a black man and a white woman are running and would Americans vote for a black man or a woman?
So the guests were all saying the following:
1. If voters can get past all their *isms, they will vote for these two.
2. This is a great opportunity for Americans to vote for a black man and a woman.
3. I don't think Americans can bring themselves to vote for a black man and a woman, because black people can't be trusted with Michael Vick and O.J. Simpson (this guy was black which made his statements all the more outrageous) and Americans won't vote for a woman, because of Clinton's cleavage.
That, my friends, is insulting to anyone who votes based upon issues.
How about this, I won't vote for Clinton because she has stated that she wants "to go after the oil companies and the oil speculators and the manipulators of the money, because they're the ones who I think are really behind this," Nevermind that over 50 percent of every dollar goes to the government in taxes and oil companies only get 10 cents on the dollar. So Clinton is all for destroying the economy by attacking private enterprise. She wants to make the government the enemy of its citizens, and if the oil companies go out of business, where are we the people going to get our gasoline?
I won't vote for Barak, because he wants to force kindergarten students to have sex education. ("sex education for kindergarteners, as long as it is 'age-appropriate,' is 'the right thing to do.' 'But it's the right thing to do to provide age-appropriate sex education, science-based sex education in schools.'" )
I'm sorry, I thought learning the alphabet and how to count was what kindergarten was for.
He also wants to "talk" to every 3rd world dictatorship who throws a tantrum, rather than taking a hard line with them, like any real American president should do.
So my not voting for either of these two has nothing to do with race and gender, and all to do with a completely 180 degree out of phase vision for this country.
So that is why I can't stand CNN. I am not a racist and I don't look at candidates' skin color or gender as my primary factor for judging their qualifications. It is too bad that CNN is so obsessed with race and gender that they cannot discuss issues that are important to this country.
CNN was so surprised to be dressed down by Michael Moore, but ALL news outlets need to be warned. Network news practices, and increasingly print as well, is whoring out the fourth estate. The news media is being sold like diet coke and truth and depth are being supplicated by sound bites and punditry. The absence of in depth news gives rise to jingoist staments like those quoted here.
Love that truly John Wayne bullshit about a hard line. Where's the proof??? Uses of force to bully people always have blowback.
For example, the reason we are in deep shit with Iran is that we supported the Shaw. Had we have left their country alone instead of backing the installion of an unelected monarch who proceeded to brutalize and suppress his people, we might now enjoy freindly relations. Had the news media made it plain we were helping the oil companies admister their agenda in Tehran, perhaps we wouldn't have allowed it!
...or the assylum we later granted the Shah, or the financial and military support we poured into Saddam's pocket in the name of containing the now hostile Iranians!!
The extent of how far we gain respect and unconditional bonds with allies is how well we treat them. Bullying people to keep them in line just fosters animosity, resentment and suspicion. Why is it we are so willing to waste billions of dollars killing people, when feeding them and building up their infrastructure would produce more permanent and desirable results?
My feeling is that poor Barak has two strikes against him but race is the smaller issue. The big one is youth. It's his perceived naivete that gets him the most bad press. As long as we believe this fallacy that we can armtwist sovereign nations into docile compliance, his suggestion of opening dialog will remain a percieved weakness.
The other big paper tiger here is that Hillary wants to tank the economy by going after oil companies. Jeez, where to begin?
How about the obvious thing. We simply cannot sustain an oil economy any longer. Oil is poisoning our environment, we have to stop some day or we will perish. Why not start now in earnest? Here is where the news media needs to ask the hard questions of our leaders and CEO's. CNN and ther rest of their ilk continue to report on green technology as if it was a puff piece and not the last desperate chance we have of surviving as a species.
Further it is clear that money flows like water to the path of least resistance, so subsidizing our oil industry with tax breaks , lax standards and favorable legislation will ensure the status quo. Oil companies are posting record profits, they don't need corporate welfare. Remove this cushion, and the money will slowly begin to flow toward greener technologies.
The fact is had we taken the chance to implement these ideas earlier, we wouldn't have to be facing such bitter medicine now. Hillary is talking tough, but in the end I believe that she is a realist, and will make deals to make this transition eaiser for the economy and the citizenry.
Bob
