How much of what the general public believes is solely because of what we hear repeatedly from the media. I’m not talking about media bias at all: it doesn’t matter whether it’s a left or right-leaning subject. But simply whatever the case may be. After listening to commentary until 3 AM when I finally fell asleep, again this morning after waking-up at 7:30 AM and now on the radio, it’s obvious that the “Kerry will say anything to win” is something that has gone from spin to “fact.” Kerry will say as much to win as Bush did. Any politician is going to calculate and say the things he/she thinks is necessary to win. But to try to label Kerry as someone with no convictions is just not based on any credible fact. But you hear the Republican spin, and then you hear the pundits and reporters repeat that this is what people think, and suddenly, it’s what more people think.
I don’t know that there’s a way around this, but it is fascinating from a sociological perspective, if not utterly depressing from a real-world-view one, to see this “team” mentality ruling. Proof and evidence is unimportant. If you back one team, you want to beat the other team. Whatever little catchphrase or point, regardless of its veracity, becomes more important than issues or ideas. At least, that’s what it looks like. And with the media — and I include all television, radio, print and internet — expanding, instead of people utilizing more resources to study what’s important about both candidates, what they actually stand for and what the real arguments may be behind any issue, as opposed to the simple ideology, the plethora of choices seem to simply confuse people into looking for the simplest reports in the tidiest little bites.
Is there an answer? I don’t know, but I’m sure there are plenty of media “experts” who will tell you what all this means and why their jobs are important (you know, cause otherwise they’ll lose them). Chances are, they’ll just be spouting a bunch of shiite too.
I don’t know how much I’ll be blogging today, although obviously, I doubt I’ll get to much other than this subject simply because there’s not much else on the brain. Kerry has apparently called Bush to concede; the former will give a concession speech at 1 PM, and the latter a victory one at 3 PM. Today is depressing, but before I get accused of being a kneejerk liberal (which I’m actually not), I’m not upset because of “losing,” although I’m sure plenty of people are. I’m upset because more so than any other time in my 33 years, I am genuinely scared and nervous about the future of our country and society. Much more than I was in 2000 when Bush didn’t have a presidential track record so very, very bad.
Out of Focus 