Micheal Jackson, Sarah Palin, is there a difference?

[elwood127]

Just like people thinking Obama was going to be different. Turns out he's just another lying dick of a politician. Sarah's supporters are just as blind. Party lines are all that matter. Or, will I be considered fahionable if I vote with the crowd. Most voters are idiots. To lazy to do the homework. It's like religion. The only reason people think God lives is because their parents told them to.

[noonereal]

I can't argue at this point.

Yes, exactly correct. Amazing really.

[merrylander]

If you really want to know why voters vote the way they do consider what Jefferson said (on many occasions) about the need for a free press so that voters are well informed. Then ask yourself if such a free press exists today and how well it "informs" the voter.

[JJIII]

Originally Posted by merrylander

If you really want to know why voters vote the way they do consider what Jefferson said (on many occasions) about the need for a free press so that voters are well informed. Then ask yourself if such a free press exists today and how well it "informs" the voter.

Ain't that the cryin' truth.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by merrylander

If you really want to know why voters vote the way they do consider what Jefferson said (on many occasions) about the need for a free press so that voters are well informed. Then ask yourself if such a free press exists today and how well it "informs" the voter.

Bingo! And, although I'm far from happy with what has and hasn't been accomplished by the Obama Administration, I'm not yet ready to write him off as just another lying politician. When I consider the mess BushCo left him, I believe he deserves a little bit of understanding.

One thing that is sticking in my craw at the moment, however, is the nagging suspicion that he is a subscriber to the Bush Doctrine of preemptive war. His speech at The USMA was full of statements about the necessity for us to continue our military involvement in Afghanistan so as to prevent things that might happen.

John

[Charles]

Originally Posted by merrylander

If you really want to know why voters vote the way they do consider what Jefferson said (on many occasions) about the need for a free press so that voters are well informed. Then ask yourself if such a free press exists today and how well it "informs" the voter.

Wasn't it Jefferson who said "The man who reads nothing at all is better informed than the man who reads nothing but newspapers"?

Chas

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Charles

Wasn't it Jefferson who said "The man who reads nothing at all is better informed than the man who reads nothing but newspapers"?

Chas

I don't know but I seriously doubt anyone as devoted to learning, and in particular reading, would have said anything like that. There has been a veritable "cottage industry" of fake Jefferson quotes from the right wingers. He did say the below, however, and it would seem odd for Jefferson to have said both.

"The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." -- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Edward Carrington, 1787.

John

[finnbow]

Jefferson had a long-standing ambivalence toward the press. While he viewed them as necessary, he also warned against an over-reliance upon them as a sole source for building one's views on current events.

http://www.britannica.com/presidents/article-9116906

I think his views are still valid today. We cannot have a fully functioning democracy without an active and free press. However, this activity and freedom, coupled with struggles for market share, can lead to some pretty shoddy reporting.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Jefferson had a long-standing ambivalence toward the press. While he viewed them as necessary, he also warned against an over-reliance upon them as a sole source for building one's views on current events.

http://www.britannica.com/presidents/article-9116906

I think his views are still valid today. We cannot have a fully functioning democracy without an active and free press. However, this activity and freedom, coupled with struggles for market share, can lead to some pretty shoddy reporting.

No doubt Jefferson had his "issues" with the press of his day. It was the idea that Jefferson would prefer reading nothing at all to reading only newspapers that had me scratching my head. Now that I see that he did say nearly that I'm scratching all the harder.

As for the existence of a free press today, I has me doubts. This is especially true of the electronic press where the news is tailored to fit the needs of the parent corporations which as a rule aren't media corporations.

John

[merrylander]

All the more reason to stop the Rupert Murdochs of this world in their tracks. Now that he has control the Wall Street Urinal has really become the Diharrea of the American Dream.