OT: truth in advertising

[Charles Martin]

> From: Dale Critchley <dale at infinityltd.org>
>
> I don't understand this one. No liberal political talk shows? Oprah, 
> Rosie,
> etc.... I don't watch any of them any more, but if you don't think 
> they're
> political, watch them sometime. They're just less overt than Rush, but 
> no
> less political.

I don't watch them either. Looking at their topics, I don't see 
anything even remotely related to political issues. Or is working on 
one's self-esteem, weight loss and family dysfunction considered 
"liberal" these days?

Having said that I'm sure that on the occasions when they DO talk 
politics, the host(s) are probably more left-leaning than, say, a 
farmer in Iowa.

I wouldn't call that "liberal," of if you do then just about EVERYBODY 
is "liberal" on some issue or another. Despite the Republican voting 
trend of late, time after time it has been shown that Americans are 
really more pragmatic than strictly conservative (or strictly liberal), 
more motivated by self-interest than party ideology.

Nobody wants to pay higher taxes or see the gov't waste our money -- in 
that sense we're *all* Republicans. But neither does anyone with half a 
brain in their head want to see the gov't shut down the health clinics 
or close down the Post Office and Amtrak and PBS because they don't 
seem to be able to make money, or allow citizens to buy small nuclear 
devices if they want to. And a majority of us (contrary to Sen. Lott's 
perception) don't want to see women's right to abortion taken away, 
don't want to see blacks denied the right to vote, don't want to see 
ALL immigration to the US closed off. So are we "liberal" if we broadly 
agree with the above precepts?

Nonsense. Politicians work diligently to DIVIDE this country based on a 
handful of hot-button issues when the fact of the matter is that most 
of us would broadly agree on the majority of ACTUAL issues facing this 
country. That's why we keep switching back and forth between Democrat 
and Republican leadership -- depending on what's foremost on our minds, 
we find ourselves agreeing more with one party than other (on a FEW 
issues). It's the FACT that the two parties are basically 
representative of the duality of American society -- driven by 
pragmatism -- that keeps us moving back and forth between them. That's 
why Bush's "unite not divide" is such a lame joke -- his party, just 
like the Democratic party, RELIES on people being divided. That's why 
voter turnout in this country is so low -- only the fanatics and 
ideologues bother to vote anymore, because the rest of us think that it 
doesn't make a difference (another message the two parties' squabbling 
helps to drive home).

Believe it or not, I actually do get along just fine with a wide 
variety of people with a wide variety of political views -- I count 
among my friends Roman Catholic Republicans, Middle-Class Rush Fans, 
Anti-War Anarchist Protesters and Atheist Homosexual Non-Voters among 
others. We may disagree on this issue or that issue -- or even a lot of 
issues -- but all of my friends are warm, humanitarian people who can 
be quite "liberal" when it comes to personal, direct kindness or 
compassion and quite "conservative" when it comes to being loathe to 
raise taxes, suspicious of what our gov't is doing with the money, or 
supportive of the military and anything they do, right or wrong. 
Despite the labels they (may) put on themselves, I just see them as 
people.

It's when people become ideologues and fanatics* that I find myself 
moving away from them -- regardless of which end of the political 
spectrum they inhabit. A left-wing wacko and a right-wing wacko are 
both just wackos, as I often say. :)

*of course it's perfectly OK to be a *Macintosh* ideologue or fanatic! 
:)

Okay, I did it again. Completely OT. I can't help it -- you people keep 
providing some fascinating material for discussion. I've said my peace 
on this subject, I'll wait until either the thread dies or it goes back 
on-topic before commenting on it again.

_Chas_
Come to  ... The CHASbah!
http://thechasbah.blogspot.com

**Go see BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE. It may change your life.**