The Art of Debate...
Oct. 4th, 2000 11:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexpgp...was certainly not on the agenda at last night's Boston fracas between George "Tweedledum" Bush, who likes big government and wants to make it bigger, and Al "Tweedledee" Gore, who likes big government, too, but wants to make it much, much bigger.
You'll pardon my cynical tone, but I suspect that one of the primary factors behind the prosperity that's running around these days - besides the "peace dividend" that accrued to Mr. Clinton as a result of the fall of the Evil Empire before his time - is the fact that (a) His Billness has been too busy chasing skirts around the Oval Office and (b) Congress was too busy trying to nail him for it, for either the Executive or the Legislative branch to engage in the kind of "leadership" that causes more problems than it solves.
The reactions to the debate have been interesting. One moving mouth on TV wondered how come a poll taken among regular people differed so strikingly from the opinions held by "professional observers." Excuse me? Professional observers? Is there such a job, or do you mean your buddies in the media? (Clearly, it's the latter, and wouldn't you know it, the angst appears to be based on said difference being in the "wrong" direction, i.e., in Dubya's favor.)
Our local PBS channel featured a piece I followed only partially as I cooked dinner this evening. What struck me, as I was chopping onion, was a statement made by one young woman - well groomed and well spoken, but oh, so ill-educated - to the effect that one or the other (or both) candidates weren't able to adequately explain their positions on health care for the elderly and on foreign policy. Lacking sufficient detail, she concluded that she was thus left in the dark on these issues and was "forced" to turn elsewhere to find additional information.
As a citizen who shudders whenever he hears ABC proudly proclaim, "More people get their news from ABC News than from any other source," this woman's reasoning (or rather, lack thereof) really sends chills down my spine. She probably believed Gore when he claimed to have traveled to a Texas disaster area with Federal Emergency Management Agency head James Lee Witt. Yet according to the Media Research Center, Gore was fibbing, and futhermore, his telling of various tall tales has accelerated of late.
A press release from the Libertarian Party notes that neither candidate once used the word "freedom" or "liberty" in the course of the debate. It also notes, among other items, that the difference between Tweedledum's tax cut and Tweedledee's tax cut is a paltry 3%; the former believes the gummint oughta keep 95% of what it collects; the latter thinks it ought to keep 98%. This illustrates an obvious rift in thinking between the parties, dontcha think?
Vote Libertarian.
Cheers...
You'll pardon my cynical tone, but I suspect that one of the primary factors behind the prosperity that's running around these days - besides the "peace dividend" that accrued to Mr. Clinton as a result of the fall of the Evil Empire before his time - is the fact that (a) His Billness has been too busy chasing skirts around the Oval Office and (b) Congress was too busy trying to nail him for it, for either the Executive or the Legislative branch to engage in the kind of "leadership" that causes more problems than it solves.
The reactions to the debate have been interesting. One moving mouth on TV wondered how come a poll taken among regular people differed so strikingly from the opinions held by "professional observers." Excuse me? Professional observers? Is there such a job, or do you mean your buddies in the media? (Clearly, it's the latter, and wouldn't you know it, the angst appears to be based on said difference being in the "wrong" direction, i.e., in Dubya's favor.)
Our local PBS channel featured a piece I followed only partially as I cooked dinner this evening. What struck me, as I was chopping onion, was a statement made by one young woman - well groomed and well spoken, but oh, so ill-educated - to the effect that one or the other (or both) candidates weren't able to adequately explain their positions on health care for the elderly and on foreign policy. Lacking sufficient detail, she concluded that she was thus left in the dark on these issues and was "forced" to turn elsewhere to find additional information.
As a citizen who shudders whenever he hears ABC proudly proclaim, "More people get their news from ABC News than from any other source," this woman's reasoning (or rather, lack thereof) really sends chills down my spine. She probably believed Gore when he claimed to have traveled to a Texas disaster area with Federal Emergency Management Agency head James Lee Witt. Yet according to the Media Research Center, Gore was fibbing, and futhermore, his telling of various tall tales has accelerated of late.
A press release from the Libertarian Party notes that neither candidate once used the word "freedom" or "liberty" in the course of the debate. It also notes, among other items, that the difference between Tweedledum's tax cut and Tweedledee's tax cut is a paltry 3%; the former believes the gummint oughta keep 95% of what it collects; the latter thinks it ought to keep 98%. This illustrates an obvious rift in thinking between the parties, dontcha think?
Vote Libertarian.
Cheers...
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And had a Libertarian been in the debate...