About a week ago, I happened to catch the end of a show on UCTV— "Media Humor: Was it good for the Presidential Campaign?" While the primary topic was humor in politics, ironically, the single thing I found most interesting had nothing to do with the jokes.
Someone brought up the point that people who are genuinely interested in getting all the facts—who truly want to hear both sides of a political argument in order to make a decision based on all the information at hand—those folks are a rare breed. While you'd think that would be an ideal to which we should all aspire, in his opinion that isn't the case.
He pointed out that when a centrist examines any hotly contested issue—health care, for instance—they will listen to the pros and cons on both sides. The part that grabbed my attention is the fact that, ultimately, once they have the information and are called upon to make a politically-unbiased choice, most people are left utterly paralyzed by indecision. Nothing gets done, and the entire process grinds to a halt.
He went on to say that "fortunately" most people don't really want to hear the entire litany drone on and on; they don't want to try and absorb the opposition's POV. They basically pick and choose the points of an argument that best represent their party line; they hug those near and dear to their heart and run home. They don't go out of their way to listen to commentary from people that they predict will fly in the face of their pre-determined party line.
I can relate to that observation. I confess, I rarely watch FOX news, and Rush Limbaugh and Anne Coulter absolutely make my blood boil. I know from past experience that I really don't want to listen to their POV because I just KNOW it's going to seriously tick me off. I know that if I do, I'm going to spend the rest of the day working on an ulcer and spittin' nails.
Ditto for "discussing" any remotely political issue with my brother. That could lead to fratricide, cuz someone is gonna die! Hmm... come to think of it, Kelly and I have been pulverizing each other to smithereens since we were kids—never could get along. Arguing over politics is probably just the adult manifestation of our systemic dysfunction.
So, anyway, in order to avoid all that unpleasantness ourselves, we elect men and women to go to Washington to fight our battles for us. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it—right?
Not so fast. Now, we're angry because we don't see the people the majority elected doing what we want, and we're spittin' mad. We expected them to be able to find common ground, to make that tough decision without yielding any more than necessary in the process. Instead, we've become, "America on a Collision Course."
Seems like we're about to pulverize each other to smithereens, and I can't bear to look!
— Robin
Someone brought up the point that people who are genuinely interested in getting all the facts—who truly want to hear both sides of a political argument in order to make a decision based on all the information at hand—those folks are a rare breed. While you'd think that would be an ideal to which we should all aspire, in his opinion that isn't the case.
He pointed out that when a centrist examines any hotly contested issue—health care, for instance—they will listen to the pros and cons on both sides. The part that grabbed my attention is the fact that, ultimately, once they have the information and are called upon to make a politically-unbiased choice, most people are left utterly paralyzed by indecision. Nothing gets done, and the entire process grinds to a halt.
He went on to say that "fortunately" most people don't really want to hear the entire litany drone on and on; they don't want to try and absorb the opposition's POV. They basically pick and choose the points of an argument that best represent their party line; they hug those near and dear to their heart and run home. They don't go out of their way to listen to commentary from people that they predict will fly in the face of their pre-determined party line.
I can relate to that observation. I confess, I rarely watch FOX news, and Rush Limbaugh and Anne Coulter absolutely make my blood boil. I know from past experience that I really don't want to listen to their POV because I just KNOW it's going to seriously tick me off. I know that if I do, I'm going to spend the rest of the day working on an ulcer and spittin' nails.
Ditto for "discussing" any remotely political issue with my brother. That could lead to fratricide, cuz someone is gonna die! Hmm... come to think of it, Kelly and I have been pulverizing each other to smithereens since we were kids—never could get along. Arguing over politics is probably just the adult manifestation of our systemic dysfunction.
So, anyway, in order to avoid all that unpleasantness ourselves, we elect men and women to go to Washington to fight our battles for us. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it—right?
Not so fast. Now, we're angry because we don't see the people the majority elected doing what we want, and we're spittin' mad. We expected them to be able to find common ground, to make that tough decision without yielding any more than necessary in the process. Instead, we've become, "America on a Collision Course."
Seems like we're about to pulverize each other to smithereens, and I can't bear to look!
— Robin
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