Thursday, November 29, 2007

The Televised Debate that I missed.

I have been touring around the liberal blogosphere today reading commentary about the Republican presidential primary debates. The satirical remarks amused me greatly but concerned me even more regarding the continuing downward spiral and crash course of the democratic process and political dialogue in the United States. I cannot say I am greatly surprised as the entire nature of the televised debate is problematic, where it is inevitable that focus tends towards facial ticks and who picked the best tie instead of any substance in campaign platforms. It is a process of degradation for which there was concern as early as the 1950's, but the absurdity of these politico beauty pageants is seemingly perfected with each subsequent election cycle.
(see posts for Nov. 28, 2007)

"What a debate. Eight white guys all arguing over who hates immigrants and their children the most."
by kos at DailyKos.

"Howler Monkeys
If one of the "base" interest groups the GOP candidates had to pander to were tribes of meth-addled howler monkeys, could they have looked any more demented than they did during that debate?
Discuss."
and
"Prediction
Watching this debate, I hereby predict that the winner of the GOP nomination will be a total asshole."
by Thers at Atrios.

"112 minutes. After more than five minutes of gay talk, CNN cuts to another audience shot of Chuck Norris, restoring a straight vibe to the proceedings."
by Michael Scherer at Salon.

"The whole evening was enough to try my faith ... in democracy."
This whole article by Walter Shapiro seems to sum it up neatly.

It is astounding to me that no matter what is going on in the world, conservative idealogues will stick to the tried and true knee-jerk voter concerns of "God, Guns, and Gays." Apparently, two ongoing wars and a sinking ship of an economy are not popular topics with voters so they turn to gun porn and Bible quizzes. More and more I am thankful I do not own a television and have no access to American air-waves.

Has anyone been following the primary campaigns that could comment?

4 comments:

Mr. Alex said...

Two things:

1) I have no idea who takes these events seriously anymore other than the folks who set them up/run them. It's like I live in a completely different "mediasphere" where everyone thinks CNN is a sad joke and can provide you six links to articles explaining why. Where are the folks who watch them and think they are truly informative? Hell if I know...

If I may...

"CNN is an empty eyed giant, stumbling towards the horizon, howling, desperate, madly calling for others to follow in the wake of its own crumbled facade."

-Alex Bolinder, PDX
Nov 29, 2008

2)There is some serious reality-sheer happening in this country due to better information in the form of the Internet(everyone wave!) and an impending and obvious economic doom the leadership classes have decided to, you know, just ignore, thus catalyzing (accurate) perceptions of their own ineptitude. Not only can I look out the window and see that they are full of shit, ignoring problems, etc. but I can network with millions of other people who know and see the same thing...

Don J. said...

Are you projecting a simalcrum of yourself one year into the future and if so with what technology?
And I saw where you live now, there were trees strategically placed all over so that when you look out the window all you can see is birds dancing and baby horses playing.

Sorry, I could not help but poke fun.
More seriously . . .

It was interesting to get a glimpse at the conservative political weblogs as well. Everyone there appeared even more disgruntled at how absurd the candidates came off and layed lots of blame on CNN and the cartoonish cherry picked questions. So it would seem everyone was frustrated regardless political leanings, and your assessment of CNN appears quite sound of smugly pushing these sorts of productions into trumped up entertainment farces.
I wonder if the Cable News Network and the like are sweating yet as their viewer base disappears seeking out less misleading and more relevant fare, in the way that the music industry and the MPAA are flailing to hold onto a production/distribution model that with each passing year becomes less viable.

Mr. Alex said...

Are you projecting a simalcrum of yourself one year into the future and if so with what technology?

The spice expands consciousness. Unfortunately, it can also lead to date-related typos...

And I saw where you live now, there were trees strategically placed all over so that when you look out the window all you can see is birds dancing and baby horses playing.

Due to Winter, the birds are gone, all the leaves have fallen off said trees so I can see my neighbor's F150(s), and one of the baby horses kicked me in the gut on Tuesday. Luckly, I made my saving throw. The 24 hours of Morrissey starts now!!!

I wonder if the Cable News Network and the like are sweating yet as their viewer base disappears seeking out less misleading and more relevant fare...

I think another reason is that most of the real "journalists" at the major TV news outlets have lost their jobs due to office consolidations/closures & retirement, and what we're left with is a bunch of people who are the equivalent of spokesmodels. They're ignoring important complicated issues because they are, you know, "complicated", "boring", and "too-dark & depressing". As a President once said, "It's hard work!"

Pete said...

"And I saw where you live now, there were trees strategically placed all over so that when you look out the window all you can see is birds dancing and baby horses playing."

Ha! The first time I read this, I thought you were dabbling in surrealist prose. By the third comment, I realized you had visited Portland.

Last night, All Things Considered commentators noted the staged furor over immigration. I think W made fear-mongering the primary political tactic of the right, before it had been smug moral superiority.