August 04, 2004

• Translating this article: "...I admit to using the widest possible interpretation of bullshit. Bullshit can be outright lies, bullshit can be calculating come-ons, and bullshit can be self-aggrandizing self-mythology, which is more commonly known in this country as self-aggrandizing bullshit..." --Bullshit is anything I say it is. The fact that I conclude that I like John Kerry has nothing to do with the 3 pages of bullshit I just wrote. I was nearing a deadline and needed to come up with something.
• From the same source: The Conservative Case Against George Bush.
• like= dislike
• Do we also get the "I don't care if my vote counts for anything case against Ralph Nader."
• In some cases, this set of cuts blitzed out whole paragraphs, as in the case of the diffidently delivered, "We have it in our power to change the world again. But only if we're true to our ideals and that starts by telling the truth to the American people. That is my first pledge to you tonight. As President, I will restore trust and credibility to the White House." --If it doesn't fit in with some too-hip-for-words coffeehouse cynicism, it's bullshit. Only bullshit artists would dare to present such an optimistic worldview. I'd like to point out that he gets paid to write.
• No, but there is this.
• RE: the criticism of the piece I think a lot of it boils down to, is when you look at the speech, claims are made without any supporting evidence. As President, I will restore trust and credibility to the White House To quote one of my favorite comics, How? How? How how how how how how? How? In the context of the speech, there is no answer to that except more unsupported rhetoric.
• Shawnj: I don't think anyone didn't know that. Every candidate over promises because the press never holds them accountable for their election promises. (anyone remember the “lockbox” or a litany of other things?) On the rare occasion when the press does try to hold them accountable the elected just blame everything on their opponents resistance to their agenda. Candidates know that the only mistake they can make is to under promise.
• MonkeyFilter: more unsupported rhetoric. I'll ah . . I'll show myself out.
• Is the election over yet? Because I'm already sick of it. Damn sick.
• As President, I will restore trust and credibility to the White House That reminds me of the hysterical Onion piece where Bush running for a second term tells an audience that he will restore trust and credibility to the White House.
• I decided to remove everything that was snark, self-righteousness, self-promotion, and sophistry from the article. The only thing left was the byline. If I had ever heard of this guy before, I would have had to remove that on grounds of name-dropping.
• Yes, yes, it's all bullshit, every last word. Are we to conclude that there is no such thing as a good president?
• News Corp. President Endorses Kerry News Corp. is the parent company of Fox Entertainment Group Inc.
• No surprise there. Murdoch has stated before that his views are rather centrist, and the direction Fox News goes in is strictly a business decision.
• Oops, pays to read the link. Anyway, the direction of Fox News isn't so much an agenda of the owners as it is a business trying to fill a niche.
• shawnj, for once we are in complete agreement. Why don't more people think that about Fox?
• Speaking of the so-called Fox bias, did anyone see this item? Here's the significant bit: A spokesman for Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said there were legislative avenues that the group could pursue as a secondary measure but declined to speculate on what those might be. I sure hope to hear free speech champions denouncing this...you don't have to like Fox to be concerned over the ramifications of legislation against Fox News.
• I plan on endorsing Carrot Top for President. We need a leader strong and decisive comedy skills.
• Speaking of the so-called Fox bias... So-called? I hope you don't mean to say that it isn't true. FNC may be a news channel, but what they practice is not journalism. Just because there's a place in the market for a Republican mouthpiece that pretends to be an objective news source doesn't mean it should exist. It should have the legal right, of course, but the ethics of the thing are a different matter entirely. In other words, journalism shouldn't be about what the market wants.
• Kerry obviously tried to portray himself and the democratic party as those with the ideals, values and know-how to get America back on track.Reading the article, one can see how hollow their entire platform is. Not that most Americas didn't already know this as seen in the elections of 2000 and 2002. It's why the three branches of government are all led by the Republicans.
• Not that most Americas didn't already know this as seen in the elections of 2000 OMFG.
• Yes, when SCOTUS handed Bush the White House, less than half the country applauded. This = mandate.
• wait wait wait . . Bush sucks??
• Yes, when SCOTUS handed Bush the White House, less than half the country applauded. This = mandate. The SCOTUS was in an impossible situation. Maybe its decision was wrong or maybe the law on which they based their decision was wrong -- I won't touch those issues -- but whatever its decision, there would have been an uproar. The election itself was a tie, essentially. When you have to count the sort-of-a-vote votes in a system as complicated and downright stupid as in Florida and many US states, there are always going to be problems. The popular vote is irrelevent. The US uses the electoral college, like it or not. That system is no less legitimate than a straight count of the popular vote. In any case, most eligible voters did not vote for Gore. Way too many didn't vote at all, and by not voting, they vote for whoever wins. Too bad for them. Only the other 1/4 of the country has the right to complain. I will say that I don't like the idea of the judiciary (in effect) choosing the executive, but I think the best way to deal with that is to reform the ballots themselves. They're just way too complicated. When I saw a Florida ballot in a newspaper, I couldn't believe how convoluted the system was, especially compared to the way we do things in Canada.
• Who's afraid of liberal values?
• The Death of American Politics
• First 'gooderer' and now, the 'warriorers', so wags the world today.
• Kuzminski's comments seem more of a rant than a philosophal analysis. "Death of American politics," indeed? I agree that the democrats have kind of lost their way in the last couple of decades, but we've seen that before. I think the dems (at least in my early lifetime) relied on educated idealism when they were successful, and the younger voters of today seem to be way to cynical to think that any degree of idealism is a good thing. Yet, I would suggest that the opposite of idealism is the cynicism of the current administration. But, we keep having these swings. The children of the cynics will be more idealistic, maybe even patriotic, just to screw with their parents. (Just IMO>)