Contrasting editorials on the election

Post by **SonomaCat** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 11:38 am

I read both of these editorials today, and I think they do a magnificent job of capturing the two sides of the national divide. Morford (the SF Chronicle writer) is about as anti-Bush as they come (and usually annoys me, but sometime is a little funny) and Hall is about as close to the SNL Church Lady as anyone can be without being funny (ha-ha). They offer quite a contrast that is entertaining in its own right.

http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/morford/

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articl ... s/hall.txt

Post by **kmax** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 12:26 pm

Because there remains this astonishing and yet ever present fact: all the major cities of America, the great cultural centers and the places with the most concentrated populations and the most extraordinary restaurants and the highest percentage of college graduates and the most progressive laws and the truest sense of the arts and food and sex and music and dance and money and technology and lubricant and drugs and porn and love and fashion and spirituality, well, it seems they all voted blue.

Just wondering when Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Denver and Salt Lake City got removed from the list of "major cities of America"?

Edit to add that I can't hardly stand Hall either. While these two show a good polarization, are they really that indicative of the divide in America? I have to believe these two are on the extremes, where as I tend to think alot of Americans just aren't that far right or left, but somewhere in the middle. While America is definately divided, I just don't think the divide is as deep as the right-wing/left-wing extremists would make it seem.

velochat · Post by **velochat** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 5:53 pm

I'm convinced that Tammy is actually a liberal satire writer. Ridiculing fundamentalists with illiterate drivel. Motivational speaker, my a**

Post by **SonomaCat** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 6:55 pm

velochat wrote:I'm convinced that Tammy is actually a liberal satire writer. Ridiculing fundamentalists with illiterate drivel. Motivational speaker, my a**

I don't know if this is still in her byline, but at one point she labeled herself as an "international" motivational speaker. She must have taken a roadie to Saskatoon once. What fun one can have when they get to create their own title.

WolfPtCat · Post by **WolfPtCat** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 10:52 am

These two columnists may not accurately represent the cultural divide in this country, but I'm sure they will help widen it. It is people in the media, like these two, that reside in the political fringes (Rush, Franken, etc.) that push middlegrounders to one side or the other. I hope there are enough people that listen to all available information and make informed decisions. People that act like sheep and blindly follow the crowd or the voice on the radio really piss me off!

The PTA mother who pickets the local high school because an English teacher showed a performance of "Romeo and Juliet" in his class that happened to show a very brief veiw of a breast...

The rich little stoner marching at an anti-war rally wearing a "Free Leonard Peltier" t-shirt, who has no idea what he's doing or what he's wearing...

Seems to me some of these folks need a good ol' fashioned country a$$-whoopin, or at least a back-handed pimp slap.

'93HonoluluCat · Post by **'93HonoluluCat** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 2:36 pm

WPC wrote:
These two columnists may not accurately represent the cultural divide in this country, but I'm sure they will help widen it. It is people in the media, like these two, that reside in the political fringes (Rush, Franken, etc.) that push middlegrounders to one side or the other. I hope there are enough people that listen to all available information and make informed decisions. People that act like sheep and blindly follow the crowd or the voice on the radio really piss me off!

I'll start by saying that I'm not a Rush apologist--a "Dittohead"--and I don't even listen to his show. Frankly I find his radio schtick a bit egotistical. That said however, I think the conservative talk show hosts are more helpful than their liberal counterparts.

I have--much to all of your collective surprise, I imagine--listened to liberal "talking heads," and find their ranting is limited to mostly criticism of anything the conservative (or even moderate) Republicans do or say. The liberal talk show hosts would serve themselves--and their audiences--better by offering not just criticism, but solutions to the issues on which they rant.

I do know that the same arguement could be levied against specific conservative talk show hosts as well, but I want to make clear I only make this point on the general level, not against specific talk show hosts.

Post by **SonomaCat** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 3:03 pm

'93HonoluluCat wrote:
WPC wrote:
These two columnists may not accurately represent the cultural divide in this country, but I'm sure they will help widen it. It is people in the media, like these two, that reside in the political fringes (Rush, Franken, etc.) that push middlegrounders to one side or the other. I hope there are enough people that listen to all available information and make informed decisions. People that act like sheep and blindly follow the crowd or the voice on the radio really piss me off!
I'll start by saying that I'm not a Rush apologist--a "Dittohead"--and I don't even listen to his show. Frankly I find his radio schtick a bit egotistical. That said however, I think the conservative talk show hosts are more helpful than their liberal counterparts.

I have--much to all of your collective surprise, I imagine--listened to liberal "talking heads," and find their ranting is limited to mostly criticism of anything the conservative (or even moderate) Republicans do or say. The liberal talk show hosts would serve themselves--and their audiences--better by offering not just criticism, but solutions to the issues on which they rant.

I do know that the same arguement could be levied against specific conservative talk show hosts as well, but I want to make clear I only make this point on the general level, not against specific talk show hosts.

Please let me know of one conservative radio host or talking head that does anything other than blindly criticize "liberals" and instead offers intellectually honest evaluations and thoughts. I've listened to a lot of conservative talk radio, and I have yet to discover a host that was anything like that.

Beyond offering Republican talking points, the ones I have heard are pretty useless as far as information goes.

Post by **SonomaCat** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 3:06 pm

WolfPtCat wrote:These two columnists may not accurately represent the cultural divide in this country, but I'm sure they will help widen it. It is people in the media, like these two, that reside in the political fringes (Rush, Franken, etc.) that push middlegrounders to one side or the other. I hope there are enough people that listen to all available information and make informed decisions. People that act like sheep and blindly follow the crowd or the voice on the radio really piss me off!

The PTA mother who pickets the local high school because an English teacher showed a performance of "Romeo and Juliet" in his class that happened to show a very brief veiw of a breast...

The rich little stoner marching at an anti-war rally wearing a "Free Leonard Peltier" t-shirt, who has no idea what he's doing or what he's wearing...

Seems to me some of these folks need a good ol' fashioned country a$$-whoopin, or at least a back-handed pimp slap.

Well said. I love to read columnists and talk to people who can honestly see both sides of an issue and can discuss them with nuance and intellectual honesty. The haters on both sides do nothing other than preach to the lowest common denomoniator and just dumb down our country. They give people an excuse to not think and still feel like they are part of some BS movement.

BozoneCat · Post by **BozoneCat** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 8:00 pm

The rich little stoner marching at an anti-war rally wearing a "Free Leonard Peltier" t-shirt, who has no idea what he's doing or what he's wearing...

Yeah, and then gets in his BMW SUV that daddy bought for him and drives home to his top floor studio apartment!

'93HonoluluCat · Post by **'93HonoluluCat** » Sun Nov 14, 2004 3:05 am

Quote:
The rich little stoner marching at an anti-war rally wearing a "Free Leonard Peltier" t-shirt, who has no idea what he's doing or what he's wearing...
Yeah, and then gets in his BMW SUV that daddy bought for him and drives home to his top floor studio apartment!

And then tries to figure out how to deduct his "medicinal" marijuana as a business expense.