"DOJ kill list memo forces many Dems out of the closet as overtly unprincipled hacks"

[woo me with science]

62. That mentality is stoked by the corporate media.

Last edited Mon Feb 11, 2013, 09:31 PM - Edit history (2)

Our political reporting is sick and perverse. We are urged to view elections as a spectator team sport, in which we should play the role of team supporters and cheerleaders, rather than participating citizens with a stake in challenging candidates, making our views heard, and ensuring we are represented in policy.

It was nothing short of sickening to watch election coverage on the cable networks. The vast majority of the reports focused on the horse race...Who is winning? How can Republicans get ahead? How can Democrats get ahead? What did this latest gaffe mean politically for the Red/Blue team? They even provide separate networks for the teams now, so that we can get all the news from our side, without risking spoiling the purity of our loyalties with inconvenient information. Our political "news" in general in this country is dumbed-down. divisive, inflammatory horse-race fluff.

And we are increasingly encouraged not to rock the boat by being active in pushing our candidates to represent us, but to assume that our team has a delicate strategy mapped out that we should not disturb...merely cheer for. How many times were we urged to shut up during election season and not to criticize, for fear of helping the other side? This even though election seasons are *supposed* to be the most important times for citizens to play an active role in letting our representatives know what we expect from them.

And now the "shut up and don't ask questions - Just support the team" garbage is even coming from the parties themselves. Recall that David Plouffe would not even disclose Obama's position on Social Security on TV prior to the election. When he was asked specifically, he responded, outrageously, that that was an issue best left to the Senators at the table for the budget talks:

Obama campaign REFUSES to disclose plans on Social Security, says discussion belongs with senators
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021483594

It's time for this destructive meme about shutting up during elections to stop
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021488072

The media, and increasingly the parties, invite us to view our elections as a national spectator sporting event, like the Superbowl or the World Series. We are exhorted to simply cheer and vote for our team no matter WHAT it does and to view ourselves as permanent, devoted, and rabidly loyal supporters of either the Red or the Blue, regardless of policy.


The corporate one percent foment and use the tribe mentality
http://sync.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=1489598