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"I know what the American People want."

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 11:08 am
by johnson1010
More and more you see politicians and talking heads attributing whatever position they favor to the "American People" or "the common folks" or "the people". How convenient!

These are weasel words. Why is it that wikipedia demands better acountability than a cable news channel?

"Wherever i go, the american people demand to be able to taser children. We have to get this bill pushed through congress so that the people's will can be done. i promise, the instant this bill is through i will line up an entire junior soccor team and tase each one of them, one after the other, until they have ALL been tased! It's what the common folks want!"

Careful when you hear people lending credibility to themselves through nebulous ill-defined groups of "people" who seem to un-erringly back their every stance.

Chances are, you are hearing some bull.

Re: "I know what the American People want."

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 11:56 am
by geo
johnson1010 wrote:
These are weasel words. Why is it that wikipedia demands better acountability than a cable news channel?
News has morphed into entertainment or at least blurred the line between bona fide news and entertainment. It's not a good sign.

Re: "I know what the American People want."

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 2:58 pm
by wilde
Today, you're better off getting your news from Colbert or Jon Stewart then some other channels..

Re: "I know what the American People want."

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 3:33 pm
by johnson1010
They are speaking more truth than most cable news anchors, but unfortunately, they are a response to the nonsense on those channels, and so they don't show us the wider picture either.

They are necesary to try to curtail the stupidity of 24 hour news, but because they are small programs, and satirical, they do not have the resources or manpower, or even the stated purpose of bringing us the news that really matters.

That's what 24 hour news is supposed to do. And they fail us daily.

Re: "I know what the American People want."

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 4:41 pm
by vetwriter
I love Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, and I think they show us a great deal of how ridiculous politics can get.

Re: "I know what the American People want."

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 6:06 pm
by MitchReed
The American people are simply fed up with the bullcrap and bias of the mainstream news stations being slanted to that particular station's own ideology. People want honesty and they are not getting it.

Re: "I know what the American People want."

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 6:38 pm
by vetwriter
I think a lot of people take the news anchors for their word. They don't question their resources or motives. Not only that, there are a good number of people that will believe something only because it fits their needs, or they are only out for themselves. People say my generation is the one of entitlement, but I think many Americans of all ages can be blamed for this. Whatever happened to working for what you want?

Re: "I know what the American People want."

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 10:28 pm
by Chris OConnor
Can we all agree that both the liberal and conservative media present biased arguments? And it is up to each of us to sift through the trash to find the good stuff? Or are most of you indirectly saying that the party to which you do NOT belong is guilty of bending the truth while your own party is predominantly honest and truthful?

Let's get right to the point. Fox News is clearly conservative. I understand most liberals find Fox to not even be a news channel and they're evil and they kill puppies. All of this might be true. Let's assume this is true for the sake of moving on to the next step....

Name a liberal news channel that you feel presents a liberal argument dishonestly. Can you do it? Tell me how the liberal media has been dishonest and be specific. I can bash Fox News with the best of them, but can any of you openly speak out against the liberal media?

Consider that a challenge.

Re: "I know what the American People want."

Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 12:22 am
by MitchReed
Are you serious Chris? You honestly don't believe that Keith Olbermann or Chris Matthews fall into the category of unfairly reporting pro-left beliefs? Hell, early on, poor Chris Matthews couldn't even speak of Obama without a thrill going up his leg!...his words, not mine. These guys make Sean Hannity promoting his conservative agenda on Fox, look like milquestoast?

Or let's take that famous news interview by one of the female reporters on CNN, harranging a protesting Tea Party Member holding his baby son, arguing that Obama's policies got him a tax cut so why was he against his policies?

Or let's talk about the Islamophobia argument that began being preached by many of the liberal mainstream media over the New York Mosque being planned at ground zero for instance...was that impartial reporting?

There is a clear double-standard in reporting within the industry, that's not an accusation, it is fact.

Yes, Fox News is slanted to the right, in as much as they are out of the mainstream of networks that lean for the left in any given argument...in huge numbers. It's rather interesting though, that most Americans today, trust Fox News to deliver the news...to give them more of the truth...and less of the 'spin' than other networks. Again, these are industry stats and facts...so why is that?

Believe me, you don't want to get me started on this subject, I can and will give you countless other examples, so you might want to end this before it goes viral. I tried to attach merely one video example so that you could review it to clearly see my point. Unfortunately, the site doesn't accept it. But it's an example of how the Mainstream Media played softball on vetting Obama during the 08 campaign. How they never aggressively brought up William Aryes or Jerimiah Wright...or Frank Marshall Davis...or anything else of substance that might have otherwise put Mr. Obama under the critical microscope. Maybe if they had, we might have another Clinton in the Whilte House, instead of this inexperienced, naive, unfocused twit of a President.

Personally, I believe there are far better topics to discuss than politics, as everyone seems so very partisan...and passionate at the same time, and I believe that's a recipe for disaster...don't you?

Let's discuss issues we can debate without raising the ire of everyone involved...I vote for civility.

Re: "I know what the American People want."

Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 12:32 am
by vetwriter
Chris OConnor wrote:Can we all agree that both the liberal and conservative media present biased arguments? And it is up to each of us to sift through the trash to find the good stuff? Or are most of you indirectly saying that the party to which you do NOT belong is guilty of bending the truth while your own party is predominantly honest and truthful?

Let's get right to the point. Fox News is clearly conservative. I understand most liberals find Fox to not even be a news channel and they're evil and they kill puppies. All of this might be true. Let's assume this is true for the sake of moving on to the next step....

Name a liberal news channel that you feel presents a liberal argument dishonestly. Can you do it? Tell me how the liberal media has been dishonest and be specific. I can bash Fox News with the best of them, but can any of you openly speak out against the liberal media?

Consider that a challenge.
I think both parties are to blame. I'm not saying any one side is right or completely honest. But you do have to admit that when one party is in control, the opposing party will bash them with all they have. They did it to Bush, and they're doing it to Obama. We are part of a democratic country, so why do we have 2 parties that basically rule? I think having 2 main parties creates too much hate, when if anything, we need to be unified.