Anything But Bush and other rhetoric...

Member

My response to the latest thread about Cindy Sheehan is a little off topic so I'll post it in a new topic...

Have partisan politics galvanized people so much that a lot of social activism has stopped being about the issues and has become more of an exercise political cheerleading? If you've read any of Naomi Klein's rants about "Anything But Bush" she argues that "left wing" activism during George Bush's time at the helm has turned into dumbed-down tirades (a la Fahrenheit 911, God bless Mr. Moore) against a single administration.

I would agree with Klein to a point (in that we've seen this behaviour become more prevelant during W's stint in the Whitehouse) but I don't think this started with the GWB administration. I believe there has been a long and calculated deception going on in western democracies where the populace is being encouraged to take part in the politcal process simply by throwing their support behind a certain mainstream political party. The deception comes in where people are made to believe that the different parties represent vastly different political ideologies. Ask yourself, did John Kerry put forward a socially liberal platform in the last election? Would you say Mr. Clinton made great steps forward for the causes of social liberties in the US or abroad? Has there been a truly left-minded "leader of the free world" in past 20 years? 30 years? 50 years?

Have we allowed a mindset to creep in where we're content to only hold people in government responsible for winning an election? Do we often lose sight of the real issues amidst the fog of partisan rhetoric? I read Rob's response to the Sheehan article, and to a certain extent I agree with him - on one level it is more Bush bashing. But there are legitimate issues underneath the Bush bashing that sometimes get lost in all the party cheerleading. I believe all sides are guilty of this and I also believe that those who hold the power in our society spend a lot of money trying to keep it that way.

Pyromaniac

[quote="TOsteve"]My response to the latest thread about Cindy Sheehan is a little off topic so I'll post it in a new topic...

Have partisan politics galvanized people so much that a lot of social activism has stopped being about the issues and has become more of an exercise political cheerleading? Probably.

Ask yourself, did John Kerry put forward a socially liberal platform in the last election? What was JK's platform again? Oh yeah, ABB, so no.

Would you say Mr. Clinton made great steps forward for the causes of social liberties in the US or abroad? No.

Has there been a truly left-minded "leader of the free world" in past 20 years? 30 years? 50 years? Your Canadian PM's have been pretty left minded in my opinion.

Have we allowed a mindset to creep in where we're content to only hold people in government responsible for winning an election? I haven't.

Do we often lose sight of the real issues amidst the fog of partisan rhetoric? No.

Oompa Loofah

I truly believe that the media--whether it is left-biased or right-biased makes a fight or chooses to gloss over facts and issues--thus coloring the entire political process.

It is very apparent to me that this is what is happening about a lot that is going on in Iraq. If you're interested, PM Mr Aire about some of the stuff he has learned FROM THE IRAQIS, not some journalist who visited for about 2 days and then came back.

But I agree, there is a lot more similarity to both parties than people can hear. The huge difference is how much they exercise, or eat, or vacation, or travel or the color of their hair, or the volume of their voice, or their apparent age. Those are the things that get people elected.

Anything But Bush and other rhetoric...

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