Small Minds discuss people, mediocre minds discuss events, great minds discuss ideas. by rtbohan
(libertarian)
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
It should come as no surprise that the press in Florida, and the United States in general, is small minded and does its best to keep the voters the same.
A short while ago I published an article on press endorsements in the Florida newspapers. Those who read it might have noticed that I said nothing in that article about Ron Paul. It should come as no surprise that none of the papers endorsed, or, for that matter, said much about him.
The newspapers which endorsed candidates gave plausible, if not always reasonable, justifications for their choice. Some, but not all, went part way through the list of candidates and gave equally plausible reasons, for rejecting each of the other candidates for reasons related to platform, experience, personality or character. But, with one exception, they did not even give a reason for rejecting Ron Paul. He is an uncandidate to the press.
The one newspaper which did mention Ron Paul was the Sun-Sntinel. Their reason for rejecting him was that a Paul vote "is an expression of frustration and little else".
Well, of course most voters are frustrated. They are frustrated by the undeclared and seemingly endless war. They are disgusted with the Presidency after eight years of the Clinton sleaze and spin, and eight years of Bush's Neocon policies and "Presidentialism." They are frustrated with Congress and its earmarks and influence peddling. They are frustrated with the government's inept "handling" of the economy and the cellophane tape and chewing gum "fixes" of the economy due to the inept handling. They are frustrated by the government's inept and disastrous attempts to "handle" health care and education. They are frustrated by the goernment's totalitarian interference in citizens' lives. Why do these papers think the voters are demanding change and all of the candidates, sincerely or not, are promising to bring it?
All of the newspapers endorsing a candidate of candidate mentioned change as one of the criteriaa they used in making their selection Even the Miami Herald, which did not make an endorsement, told its readers that the Democratic candidates wre more likely to bring change than any of the Republicans
But what does change mean? For the Republican candidates, other than Ron Paul, it seems to mean "I am not George W. Bush". For Obama, who is rightly credited with bringing the discussion of change into the campaign, exactly what he intends to change and how much he intends to change it remains distressingly vague. Clinton and Edwards seem to mean pouring more money into programs which are dysfundtional and making big government even bigger.
Only Ron Paul has outlined a detailed and drastic program for change. The press ought to let the voters know what it is. Since the newspapers are vehicles of opinion, they should lay out the details of the plan, and tell their readers openly and fully which parts they think are good and which parts they think are bad and why.
And they should ask each of the other candidates who talk about change to provide their programs, and analyze each of them in the same way.
We have candidates who promise change but want to keep the specifics a secret until after the election. We have candidates who talk about change, but show us plans that are more of the same. We have candidates who talk change, but plan change for the worse.
If this election is about change, all of the candidates, not just Ron Paul, have an obligation to put forward their program. And the presshas an obligation to present them to the voters
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Totally agree with you here. See below interview with Romney. It shows clearly that frustration you talk about and how it can translate into a lot more nation-wide support.
