… and that I was rehashing old ideas with my first post… I’ll post another of TVNL’s goodies. And, before you jump down my throat… it’s NOT my site. It’s NOT. Period, end of discussion. Let it go.
But, if you really think you, or your friends know all you need to. (which may be the case…this is NOT a put down)… this is a good read, and a good questionnaire to give others.
gemstone, the way it typically works here is that you, as the OP, have to make an assertion, then back it up. Just posting a link and saying, “Discuss.” doesn’t usually work.
What in the link you provided would you like to debate?
Well, it’s an interesting rant, but the assumption that there is “no excuse for an uninformed electorate because everyone has a TV set” misses the point.
Being properly informed takes time. Time to get information, time to weigh information, time to discard (bad) information, time to draw conclusions. And the depressing truth is that not everyone has the time to go through those steps. After the work-a-day demands of everyday life, a lot of folks would rather stop thinking for a while and relax. Can’t really blame them, since that’s an evolutionary outgrowth of our biological needs.
And that’s just touching on the first point, ignoring other big-issue items, such as how someone can properly weigh information from various sources making various claims and sort out the wheat from the chaff. If Rush Limbaugh tells you one thing, Ted Koppel tells you another, and I tell you a third, how do you know who to believe? Heck, why believe any of us? Why not go do the research yourself (more time!) and draw a conclusion?
Yes, we want an informed electorate. But there’s no such thing as a free lunch, so how do you propose we get it?
In the Test from your link, how many points do I get for responding:
“I’m familiar with this conspiracy theory, and it’s crap.”
Especially this one:
“Bush first US President to need protection abroad.”
And why do all the questions relate to conspiracy theories against the Bush Admin? Does a voter not need to know about the conspiracy theories against Dems to be adequately informed? For (equally inflammatory) example:
“John Kerry slandered his fellow Vietnam Vets by accusing them of committing war crimes on a daily basis.”
or
“Bill Clinton sold nuclear secrets to China.”
Apparently, your cite thinks the only thing a voter needs to know is that Bush is eeeeevil.