It's Campaign Time
Posted: Tuesday, October 19, 2010
by Robert Bregman
I received a comment on "A Few of the Great American Myths" from one of our most respected writers, Fran Larson. I thought that the comment was particularly important at this midterm election. I'm writing a short article consisting of her comment and my answer.
Comment : Somehow we are all misinformed so many times. What happened to the day/time when news was fact? Now, who knows what to believe?
News is usually fact, but the spin doctors have to edit it so that the facts don't stand out. That's done by massaging the truth and sometimes outright lying. When the Republicans say the stimulus didn't work, you have to ask, what was it supposed to do? Save jobs, keep the country from going into a depression, help the economy start growing again? It did its job, but it didn't reduce unemployment very much, it didn't put construction workers back to work, it didn't solve the home mortgage crisis; those are what the Republicans harp on. If they take over the house and do what they say they are going to do; cut taxes, reduce the size of government, stop illegal immigration, continue the wars, undo health care reform, change Social Security and Medicare, we as a country will face a depression worse than the 1930's depression. You can take that as a fact. Of course, they probably won't do ANY of those things, because they like to talk but not act.
It's campaign time.
Thanks for your indulgence.
Bob Bregman is a graduate of the US Naval Academy, Class of '51. He is probably not the youngest author on SearchWarp (might be the oldest)
, just an old sea dog. He flew B-29's during the Korean conflict. He spent 25 years in Wall Street as a trader. He then went into the corporate world, a very ugly place. Cheating, lying, stealing and bribery were SOP from DuPont to Exxon. He retired in 1990 and went back to trading. Oiy! So then he went to selling computers, it was lonely trading. Selling was more fun. Then he sold Nissans, Hondas, and finally Fords. That was fun. Started to get old so he retired again. Now writing, because he's really irritated with his country's direction as personified by the Republicans & Tea Party horn blowing.
, just an old sea dog. He flew B-29's during the Korean conflict. He spent 25 years in Wall Street as a trader. He then went into the corporate world, a very ugly place. Cheating, lying, stealing and bribery were SOP from DuPont to Exxon. He retired in 1990 and went back to trading. Oiy! So then he went to selling computers, it was lonely trading. Selling was more fun. Then he sold Nissans, Hondas, and finally Fords. That was fun. Started to get old so he retired again. Now writing, because he's really irritated with his country's direction as personified by the Republicans & Tea Party horn blowing. This Article has been viewed 1,049 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (6 total)Well they do like to do a lot of talking, like harping on all of those things that you mentioned the stimulus wasn't intended to do, but not changing the things that have to do for the poor, like undoing healthcare reform, and eliminating social security and medicare, you were just kidding, right? Surely you know they will at least attempt to do so. They've been working on it for the last 40 years now, why would they quit now that they are so close?Hi, Dave,
I wasn't kidding, because I don't think that they have enough power to start up a fight over things that the American people really like. They are going to have to defend themselves against the same stuff that the Democrats are defending now; Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. I don't think that is going to change for years, so maybe the public will see that jobs can't be produced out of thin air. We have to get back some of the jobs that the Republicans shipped overseas. That takes time. I think the new congress will do NOTHING. Hopefully the Democrats will get back in power in 2012 and thing will get done again, like getting out of foreign wars. Geo Washington, warned us about war and we used to listen to him, it was good advice.
Thanks for the comment and thoughts
I'm a democrat although I find it hard to see that much good in any party today. Our whole political system is in need of drastic change.Hi, David,
There's some truth in what you say. Elections are a media circus. Representation is bought by whoever has the most money to B.S. the electorate. When the Supreme Court allowed corporations to spend as much money as they like without disclosure, it put another nail in the coffin of representative democracy! Very sad state of affairs.
Have a good day and keep voting.
Bob
There is barely objective fact at all in the world of politics and elections. Who got elected? That's objective. Who is he? Who knows? What will he end up doing? History will tell. How will he be appreciated in the end? Check out what "history" says about him with each passing decade. FDR comes to mind as a recent FACT of history that is getting more and more history written about him. The only thing you can be sure of is what you had for breakfast.Chris, you do have it right and if you ask me tomorrow what I had for breakfast today, I'd say,"Uhmmm, I'm not sure. That's history; good historians are good story tellers, but if they record the jist of history, that's good. What we have now is not history but astrology. Most Republicans are predicting what's going to happen, and they know as much about that as you or me.
Lots of luck to you.
Bob
Even though I'm not American, I'm horrified at the idea of what Republicans might do, or that they might win these elections. As for these articles you're writing, it's a pleasure - and even a relief - to me to read the truth so articulately told.Thank you as always, Jenn. As I say, if they become the party in power, they will be action less. When they can't just say NO, what are they going to do? Nothing, and if they should happen to do something, it will only be with the Democrats help. So keep the faith, things will probably work out, but not move ahead.
Bob
You've put in a nutshell, what most of us feel these days about campaigns and politics in general- Great straight-to-the-point article- Always- EllaThanks, Ella. I do try to keep to the subject at hand. The mud is awfully deep, but we have to keep slogging on, we can't get tired of defending our position.
Lean forward!
Bob
Back when I was in school (I know, dinosaurs were still roaming around) they called it editorials or flat out yellow journalism - wish we could get back to straight reporting! thanks for the spotlight on this issue.My pleasure, Marijo. Talk about dinosaurs, I have a grand daughter and two great grand children living in CO. Thank for the comment.
Bob
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