Still basking in the afterglow of the Obama election. Still happier than I’ve been in a long time about the state of the U.S., even with the economic bad news and tough times ahead.
I felt this way in 1992 after Clinton got elected. However, I lived in Provo, Utah, and at my day job, one of my co-workers was an avid Rush Limbaugh fan, listening every day. Somewhere in mid-1993, I finally asked her to wear headphones because I couldn’t take it any more. I won’t be subjecting myself to the partisan comedians this time around.
The thing that strikes me about most of the partisan shows is that there isn’t a true dialogue. That goes for Olbermann and Maddow as much as it does for Hannity and Limbaugh and Beck and Savage and O’Reilly. Sitting around getting angry isn’t a dialogue. It’s an emotional crack hit.
This cycle, I had hoped to have more people than the handful who disagree with my views in the comments. To the few of you who don’t agree but still chose to participate, I thank you. We’ve got a long way to go to until we can have true, civil yet dissenting political discourse in the United States. The partisan shows aren’t going to help.
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It’s interesting to see what kind of garbage is still being regurgitated by the “we don’t have to be introspective ever” GOP. E.g.,
1) “conservatives have to take back the party“;
2) GOP appears to eat its own (after introducing her to the national stage, they are now throwing Palin under the bus):
I don’t feel sorry for them or her. The very people who selected, introduced and cheered Palin are now saying that it’s her fault McCain lost the election. Right. Thank GOD for BIll O’Reilly and his no spin zone. Wait.
At some point, the hypocrisy will be replaced with pragmatism, right?
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Finally, The one heartening map I’ve seen is this one from the New York Times that shows how counties shifted more Democratic this cycle:
click image above to view a larger version
If I were a GOP strategist, I’d be taking a hard look at this map and an even harder look at how to move forward. I don’t think being more extremist and more fundamentalist is going to do it, just as it won’t play if the Obama administration takes it too far the other way. Time will tell.