SlowpokeBlog

Following up on that conversation with an older gentleman who said "All politicians are crooks" (see two posts below), I thought I'd quote a recent email from reader Mike in South Carolina:

What really makes me angry is how Chris Matthews (and others including Jeff Greenfield and Lou Dobbs) all try to convince us that both parties are equally corrupt. This blatant lie ignores the fact that 95 percent of the abuses occur by the Republicans and maybe five percent by the Democrats.

Case in point, take the William Jefferson money scandal. There have been a massive number of scandals by congressional Republicans (do I even need to list them?) and every time a "fair and balanced" newscaster wants to appear "unbiased" he will gloss over the truth by saying that both parties are equally corrupt, add in a dash of William Jefferson, which is, unfortunately enough evidence to convince the barbarous multitude that this statement holds water.

Their uninformed cynicism gives them a sense of sophistication, albeit false sophistication, but to them that's enough to enter the poll and vote for the Republican...

When I worked at U.Va, I used to encounter academics on occasion who took this same "above the fray" approach to politics. They would bemoan the sad state of our political discourse, as though both parties consisted of rowdy children who just couldn't grow up and engage in civil debate. It sounds so reasonable and objective, doesn't it? Except no one is above the fray. As long as you live on earth and need air, water, and food, you're in the fray. And if you really want to look at American politics objectively, you'll note that one side is subverting democracy far more than the other.