realthog

"what Keith Olbermann calls Fixed News"

And what I call Faux News . . .

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Either one will do.

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I call it "Fux News," but I am an uncouth person.

Frankly, I think this economic crisis may actually save the country. Too many ignorant voters see political issues in the abstract; if they aren't affected directly and severely, it's not really *about* them. It's like some big reality TV show. It's like voting for their favorite wanna-be star on American Idol.

But if the bank that holds their life savings folds, or their home is facing foreclosure, or if they can no longer afford the drive to work, suddenly it's not so abstract. In theory, they'll be forced to face reality in the voting booth, and actually vote in favor of their own best interest for a change.

Here's hoping, at least.

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We'll see. It could be they'l vote for the person who promises to fix their problems with a magic wand. Or who blames their problems on evil demons/immigrants/blacks/ Jews/Satan.

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I don't know. When their own homes are at stake, and not the homes of, say, a bunch of imaginary people in New Orleans, they may want something more than a fistful of pixie dust and a handy pocket bible to fall back on.

One can hope that all the right people feel the brunt of this economic meltdown, but, of course, wishing makes nothing so.

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Germany in 1933, and Italy in 1922 are powerful arguments in the other direction. So's Austria yesterday.

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True. And yet, America has such a diverse population, I'm holding out a hope that sanity will prevail. Am I being irrationally optimistic? Yes, most likely. But...

At the onset of Nazi Germany, at least, Hitler had someone else to blame the nation's problems on. In America, we simply don't have that luxury.

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Oh, they'll find someone -- minorities, the Jews, Satan -- or else come up with a foreign distraction like Iran or Russia to unify the people.

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Then again, the times they are a-changin'. The minorities are in the majority, and the GOP's unifiying skills suck. If they could find a way to turn 9-11 into a divisive issue, they just haven't got a clue of how to unify anything at all.

America's saving grace is that at least half of us are actually decent people with a deep mistrust and absolute bitterness towards the right wing. The problem is that we need that number to far exceed half in order for any positive change to occur.

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I hope you're right. I just wonder what happens when people become really afraid that there's a bogeyman in the closet.

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Hope remains important, and still holds a certain power, as ethereal as it may seem.

Here in New Orleans, I've seen the very best and the very worst of America in action. I think the GOP's old bogeyman sales pitch is quickly running out of gas (and who can afford it at 5 bucks a gallon anyway!). When Mr. Wanted Dead or Alive himself lost all visible interest in Bin Laden, the real bogyeman became much more evident. And he lives in the White House.

From where I sit, in a big fat red state called Louisiana, more and more people are starting to get that. The only people around here who still retain a degree of affection for Bush are the very-out-of-touch old money families -- and although they still have power to pick a lot of the Louisiana politicians, they are becoming helpless in terms of the city ones, and are even less influential in national elections.

Don't get me wrong, I'm highly nervous about this coming presidential election -- racism is still a huge issue here, and it could tip the scales. But I still have a shred of faith reserved for my countrymen.

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Here in Georgia, which remains very much a red state, affection for Bush has definitely declined. However, McCain is flavour of the month on the north side of Atlanta (though the enthusiasm for him is nowhere near as great as the enthusiasm for Bush four years ago). And racism is a problem; perhaps not quite as huge as in Louisiana, but still real.

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I hadn't realized you lived in the American South. Interesting isn't it? It's like living in a giant Rubik's cube that you can never quite figure out, and yet you keep on trying anyway, endlessly.

BTW, although I use the red state/blue state analogy sometimes because it's an easy reference, I don't actually believe that such a thing really exists. It's really urban v. rural. New Orleans is always bright blue, and I imagine so is Atlanta. It's the suburbs that are in question. And since it's the suburbs who are feeling the brunt of the economic crisis, I am hopeful the wind will change. The real wild card here is racism.

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Depends on the suburb. I live in a suburb southwest of Atlanta that's predominantly African-American and strongly Democratic.

You're right that racism is the wild card.

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The suburbs are definitely the purple area. But Louisiana went blue for Clinton -- maybe again? You never know. Another old war hero names Bob Dole wasn't exactly a shoe-in around here.

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That was a different time, too.

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In so many ways. Things weren't nearly as desperate. But also, fear wasn't such a hot commodity. I really have no idea how this will shake loose in the end.

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Nor I, frankly. This is a frightening time.

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"racism is still a huge issue here"

The cognitive abilities of those responsible being not far different from those of Mayor Funderburk. Sad there are so many Neanderthals around, and that they flourish so plentifully here.

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Which brings me back to my earlier point about self-indulgence. If the racists could be bothered to make the effort to think, they'd realize the idiocy of their ideology -- and indeed any ideology based on hatred. But it's easier for them to go on hating, so they do.

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As hopeless as the racism issue seems to be in America, and it is very deeply rooted, do you realize what a positive impact a black president could potentially have?

Imagine a generation of children growing up with the reality of a black president, and one who turned the country around in a good way, at a critical juncture? Children love to rebel once they hit their teens, and if they rebel correctly racism could go the way of the vinyl LP pretty quickly.

If Obama wins, he could indeed be this country's savior -- not just as an intelligent and morally grounded leader, but as an ongoing counterpoint to the stupidity of racism. I think there is astounding potential here.

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"do you realize what a positive impact a black president could potentially have?"

It has been very much on my mind.

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