5.14.2005

not surprised, but astonished

The great Helen Thomas writes:
I am not surprised at the duplicity. But I am astonished at the acceptance of this deception by voters in the United States and the United Kingdom.

I've seen two U.S. presidents go down the drain -- Lyndon B. Johnson on Vietnam and Richard Nixon in the Watergate scandal -- because they were no longer believed. But times change -- and I guess our values do, too.
There are many reasons why the shrinking electorate accepts this bullshit from our elected officials. The lying corporate media, the consumer culture that numbs wills and minds, endless betrayals and scandals that foster cynicism and apathy, the learned helplessness that threatens to engulf us all, among others.

Yet still... still... if enough of us cared enough, could this happen? If 90% of Americans voted, could we have this war? If we took to the streets in such massive numbers and so frequently that we couldn't be ignored or dismissed, couldn't we end it?

These are hypothetical questions, of course. They have no definitive answers. I just feel very discouraged tonight, and I'm glad I am leaving.

Read Thomas's opinion piece from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer here.

3 comments:

Kyle_From_Ottawa said...

Well, I think the two party system really limits the options for American voters. Both the Republicans and the Democrats have rigged the system to shut out any other choices.

Really, there's no point on voting for a part platform, since neither party tells the truth, and you might as well flip a coin. That's why America is where it is now. It's more like picking your favourite sports team then any thing else.

Of course, the voting thing seems engineered to generate apathy among the electorate. When I vote up here in Canada, I only vote on one thing (my MP), and I'm in and out within 10 minutes. Down there, your voting on so many Proposition this, Senator that, DA this, etc. at one time that it takes hours to go throug the process.

Kyle_From_Ottawa said...

BTW, after a long break I'm back to blogging again.

So when do you go house-hunting?

laura k said...

Welcome back to the blogosphere, Kyle!

It's never taken me more than 5 or 10 minutes to vote. That's why those long lines in Ohio that kept people from voting in 2004 were so noteworthy. It's definitely not the norm.

I'll never say there's no difference between the two parties here (even though I hate them both!), but it's a matter of degree. Who cooks up the awful stuff, and who lets it happen. The Dems are complicit by their unwillingness to fight back.

We are looking for houses to rent via ReMax agents and hopefully will sign a lease in a matter of months. First we have to learn how long our visas are good for, then we find the Perfect Place, then we move.