I am so sick of the way the media is making the Democratic race into a race and gender war and the terms they’re using to construct it falsely. All I heard all night was that Clinton won among “women” while Obama prevailed among “Blacks.” What exactly are Black women then — doesn’t this language kind of negate them? Just when my blood was boiling over it, the reporter added, “oh and a footnote, a footnote: Black women voted for Obama by …” (whatever the percentage was). “A footnote”? How insulting.
While I’m mostly pleased with the Super Tuesday results, I am thoroughly disgusted by the media coverage, at least on network TV. They act like Hillary’s a big loser for not doing better, when, hello, she secured the most delegates and won the biggest states. On the other hand, the way they talk about Obama, it’s as if they’re patting him on the head, saying ‘good boy, good boy, you did really well, considering…’ Considering what? That he’s Black? That he’s young? It’s like he’s a child or someone with some huge handicap.
And right now on ABC some male jackass pundit is saying the Democratic party needs to decide whether it wants to be forward-looking, appealing to young people aged 30 and under, or looking backward to the good old days, appealing to the 60 plus crowd. Could the party possibly be both, dumbass? Ugh. Idiots. Okay, I’m tired and going to bed…
I have given up on the mainstream media and their dumbass talking head pundits for news and rely completely on internet sources, blogs mostly.
We gave our airwaves to commercial interests which quickly proceeded on the dumbing down of america and fattening up of their profits.
The “run up” to the war was a prime example of how they lie and carry water for military industrial complex and see everything as a means to suck people in increase numbers and ad revenue.
I gave up on the New York Times and only read the occasional story or op ed online. The paper has become the epitome of seeing the world through the real estate interests and written for the money class who has lots of disposable income for food, fun and finance. You never read about labor or workers there.
We are buried under the distractions of spectator sports and celebrity culture all media driven.
We have television with hundreds of channels but hardly anything worthwhile to watch.
Politics is treated like a horse race and issues are never discussed.
When the people do wake up, they will find america in ruins and that date is fast approaching. All brought to you by greed and the pursuit of personal wealth.
The whole primary/caucus system is so fascinating for me as a foreigner living in the US.
On the one hand, it is a truly democratic process where every vote counts and yet, at the end of the day, in the states where ‘winner takes all’, so many votes are discarded and do not count. On the one hand, the candidates come and meet with ‘real’ people in their homes and in their diners and their fairgrounds, yet these same candidates seek out celebrity endorsements and it looks like the ‘real’ people are interested in these endorsements. I don’t know how much people are actually influenced by them. (I would think that a generation that prides itself on individualism wouldn’t be voting for someone just because some identifiable people taped a black and white music video…)
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not faulting the candidates. They are not the problem, just the symptom. On the whole, this year’s bunch of candidates are a worthy group.
The parallels between the media coverage of the American political process and the so-called ‘reality shows’ on TV are striking.
The media is schizophrenic. Before South Carolina they were actually acknowledging black women and saying that black women were one of the most important groups to court. But, once South Carolina primary was over, they just started lumping black women into the “black” category and completely ignoring that demographic.
It really offends me that they would say that black women are just a footnote, when most black voters are black women. This is just one of the reasons why black women do not feel like they are part of the “feminist” movement or “girl power” movement or whatever you want to call it that is happening with Hillary now running for president. Everyone just ignores black women and even go so far as to talk about all kinds of women (white, latino, asian, etc.), but completely ignore black women.
Whatever- this is why I hate politics.
I hate politics.
I think we should elect someone who is not Obama, Clinton, or Romney, and then elect a black Mormon woman next time around. It works.
I’m bitter today.
Politics have become a sort of necessary evil here in the US. Everything is political. Nothing is personal. A woman’s reproductive decisions are political. I can’t marry the man I love because of politics. Added complication: politics and religion are now deeply intertwined.
This is why I don’t write about politics or religion on my blog. My dream is to live in a world beyond all of that. I don’t expect it to happen in my lifetime, and maybe never.
But for the immediate moment I can only say: Oprah Winfrey is certainly no footnote and we all know where she bestowed her blessings. In this moment, I’m hoping for Obama.
And also, I love how the media completely disses Shirley Chisholm (both black *and* female, who ran for President years ago — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Chisholm), by calling this an historic election and all…
I’d forgotten about her (she was just a bit before my time, as she was yours too, I’m sure) But Angry Black Bitch wrote about her earlier and reminded me — do you guys ever read her? (http://www.angryblackbitch.blogspot.com/)
I love her 🙂 She’s really the only political blogger I read regularly, but she sometimes cracks me up the way she writes!
Oh and true too about Oprah, Philip!
Sorry, guys, but how on earth can you hate politics? You are citizens of one of the more remarkable countries in the world – a country based almost entirely on immigrants who managed to work through their differences, both peacefully and belligerently, and within 300 years became the most powerful nation in the world. That amazes me (and it amazes me that within the last 8 years…) Every single citizen of the United States of America has rights and privileges that millions of other people on this planet can only dream of. Please don’t throw those advantages away. Use them.
Shirlye was not before my time. I remember her well along with Bella Abzug. Both of them were great Americans and so easily forgotten by the 20 and 30 somethin newscasters. What abunch of uneducated morons who read from tele prompters and look like Barbie Dolls.
I’m old, but I still run fine.
A right is not something that someone gives you, but something no one can take away.
I agree, GWTW!