Thursday, September 3, 2009

Our public discourse (sigh)

Charley on the MTA over at Blue Mass Group nails this one. Here's his post, Stupidest Controversy Ever. This is what our media thinks is important? We have soldiers being killed daily in Afghanistan and Iraq, our financial institutions are a mess, and our health care system is bankrupting the nation. And the big news is that state reps try to avoid taxes, just like everyone else.
I also blame the talking head shows on teevee for the general lack of civility in our public discourse. If you watch these so called experts talk over each other, interrupt, and generally try to shout down the other side while failing to make a cogent argument for or against the issue at hand, I find it no small wonder that people then do the same in other public fora. I have just tuned out and gone to watch Discovery, CSPAN, or the History Channel, I hope that others will as well.

Senator Kerry from his town hall meeting in Somerville last night,

This is why the public option is so important. It will encourage the private sector to be more efficient and effective... Many systemic problems aren't addressed in the private system we have, so we need to fix those systemic problems... I just quoted you the costs... This is why we have to fix it.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Senator Kerry? Ben a while since we've heard from him. Is he running for president again?

As far as Westport's rep goes, why is it stupid to point out the utter hypocrisy of the do as I say not as I do crowd? Not that we need more evidence but it's good to know this joker is like all the rest. And just for the record, I have not purchased alcohol in NH to avoid our ridiculous new tax so to say he's just doing what everyone else is doing is simply not true.

Anonymous said...

"Shout(ing) down the other side": seems like we in Dartmouth have experienced that right within our past and present Select Boards with some Board members.

Seriously, agreed there are more important things to discuss, debate, question, and voice opinions on, but I think the Westport rep's visit to NH should be news and should be taken seriously. Isn't this precisely what we, the public, need to know: how do our officials act when not on the job?

I also thought it said that he used a state car and the license was photoed on someone's camera.

Well, that in itself was real smart!!

A Role Model? said...

A state rep who voted for taxes on alcohol should be buying alcoholic beverages in his own state. This would support the economy in the state that he represents and cement his belief that taxes will help Massachusettes residents. In the blink of an eye lawmakers vote for taxes. They should feel the pain like or worse than everyone else.