What resources do ya’ll use to keep on top of things?
Right now I’m just reading candidate websites, comparing them against each other, and trying to think about it on my own. I don’t really have time to do much reading around, so when I do it is done by finding sites via google. I haven’t the time to really try to find ‘good’ websites.
Also, any sites you’d particularly avoid?
I tend to prefer to read what a candidate says about himself (or herself) over what others say. It seems like most people who are writing about others have a bias.
I do not have a list of websites that i consider fair or not; I should keep a list. It is sort of hit and miss with me. Generally i tend to look at the name of the website. If they are “the conservative voice,” i figure they are biased. If they are “citizens for gun control or gun ownership,” i figure they have a one-issue bias. If they do not announce their agenda, i read a little. You can usually tell by the language if they are worth reading.
I thoroughly enjoy a thoughtful article on any of the candidates, pro or con. Actually, i do not mind bias if the writer of the article does not use inflammatory language or slurs. When they try to stir up an emotional reaction, they loose me. If they can discuss in a thoughtful way, i will consider what they have to say. (I do try to check out the facts, though, usually on the candidates own site. Facts can be twisted or a little of a quote can be used to mislead.)
I think it would be helpful if we all shared sites that seem fair. I will start making a list.
There are so many things i would like other’s opinions on… Most recently, the big raid on the polygamist camp here in texas. Other things that come to mind are Hilliary’s being under sniper fire…. well that is the only one that comes to mind at the moment. There are lesser curiosities: McCain’s proposal to temporarily lift the gas tax, do you have any feelings pro pr con about the pope and his visit here?, have you seen that add (i forget whose) that talks about how we didn’t wait when it came to storming some beach in WW1 and we didn’t wait for others when it came to landing on the moon, and now we are not going to wait to take action on global warming. We are going to lead the fight (no attempt at wording it the same as the add). (I find it eye-rolling amusing that we are going to step up and lead the world in that particular fight.)
I wouldn’t mind talking about most issues.
Here’s a few quick fire answers to the ones you posted:
Polygamist Raid: people have known about the compound for years; they’ve just been waiting for a good (legal) reason for raiding them.
Temp Gas Tax Relief: a temp fix for prices that will still go up and, once the temp period ends, will put a chill on any gas purchase as the price will jump by more than it fell.
Pope Visit: er, I know he’s here, but not why.
Taking the lead on most anything: hahahahaaa. America doesn’t do that. Especially when it costs money that we can’t make back this quarter.
Polygamist Raid: But is it right? There is this group of people that everyone knows forces underage girls into marriages with older men. Apparently undercover agents have infiltrated but authorities do not have what they need to raid till one of the underage girls calls and reports her abuse.
So the abuse is to underage girls. I do not downplay that, but i think the people in these type of places are doing their best to raise their children right and i know that these parents love their children and are trying to do right by them. Granted, they are raising their kids to a set of values that bother me, but does raising their children to a narrower and odd (to me) set of values mean they are abusing them? Does the state have a right to come in and take ALL the children?
It also bothers me that they told the mothers that the children were going to be taken, but they had a choice: they could accompany their children or stay. Some of the mothers chose to accompany their children. But once away from the compound, only the mothers of very young children were allowed to stay with their children. All the other mothers were given the choice of returning to the compound or going to some sort of woman’s shelter (I assume a shelter for abused women, but it may have been simply for the homeless).
The whole thing just bothers me. I agree that the practice of taking girls who are barely in their teens and mating them with the men of the community is reprehensible, and no matter what your religious belief it is illegal to do so. It also bothers me that they raise their children up to be that obedient to the elders and that their boys are raised up to eventually become the older men who take the young girls in such a way. But, does that give the state the right to come in and take ALL the children? Does that give the state the right to separate the children from the mothers who chose to leave the compound in order to accompany their children? Could they not have housed these mothers and children in a facility and at least determined the mothers suitability to be parents on an individual basis? Instead hundreds of children are jerked out of the only home they know by a bunch of strangers in battle gear, jerked away from mothers (and maybe fathers – i have heard nothing about fathers) that they love, sent thru a frightening confusing process of moving around and having to talk to strangers about things that are none of these strangers business (probably how they kids feel), and then they are sent to live with foster parents and foster siblings (and we all know how wonderful the foster system is).
It just bothers me….
On Hillery and the sniper fire: Comedians are having a field day with this because it is so absurd, but to me it is also serious.
Hillery never landed anywhere under sniper fire. If she had simply gotten the place wrong, if she had been under sniper fire in Baghdad and had said it was Beirut, I would have no problem with it, but she was never under sniper fire! One does not misremember being under sniper fire.
This means that one of 2 things happened. One is that Hillery is one of those people who thinks about the possibilities (Wow, I am going into a part of the world where i could be in danger! There could be sniper fire!) until their memory shifts and they remember that they actually did land under sniper fire. Normally this too active imagination is not a big problem. One just learns to take any stories from these people with a bit of skepticism. BUT There is no way i want a president whose imagination enhances her memories. I want a president whose memories are very accurate.
The other, more likely, possibility is that it was a lie told to enhance her image. It was probably an impulsive lie because if she had thought it out she surely would have realized how easy it would be to uncover, but a lie is a lie. I don’t want a president who tells lies, even fairly harmless lies. I particularly do not want a president who tells self serving lies or lies that are so obvious or that make her look so absurd when they exposed.
To me, no matter why she said what she said, it exposes a serious character flaw.
Sigh…. it is frustrating, isn’t it when you say something and nobody says anything back. A conversation with someone who says “hm” is better than a conversation with someone who says nothing.
Sometimes I read something here that doesn’t stimulate a thought so powerful i must express it so i say nothing. Sometimes i decide to leave a comment of “hm” (or something a little wordier that still says “hm”) just to say “I read this.” I want at least a “hm” in reply to what i wrote here.
Of course, what i really want is for someone to really respond…..
Ah, politics. Responding to politics.
I have days and times when I’m keenly into political discussion. This is not one of them.
🙂
Right now, I’m Not Thinking about politics and politicians so hard sometimes it feels like I’m going to strain a brain muscle. Because – especially in this household – the political ‘debate’ (haha) is streaming in Every Single Day.
So my political mind is sitting in a dark cave on Mars with no TV or radio or internet or mail service, with fuzzy earmuffs and a blindfold and a bag over her head, rocking back and forth and singing Broadway show tunes as loud as she can. Which makes it very difficult to read, process, and then reply to a post dealing with these current issues of the day.
Original question … what I do to make an informed political decision ..
I read the newspaper, particularly the Sunday editorials. Writing for a newspaper (paid or not) seems to take more thought than writing for a webpage. As a broad generalization… Anyway, the Sunday editorials seem to have more background to them, more citations. Another broad generalization. And I read them all, and monitor my reaction to them. Am I agreeing with them? Is my pulse rising? My breakfast? I listen to my reaction as much as to the words themselves, and then I try to puzzle out what it is the the subconscious is telling me. Do I really feel strongly about this? Or are they using emotional arguments in place of reasoned ones?
Reading a newspaper gives me time to feel those reactions and line them up for questioning. On TV and online, there’s commercial breaks or the next Stumble site to distract me.
With all that thought work done, I watch every minute of the The Debate .. there’s always some big debate near the end where the two candidates are supposed to make their last best pitches. I watch that. I study that.
Then & only then do I wander online, to check in with candidate websites, see if various news outlets I know & like have endorsements (and why they endorse that way), and to do my own fact checking with whatever issue or claim happened to catch my attention during The Debate.
But all that is months in the future.
Right now I’m singing ‘Cats’, having run ‘Les Miserables’ into the ground. I think ‘Joseph’ will be next. I don’t really feel like ‘Phantom’ yet. Anyone have any other favorite Broadway musicals?
It occurred to me this morning that i do watch a couple of television shows that cover politics and influence my views. We watch Face the Nation on CBS and then This Week With George Stephanopoulos on ABC Sunday mornings. Of the 2, i prefer Face the Nation.
Both shows cover politics quite a bit. I like both because they try to balance differing views. They do not always cover politics; sometimes they cover issues. Lately, of course, politics has been their major focus. Often they will have representatives from 2 or more candidates, asking each the same questions. It is not a debate, but I do get a feel for the differences in the candidates. The interviewers are, i believe fair. They might point out something that someone else said to argue a point, but they are never snide and never employ clever put-downs.
Sometimes a candidate is interviewed. Today McCain was on Stephanopoulos. They just sat across a table from each other and talked about things for a while.
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I also wanted to say this: I have devoted a bit of time here to Obama. Just to set the record straight, i have not decided who to vote for. It will be either Obama or McCain. I guess if Hillary gets the Democratic nomination, my decision will be easy but if Obama gets it, i will have to give it some serious study and thought. (Not that i think my vote counts. In Texas, it is a given that the Electoral Votes will go to the Republican.)
I like Obama because I simply like him. I like his calmness. I like his acceptance of the flaws and differences in others. He talks about negotiation with other countries. I think he would be good at it because he would go into negotiations without prejudice or judgment. Luke is upset about the Democratic line on gun ownership, and he has a point. I do not like the Democratic tendency to want the government to take care of us either, though something has to be done about health care and the Democrats seem to be more aware of that than the Republicans.
I like McCain primarily because he is a Republican. To be honest, i have listened to him but i remember little about him or his views. I tend to tune him out. It is not because he annoys me; it is because he does not hold my attention, not even when i try to stay focused. But he seems to be an ok guy and he is a Republican. The reason that is important is that congress is going to be Democratic. Any time the congress and president are the same party you are going to have trouble. There needs to be a little resistance to balance the extremes of either party.
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Ramona, you have my sympathy. You have told me about Fox News, but, honestly, nothing could have prepared me for it. I got a good dose of Fox News when i was with Pat. I was shocked, astounded, appalled. It is frightening how much influence they have. If i had Fox News running in the background all the time i would be in your cave with you, singing show tunes to drown it out.
/looks back as past posts to main site.
yeah.
Anyway.
These days I don’t pay much attention to politics. The radio is off most days as they don’t talk about much else. My ipod is getting lots of attention, and I’m checking out podcasts for new content. I’ll start paying attention again when the candidates actually have been chosen.
People don’t want to think about Bush, so they get fired up about the next president… which, really, is well over a year away.
In addition, I feel that the current president is so unpopular that the political machine is trying its best to make sure nobody has time to think about current events.
It is nice come here and see that people have posted something new. 🙂
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Well the election is closer to 6 months away.
I guess the reason politics is on my mind is that we watch the news daily.
You may be right that the news focuses so much on the future president because the present president and his policies are so unpopular. Though he is not unpopular with everyone. I run in to many who still like him and have one friend who still thinks he is the greatest president of our times. I think we get the impression that he is more unpopular and the war is more unpopular than it is because the news covers that angle more.
Nothing to do with current politics, but the best shows i have watched about the war and how it came to be and how it was and is run, etc, is Frontline, which is available to watch online. I rather like frontline. They cover alot of issues and i find them very unbiased.