A speech about the decay of democracy

[Karkianman101]

I know, I know... some of you probably doubt the validity of this. And it won't help that Al Gore wrote it. But its actually a pretty interesting read about how the forum of ideas that democracy depends on has now (d)evolved into a 1 way conversation controlled by the wealthy and tied to the government.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1006-28.htm

I thought maybe it was an aberration when three-quarters of Americans said they believed that Saddam Hussein was responsible for attacking us on September 11, 2001. But more than four years later, between a third and a half still believe Saddam was personally responsible for planning and supporting the attack.

At first I thought the exhaustive, non-stop coverage of the O.J. trial was just an unfortunate excess that marked an unwelcome departure from the normal good sense and judgment of our television news media. But now we know that it was merely an early example of a new pattern of serial obsessions that periodically take over the airwaves for weeks at a time.

Are we still routinely torturing helpless prisoners, and if so, does it feel right that we as American citizens are not outraged by the practice? And does it feel right to have no ongoing discussion of whether or not this abhorrent, medieval behavior is being carried out in the name of the American people? If the gap between rich and poor is widening steadily and economic stress is mounting for low-income families, why do we seem increasingly apathetic and lethargic in our role as citizens?

[Root]

I believe his opening line is a lie. He was there for his own gain, not because

I believe that American democracy is in grave danger.

I read the speech in full, and he sounds like his plan is to impersonate a statesman, as opposed to a politician. If that's the case, he does a fairly good job of it, but I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Americans now watch television an average of four hours and 28 minutes every day -- 90 minutes more than the world average

What in all that's athiest do you people find to watch on TV??? My goodness. You have commercial breaks every 2 minutes. You should all join forces and campaign for a law restricting commercial breaks, and setting up state owned channels that don't have ANY adverts. I'm lucky if I can find 4 hours of TV worth watching in a month.

Root