where to begin??

[LabRat]

Originally posted by xoxoxoBruce
I'm not sure what your goal is. Are you trying to find out how the government is supposed to work? How it really works? Or learn enough to make an intelligent choice at the voting booth this fall?
You are registered to vote, aren't you?

Oh yes, long ago, and have voted many times for various elections. but i would like to be more informed about how gov't really works vs. what the politicians say they are going to do to 'fix' it so i have a better idea about whose smoke being blown up my ass is gonna burn me more if i vote for them. i want to find out candidates real histories, not just the crap you hear on ads etc. for local as well as national elections. thats why i said 'reputable' sources, those that are the least biased, and represent the facts the best. a did this, b did that, and heres the weather.

[glatt]

My own cynical take is that a lot of the media coverage seems to focus on the political fight, rather than the substance behind the issues. I know they focus on the fight, because that is where the story is. Man versus man, slugging it out. It sells more papers. The media would be doing a service to the public if they would actually focus on the issues and the facts behind the issues. The media should do what it can to point out the potential risks and rewards to a proposed policy. Instead, the media only reports what others say about a proposed policy.

For example, I think it would more important for the public to know that a proposed policy by one of the candidates is financially unsound versus knowing that one of the candidates has pulled ahead in the polls.

The media often tries to be fair and balanced when covering an issue. It will present two sides to an arguement even when one side is clearly wrong. They find some crackpot somewhere who believes that the world is flat. Then they run a story about whether the world is flat or round, giving equal time to each side, to be balanced about it. The media should have the balls to come out and say that the world is round. The flat earth dude should get no screen time.

[lookout123]

i agree with you to a degree, glatt. unfortunately, we are dealing with concrete facts like the shape of the earth. most of the issues the media is reporting on are contestable for a reason: it is not possible to prove that one is "right" or "wrong".
for every person that decries a budget deficit another springs up to point out why it is ok. for everyone who claims the war is about oil another claims it is about liberation.

most of us have our beliefs and aren't likely to be swayed. we have access to the same info in the world, how could we hold to the "wrong" idea? i believe that there are very few real "right" answers in politics. every action has positive and negative consequences, and the appropriateness of the action has to be judged from each individuals world perspective.

unfortunately it is not as simple as defining what shape the world is. the shape of the world wasn't likely to change, the state of the world changes every day, due to the human factor.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Too many people (most?) will vote for what's good for them, without concern what's good for the country or the Earth.

I wish more people would vote for what's good for xoxoxoBruce.