I'm watching 'CBS news' on my cable TV....now I'm not a skeptic, especially not a US skeptic but...erm...what the fuck? do you want me to explain what is going on in the west bank? do you want me to break it down into Lego sized shapes? I can't believe that your US news is brushing over this so damn easily. Right now they're talking about G.W.Bush's low approval rating....Who gives a fuck! nobody outside your country cares about your country, other than those in Eastern europe whom you want to house a missile base in to point back at russia...in other words, EUROPE! Now I know you're not all that dumb......
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U S A! U S A! U S A!
ReplyDeletePrime time / Mainstream / shareholder controlled media is not the best place for a serious analysis of everything that's going on... and Katie Curic wasn't hired for her journalistic pedigree either.
ReplyDeleteSo your sample of US media may not be the greatest, however I tend to agree with your inkling that the majority of US citizens do not have a good understanding of world politics... we're much more focused on internal issues like taxes, fetuses, and activist judges... never mind those crazy statistics you always here where xx% of 12th graders can't locate Africa on a map.
A suitable explanation for a limited world view is the immensity of the US, geographically and culturally. The average person in Columbus has had limited interaction with other cultures or places... being cultural here means going out to eat at an Indian restaurant... a lot of people across the 50 states shares this identity.
I'm not going to lie, what's happing in the Gaza strip / west bank / Palestine is confusing for me and I read about the shit every day. One week it's Hamas taking over, next week Fatah is running shit... is the PLO still doing stuff or with Arafat's death are they done?
As for the missile defense shield... I don't know... I think a lot of it has to do with the whole "living in a post 9-11" world view. That mantra has been crammed down our throats for a long time... they say jump and we say "how high"... politicians are especially tied to their stance on "homeland security" which for some people is tied to whether or not you are "Patriotic" or "American / un-American".
One of my biggest complaints about the current political climate here is just how polarized it is... it's either I agree with you 100% or go fuck your self.
One more thing... I wouldn't be surprised if Russia quiets down... once Putin and Bush work out some back room deal.
Just a quick rant...
ATB - I would just add that the media in the U.S. is much maligned, but in fact, when you look at newspapers, magazines, books, and some TV (Sunday morning news shows for one), it's actually not too bad. Yes there's a lot of noise that has to be filtered out, but there's a lot of good stuff out there. Gaza has been front page news the whole time.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, cable news and talk radio is horrible - generally entertainment at best and hate based ranting at worst.. and I think that's what most folks are referring to when they say how much they hate the media.
As far as GWB's approval rating - it does matter over here.. it directly impacts his ability to get legislation through congress and directly affects how the Presidential candidates on both sides run their campaigns. It may not be news that he's dropped from 29% to 28%, but that it's "below freezing" does matter.
U.S. News focuses on U.S. News? There's a shock... I have yet to watch a nightly news that hasnt talked about the Gaza Situation.
ReplyDeleteHere's another shock: Schnoozberries taste like schnoozberries (ok my spelling is bad)
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