Words of wisdom from Mike Shelton
I rarely read something I just love any more. It seems to me most media, and I’m not talking main stream media, I’m talking the whole enchilada, are hell bent on dumbing down their content for entertainment value. There are a lot I’m sure that just can’t help it. I mean does anyone really expect high prose from Markos Moulitsas or Matt Drudge? However, a lot of them could do better, but just don’t try. A major part of that would be showing respect and civility. To me, the discourse is top-down. If you set a standard as an author, your readers will be much more likely to respond in kind due to nothing more than peer pressure. I don’t allow garbage and trash talking. Without overtly saying it anywhere here, my comments by and large seem to reflect that. They can tell it in my tone, and I think, respond in kind.
Mike Shelton takes a view at this rush to be witty, creative, and most usually insulting to a larger scale. He cites many instances where people are trying to help Obama, but really cause him a lot more issues than help by being so over-the-top or insulting. He mentions Sandra Bernhard, I mentioned her here as well. By being insulting and talking trash, she most likely hardened some lukewarm supporters of McCain. Or, most likely, hardened some lukewarm anti-Obama voters. Sure, she’s a comic, but her intent was completely undermined by her inability to communicate in a civilized manner. And, I also feel she felt she had a license to talk the way she does because she’s a comic and she therefore can just say whatever she pleases without any consequence whatsoever. He could tell Hollywood to keep the rhetoric a little lower key, but he won’t, they’re his messengers with cash.
But, I digress, it’s the overall situation of communication in America that bothers me, and I think Mile Shelton as well. It seems people have to go for the kill when simply stating their view would work. Most often, as Joe Biden will tell you, it is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt. He’d be President today possibly if he had stuck to the point and not gone for the slam dunk. Most often, his content was correct, his slam dunks way off the mark. People completely forget the intent or content, his slam dunk screwups will stick with him forever.
I am also curious as to why so many people feel a need to refer to others in bizarro misspellings of their names. I mean, I have seen Obama referred to as:
- Obambi
- Nobama
- Obamalamadingdong
McCain’s had his share of name distortions. Biden a few as well. I can’t even repeat a lot of the name distortions for Palin here.
Clue here peeps, that really makes you look childish. I don’t do it, I focus on the content.
Then there’s the content. I have noticed in this race probably the highest level of inaccurate information I think I’ve ever seen in any race in my lifetime. From Obama being a certified Muslim-in-hiding terrorist to Palin’s husband being the father of their daughter’s baby. In Palin’s caase, it has been ceaseless.
Clue here peeps, whether Dan Rather or just someone posting a comment on a board, when you post something that’s easily proven wrong, you’re ruined. Sure, others may chime in and join the mob, but in the long run, people will know you just prefer to gossip and are void of verified information.
The reason I mentioned Mike Shelton earlier is because he cited a few examples of what I have harped on here in the past. In exuberance of support for their candidate, by being offensive, insulting, trashy, and disrespectful, they are not doing their candidate any good at all. It makes a lot of people feel they personally are being attacked for supporting their candidate. Some people who might not feel compelled to vote will vote simply because they feel pressured to do so because they were attacked. What was simply a DC issue becomes personal.
And, to a large degree, at this point, since it’s been going on so long, I hold the candidates partially responsible. Obama could tell Kos and Moveon to take the high road, but he hasn’t, and won’t. They’re his foot soldiers. He could tell Keith Olbermann and others to lay off the hyperbolic hate, but he won’t, they’re his messengers. He could publicly chastise those that do go over the top. But, he won’t. They are doing his work for him. And, they may cost him the election.
I don’t believe the polls much at all. If a race is a blow-out, the polls will tell you that. If the race is close, the polls will tell you that. However, when it comes to saying which candidate will win in a close race, they’re not that good. I also think that polls generally tend to reflect the latest headlines. However, as with the last two elections, the polls did not very well reflect the outcome of the race. A lot of people, especially in 2000, could NOT understand what had happened. I think it was simple. There’s a large number of people out there that do not take polls, do not post vitriol online, and do not go to those places online where vitriol runs the show. And for the most part, avoid most of the internet because vitriol and disrespect are so rampant on this “anonymous” venue. Whereas a lot of the disrespect and vitriol comes from people who will not vote, these people do.
Think about that. And, if you’re not gonna listen to me, listen to Mike Shelton.
