to be or not to be
November 26, 2003 10:38 PM   Subscribe

The Right To Die, ABORTION!!!, Campaign Reform. What? No severing of limbs?!
posted by poopy (7 comments total)
 
I think Public Agenda does a decent job.......I haven't scrutinized their donor lists for nefarious influences though, so it could be like my local public radio station, WBUR, which blathers on and on about "Aren't you glad for your insightful, impartial, and objective public radio station" ( umm - I am, I guess, but I think I'll give my money to truly alternative venues like Buzzflash, Cursor, and Truthout) while it advertises for dubious concerns (Archer Daniels Midland ads) and shills for the coal industry (ads by "Americans For Balanced Energy Choices, a fake coal industry front group which was the #1 spender on inside-the-beltway print and TV advertising last year - a cool 8.2 million).

Public Agenda's writeup of campaign finance is a good one, and sobering if you add up their numbers - 3 billion on Presidential elections, 1.4 billion a year on lobbying.......and that's just at the federal level. Now, add in 1) the sums poured into hokey inside the beltway "think tanks" which seem to exist for little more than their function of grooming slick and authoritative sounding talking heads who spew out predigested ideologically driven soundbites on TV political yap shows, 2) all the money poured into fake citizens groups which then exert a covert corporate influence on the public agenda and 3) money spent on out and out advertising, not to mention 4) money donated to the political parties as general funds and for specific congressional and senatorial campaigns and........

Holy Crap, Batman. We're talking about sums in the 10s of billions spent each year to influence politics in the US, and maybe even more. *well, it's only fair - poli-ticks, as creatures, are notoriously tough to dislodge from position as they fatten and swell from sucking blood - unless driven from place with a dab of acetone/fingernail polish political scandal. I've heard it also helps if you twist them counterclockwise as you tug on them, though this might be a folk myth. If all fails, try applying the hot matchhead of negative campaign ads, and then pull while rotating counterclockwise. Don't forget to sterilize the bite area with rubbing alcohol, and - in the case of deer tick bites - be aware of the Lyme disease risks. Lyme disease is no joke.*
posted by troutfishing at 4:50 AM on November 27, 2003


I think political discussions are boring as hell. I make all my political decisions based on the hairstyle of the politician concerned.
posted by mokey at 5:12 AM on November 27, 2003


I vote for the ones with the biggest, whitest teeth. And, also, they can't smell like crap (not that I can smell them through the TV that I don't watch).

although I do know a woman who said that in one period of her life she developed the ability to smell over the telephone, so maybe......

Anyway, back to the subject.........Maybe Public Agenda needs to jazz up it's delivery with an "In this corner! - Babykillers who want to shred infants in the womb with vicious surgical implements!......and in that corner - Fascistic Taliban-like religious thugs who would legislate cameras in your bedroom and take away your right to control your basic bodily functions!" approach.

It would bring the eyeballs, eye bet.
posted by troutfishing at 5:38 AM on November 27, 2003


Severing of limbs? That would fall under the political category of "The Right to Bear Arms".

*rimshot*
posted by wendell at 7:32 AM on November 27, 2003


I make all my political decisions based on the hairstyle of the politician concerned.
This might interest you.
posted by wendell at 7:44 AM on November 27, 2003


poli-ticks, as creatures, are notoriously tough to dislodge from position as they fatten and swell from sucking blood

This is the kind of cutting-edge research that I read MetaFilter for!
posted by billsaysthis at 11:58 AM on November 27, 2003


This is very interesting. I'd like to see something similar for Canadian issues. I find the Red Flags section to be particularly valuable. So many of the statistics we see these days are coloured by the questions that are asked. It's incredibly easy to tilt the response by including or not including specific words.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:02 PM on November 27, 2003


« Older What is this, Bizarro-World?   |   Beck Isle Museum Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments