G-D! Ya think, Al?

[vraiblonde]

What a moron!

http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/state/article/0,1406,KNS_348_2421025,00.html

The "quasi-hypnotic influence" of television in America has fostered a complacent nation that is a danger to democracy, former Vice President Al Gore said Tuesday.

"Our democracy is suffering in an age when the dominant medium is not accessible to the average person and does not lend itself most readily to the conveyance of complex ideas about self-governance," Gore said. "Instead it pushes toward a lowest common denominator."

First of all, check the stats - there might be 3 or 4 people in the US that don't have a TV set. Second, All should be nicer to the people who practically got him elected President.

 

[Kain99]

Is it connected to the obesity epidemic? ... If people are just staring at a little box four hours a day, it has a big impact on democracy," he said.

What a loser!

 

[Dymphna]

Originally posted by vraiblonde
First of all, check the stats - there might be 3 or 4 people in the US that don't have a TV set. Second, All should be nicer to the people who practically got him elected President.

I think Al needs to hire a speech writer in order to convey his thoughts. I think what he meant wasn't that everyone didn't have a TV, it is that everyone can't get ON TV.

Joe Average may make a great leader, but without the resources to get TV coverage, the world will never know that.

What Al fails to realize is that this not a new thing. Sure, any Joe Citizen can write a letter to the editor of a newspaper or write a commentary for a paper, but that doesn't mean they can get it published.

When the country was being formed, it seems every radical with an opinion was publishing a pamphlet for the masses, Thomas Paine, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, they all did it. What Al doesn't recognize is that they were the social, and economic elitists. These are the guys that only wanted landowners to have the vote (forget women and minorities). These were the guys with the money to pay the printers. That wasn't an option for most people.

It's always been about the people with the money and connections. And mass media, has always had to appeal to the lowest common denominator, hence the appeal to the masses.

 

[Larry Gude]

Well...

...first he events TV, then he complains about it...typical.

So, naturally, invent us a fix!

 

[Tonio]

I'm indifferent about Al Gore, but I think he embarrasses himself when he pretends he's Marshall McLuhan.

By the way, Vrai, why did you hyphenate God? Are you Jewish? I've only seen that in religious articles by Jewish writers, who consider the word too sacred to be pronounced.

 

[SurfaceTension]

Re: Well...

Originally posted by Larry Gude
...first he events TV, then he complains about it...typical.

So, naturally, invent us a fix!

He did - the internet - where he notes that everyone can be published & is accessible to all.

Gore said democracy in America flourished at the height of the newspaper era, which "empowered the one to influence the many." That changed with the advent and subsequent popularity of television, he said, noting that the average American watches four hours of television a day.

Funny how this became an issue after the advent of FNC.