The Republican Machine

I've said it before - the Republicans are MUCH better at politics than Democrats. That's because politics can be a very nasty business and most Democrats don't play that well. On what basis do I make that claim? I could go back to the President Clinton years for a very clear example (remember how they slammed him right from the beginning with controversy after controversy), but that is the past.

I'm also not going to use the health care debacle - even though it is another clear example of slandering the opponent for political gain (remember the out of control town hall meetings?). The example I'm going to use involves online newspaper forums. I read USA Today online daily and I chose it because its target audience (travelers) tends to require it be non partial to either political party. They typically report fair and balanced in my opinion. But, if you were to read the comments on the articles you will notice they are WAY off balance. You would expect to get pro and con comments for most articles but they are overwhelmingly Republican biased, name calling, derogatory slams against President Obama and his administration. And any subject from climate change to kittens is steered to Obama within 2 or 3 posts.

I began to think that perhaps USA today was more biased than I realized, so I started to read some other popular local and national papers and found the very same thing. Post after post of nasty, unfounded political BS on every topic imaginable. It can't be a coincidence. The Republican political machine is a well oiled smooth running movement and I believe this is one of the many ways they are constantly campaigning for their cause. I would bet dollars to donuts that many of the posts come from paid PAC members. And it seems to be working as it usually does. Hammer people with baseless lies, name calling and just plain ole meanness and soon the public will start to believe it.

Let me just add that I do not agree with some of the decisions that the Obama Administration has made so far, but they are not as terrible as you might think if you read those posts (which I do not recommend). The President has been in office only 1 year - dealing with issues that are huge by anyone's definition. Anyone with a brain should know that it is too early to judge the progress, especially based on the constant backlash from the conservatives. I'm hoping, like the President Clinton years, the American people will use their own heads and make their own judgments and not listen to the disturbing noise from the Republican political machine.

One last thing. During the Bush years, the forums were also busy with Bush bashers. But there were plenty of posts from Bush supporters as well. You can't find too many pro Obama posts these days because they are drowned out by the negative ones. It's not that pro Obama readers don't post comments, its just that they are overwhelmingly out numbered at every turn. I honestly do not believe that represents the way the whole country feels.