This page was last updated on August 31, 2011.
The silenced majority; Editorial; Beaver County Times; August 31, 2011.
Below is a critique of the subject editorial.
“A growing number of Americans know what is wrong with representative democracy in America.
“The problem is that they’ve been stripped of the tools to fix it.
“A recent Associated Press-GfK poll found that 87 percent of those surveyed disapproved of Congress, and that they are increasingly fed up with political and ideological partisanship in Washington, D.C. They want the country steered back to middle ground.”
[RWC] Your definition of “middle ground” may differ from that of the BCT. Recall the BCT considers politicians with Americans for Democratic Action Liberal Quotients of more than 90% to be “the moderate middle.”
“Unfortunately, they’re no longer in control, in large part because of five factors:
“1.) Gerrymandering of congressional and legislative districts. This has been a part of American politics from the start. However, computerization and other advances now allow politicians to redraw boundaries so that one party is overwhelmingly dominant. The result is too many districts that are no longer up for grabs in general elections, where independents and moderates can make a difference. Instead, primaries, which tend to attract hardliners and, in many states from which independents are excluded, have become the real elections.”
[RWC] For my comments about gerrymandering, please read my critique of “An American irony.”
For my comments about allowing independents to vote in party primary elections, please read my critique of “The right vote.”
“2.) Special interest money. Money has always played a role in elections; however, never to the extent it does today. The U.S. Supreme Court made a bad situation even worse when it ruled in 2010 that independent groups (nudge-nudge, wink-wink) were allowed to raise unlimited amounts of money to promote candidates. Through their ads, these so-called Super PACS can control the message and, to a large extent, the medium.”
[RWC] The BCT remains wound up about the Citizens United ruling.
“3.) Talk radio and the 24-7 infotainment echo chamber. This is where ideologues and partisans go on a daily basis to have their opinions confirmed.”
[RWC] I continue to get a kick out of BCT editorials writing about “the 24-7 infotainment echo chamber” or something similar. The top banner of the BCT homepage says “News, sports and entertainment in Beaver County PA.” Doesn’t that make the BCT itself an “infotainment” publication? So lefty “ideologues and partisans [don’t] go on a daily basis [to the BCT] to have their opinions confirmed?”
“4.) The Internet. While it can be a great source of information, the Internet is a greater source of misinformation. Again, lying is human. Unfortunately, the Internet gives it a larger audience much faster — for eternity.”
[RWC] Translation: The Internet is killing the relevance of media like the BCT and provides a means for readers to check out the veracity of BCT “news” stories and opinion pieces.
“5.) Election laws. In many states, including Pennsylvania, the Democratic-Republican duopoly makes it virtually impossible for third parties to mount challenges to their power.
“Because of these factors, those standing on middle ground in American politcs [sic] — the compromisers, the moderates, the independents, the non-ideologues — have been silenced.
“If the middle can’t find a way to be heard, democracy in America is in big trouble.”
[RWC] As I noted above, your definition of “the middle” may differ from that of the BCT.
© 2004-2011 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.