Watching (more than I expected to) Jon Corzine two nights ago as he delivered his budget [View All]

[T Wolf]

message to the NJ legislature, I was struck by how genuine, honest, and serious he was. It was not a typical (esp. the last eight years) "political" speech, designed to elicit cheers for popular statements. He was sincerely educating the legislators (and the citizens of NJ) as to exactly what was happening to the state as far as their budget is concerned. He included a lot of details and figures - he seemed to be really telling them something important that they needed to hear, and understand.

It raised a question in my mind - can that type of approach consistently work in politics and government? Can the public be appealed to at such a high level? Or, are we forever doomed to be subject to the more common, untruthful political blather that has so polluted our discourse?

I saw some of that in Barack Obama and his campaigning, as well as the speeches he has made since the election/inauguration. So, I have some faith that the public can respond to this kind of approach. But, I also fear that the structure of modern campaigning is more responsive to the sound-bite, buzz-word method that we usually get.

Is it naive to think/believe that his kind of intellectual (for want of a better term) approach can be successful over the long run? Or will we, after a short period of time, sink back into the muck of rethug gangster politics?

I would like to think that things really can be different. My major concern is that the media do not foster the in-depth kind of discussion/debate that is necessary for this kind of political discourse. In addition, the attacks that are coming, and will continue for the next four (eight) years, are much easier to communicate and make understandable with a sentence or phrase (e.g., Democrats are raising taxes vs. explaining that only the rich are going back to their previous tax rate as the law mandated) rather than a reasoned discussion of the facts.

Maybe it comes down to having "faith" that the American public will take the time to listen and be educated. History has shown that we are not a particularly understanding, intellectually-interested, or patient people.

We complain that "if only the people could hear the truth and understand reality, the GOP would fade into oblivion." We rail against those "ignorant yahoos who vote against their own interests" and the fundies who "are lied to every election by the GOP which trolls for their anti-choice and bigoted votes but never delivers the legislation."

I would love to see this country move forward in the way we handle politics. I just am not sure that we can.

The final question is - what can we do to foster this (IMO) more-desirable method?

A final observation - it sure is better listening to Corzine, Obama, and the other "smart" people than the ignorant, jingoistic, lying mother-fuckers that have ruled the media for the previous eight (16) years. OK - maybe that "m-f" is not conducive to enlightened discourse.