Start a discussion at work about the Occupy Wall Street crowd and see how many different opinions you get explaining who is really responsible for our lagging economy.
I sometimes start asking people at work what they think is the cause of the bad economy and very few really know.
Blacks almost always say Obama is heading us in the right direct. Things were bad before and they feel confident that he can do something if those Republicans would just get out of his way. The Democrats in the Senate have disappeared, and now, according to them, only the Republicans run our government. They only want to boot him out of office. They don't care about the country. All of the evils that Democrats were guilty of during the last years of the Bush Administration has been assigned to the GOP. Many of them when you mention the Tea Party think they're terrorists and racists. They forget that the Tea Party just wants us to quit spending. Any criticism of Obama causes them to shut down and stop responding.
Blacks aren't alone. Other ethnic groups are just as lost on the issues. A Senior Citizen told me that Obama tried to stop the Republicans from passing the Stimulus. She claimed that Bush signed it into law, forgetting that not only did Obama sign it but no Republican voted for the thing. Most of them have forgotten that the reason we can't buy toilet paper at DPW is because Obama hasn't passed a budget since he's been in office.
It can sometimes get frustrating dealing with folks that aren't engaged. They only halfway pay attention to the news which means they're usually so wrong you wonder where they've been. I would have to say that most people here on this site are much more informed then anyone at work that I talk to.
In my opinion Obama's greatest asset is misinformation. He confuses the issues thus he confuses the public. He wants to act like he's the solution rather than problem. He's beginning to promise the world again like he did before he was elected and hopes we fall for it yet again. That's his only hope....because if the unvarnished truth was given to the voters Obama wouldn't have a chance of an ice-cube in Hell of getting re-elected.
The media has a major role in all of this. The other day a caller told Rush Limbaugh during his radio talk-show that he witnessed the burning of the Air Force ROTC building at Kent State University on May 5th, 1970. He claimed the media covering the event gave advice to the arsonists that set the building ablaze. The protestors found it difficult to get a wooden annex to keep burning. Eventually the camera crew that was covering the event started giving advice on how to get it to light and stay lit. After 4 attempts they were finally successful, thus a better story that served the media's interests rather then the public-interests was invented.
There are numerous reports of the media actually participating in OWS protests and acting in conjunction with them to present a better image to the public.
The blame for most of the misinformation out there is a biased press, but much of it can be contributed to the complex nature of issues. I think most of it is the habit of much of the public to take things for granted without fact-checking. It doesn't help much that you really have to dig deep to find the truth. Not all of the press is left-leaning, but most are. Over 70% of them voted for Obama. Unless you work for Fox News you have to keep your own personal politics to yourself unless you're a liberal. You could find yourself out of a job.
Most of the confusion is understandably the fault of the media, but much of it rests with the apathy most Americans inherently carry with them. Life has been good for most of us. Living during a time of decent economies and excellent job growth for the last 20-25 years has spoiled us. Now we have serious problems and it's clear that Obama isn't going to do what needs to be done and the GOP can't make him do it. He has nothing new to offer other than slogans and bumper-sticker ideas.....the exact same thing his campaign is accusing Herman Cain of.
Obama's latest catch-phrase is "We Can't Wait For Congress To Act, So I'm Gonna Act On My Own". He is attempting to make it look like he's the only hope we have, but it's clear to anyone who's been paying attention he is partly if not greatly responsible for the poor economy. Problem is most of us aren't paying attention.
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