Bill Moyers is a great journalist. He has done a great job, for decades, doing what great journalists do to help a country - shining the light on our society and what our politicians are doing. We desperately need more people like him and more institutions that promote real journalism.
Sadly we elect politicians that then let special interest and crazy extremists in their party dictate everything that is done. And sadly we watch special interest produced pabulum like Fox. As Bill Moyers states this stuff is consistently so full of lies and falsehoods no sensible person could consider it even up to the standard worthy of contempt. It isn't good enough to even be contemptible. It is a very sad commentary on how foolish many of our are that Fox is actually tolerated. The other mainstream news is bad but Fox isn't even in the same galaxy. That a country has a news source with more than 1% market share (having crazy extremists is normal and isn't a bad commentary on a country) even remotely as bad as Fox is an extremely bad commentary on that country.
I find both parties very disappointing. But the Republicans have become so bad so apposed to debate, discourse, thought, solutions, science, liberty, society, working together... that I am close to losing faith in the entire party.
None of them seem willing to stand up for the country. They are all either the fools pumping what some lobbyist tells them or the cynical politician unwilling to stand up for their country because they care more about pleasing their most extreme elements in their party than the country. I understand that standing up to extremists can be challenging. It is one of those traits that is necessary for political leaders though. They need to be willing to stand up for the country even if that means making their friends and colleagues unhappy. Even if those people threaten to make their lives difficult if they stand up for what they believe.
I understand most politicians will just take the easy way out. We don't elect many thoughtful, courageous, leaders. We can't expect thoughtful, courage, actions from most of them. But for a party to be completely missing any of them who have any clout is a serious problem, as I see it. The Republicans have let extremists dictate so much for so long that they created a much more difficult climate. To stand up to the crazy extremist actions now requires much more than would be required if you hadn't let them run wild for more than a decade.
I think the extreme elements can play a vital role when the sensible center is called out for just implementing what the lobbyists pay both parties for. But the extreme on the Republican side for about the last 15 years has been dictating policy and implementing whatever the lobbyists tell them to.
A few years of cowardly behavior by an entire party is frustrating but, given the low quality of leaders we elect, isn't surprising. Over a decade of such behavior though is very close to an unforgivable sin.
The Democrats are not doing well, in fact they are doing horribly. But compared to the Republicans for the last 15 years the Democrats look almost tolerable. The overriding problem, as I have seen it, has been that both parties together have been doing an extremely lousy job for the last 30 years. But the Republicans have become so unhinged from reality and unwilling to govern that it is getting close to the point where the main problem is going to be them, if that hasn't already happened.
It is a very sad state of affairs.
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