The State of Our Union

Squinney
Squinney, thanks for the great information.

We see examples of this on A2K every day with some posters. People put their political party before the interests of their country. What is disturbing is that most of these people are not the elites and have little or no influence over their party. They just buy into the interests of the elite.

Somethings never change.

BBB

I'm particularly interested in the assertion that "today, the belief in the truth, that there (even) is a truth, has pretty much vanished across the board. It's not just Democrats; it's not just Republicans. But it's been replaced by cynicism. "

I haven't worded it as such myself, but have recognized it happening. It also seems to me to be tied in with the Faith v. Fact/science arguments.

Any history buffs want to clue me in on the historical references provided above? Their significance or how they differ from the current political atmosphere?

Re: The State of Our Union

I'd just say that it's because the candidate with the most votes lost.

Well, yes. But the partisan rhetoric while attempting to get an actual count seems to have overridden the publics interest in the truth. In other words, they (we) chose to listen to the pundits, the talking heads and choose who we listened to and believed based on party rather than demanding to know the actual count. (truth)

Why did that happen? This author says it is human nature and goes back to the Greeks and Athens to make his point.

Is this a significant comparison historically? And, what do you think is causing the great divide?

Is the "actual count" the "truth"? It may be the mathmatically correct total of the ballots present (assuming there is absoluttely no question on who the ballots were cast for and no biases on the part of those tabulating the ballots) but it doesn't account for ballots cast illegally. How can that represent "the truth"?

THAT is, IMO, the greater problem. I don't think people have lost interest in the truth. They've lost faith in the ability to get the truth. The general public isn't gullible enough to accept the word of politicans or reporters as being the truth any more (with good reason!).