Subject:
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Ed's opinion of Larry and other trivia (was: John Leo's opinion of "The West Wing")
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Sun, 6 Oct 2002 11:46:21 GMT
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Viewed:
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622 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Ed Jones writes:
> > My whole point about cites ((deliberately?) misconstrued by drive bys like
> > Ed)
>
> Hmm, "misconstrued" and a "drive by". How quickly the name calling starts.
That's not exactly fair, Ed. Misconstrue isn't a name at all, it's Larry's
assertion that you misunderstood his point (in this case possibly willfully).
And if you consider how your note looked, I don't think "drive by" was really
inappropriate either. I guess it would stand as a drive-by if you just post
that one note and move on, but if you actually engage in the discussion, than
it was merely your entry point.
> I still found your opinion stated in your post to elitist and insulting.
It seems to me like the part of Larry's note that you object to (if indeed it's
part of _that_ note rather than Larry in general) was the "i.e. most of them"
comment. But immediately following that, he qualifies it with an explanation
of why he came to that perception. I happen to think his logic is wrong
because he seems to assume that the popularity ratings are somehow dependent on
the covergence between real and fictional political agenda. Clearly, it could
just be a popular show, even if people don't agree with the expressed politics.
So really, why not just point out how the one thing (most WW viewers can't
think for themselves) doesn't follow from the other (it seems to do well in the
ratings despite being significantly out of sync with how people feel
politically) rather than getting uppity about his elitism?
> I always find it amazing that certain political parties try to blame the
> uneducated for their plight while other parties strive to fund education and
> educational programs.
To what extent is it just a difference in priorities? I don't think more money
is what our schools need (and I'm certainly not a Republican). More respect is
more like it. My favored educational model ( http://www.sudval.org ) is
cheaper (and by the standards that I value, more successful) than current
public education.
But there is an interesting umbrella concept that we Americans tend to buy into
that includes what you're saying. We tend to believe that everything can be
fixed on the level of the individual. We are concerned with what person did
what thing wrong, rather than what system is failing to meet the needs of
society. We assume that every criminal is at fault for their crimes because
they made the decision to steal (or whatever), rather than looking at why they
felt that it was in their best interest. We assume that people who don't get
an education -- preventing them from making real money, are at fault rather
than examinging why they didn't think that was a valid option for their
circumstance.
> Let's see, right now we have a Republican mayor again in NYC who has cut
> funding to public schools. The Republicans like their voters uninformed so
> they don't realize they are again being taken for an economic ride. Are the
> Libertarians following their example?
Everyone in charge is rich. The rich, regardless of their party affiliation,
want to stay rich. Since they're in charge, they can. The parties have
slightly varying strategies on how to stay in power, but it's really not like
the GOP is the root of all evil and the Democrats are all goodie and nice.
It's amazing that so many people don't see that.
Chris
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Message has 1 Reply:
Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: John Leo's opinion of "The West Wing"
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| (...) Hmm, "misconstrued" and a "drive by". How quickly the name calling starts. If you had read my response down a few threads, you would have seen that I thought this was a fresh debate topic, not a follow-up post with a new heading to a previous (...) (22 years ago, 5-Oct-02, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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