DISENFRANCHISEMENT VS. NOT PARTICIPATING

I've heard a lot recently about how the President has failed to connect with the people, bring his case for Iraq to the people, or justify his policies.

I heard his speech this last week. It wasn't, in some ways, a great speech. Without the feedback of applause (which, apparently, he chose to suppress - the troops were told to NOT applaud, to avoid the appearance of a pep rally), Bush 43 was not his personal best. He seems to get a lot out of live audiences.

The speech seemed, without the feedback, to be delivered in a somewhat hurried manner. He really didn't seem very relaxed - he's a guy that likes the give-and-take of live audiences, and he looked a little stiff (more like a typical Gore speech of old).

I was amazed at how few people I interacted with who had seen the speech, even a major portion of it. Most everyone just heard the filtered highlights from the news.

It's not that these people are even getting what, in the old days, would have been called the "Reader's Digest" version of the speech. That would be the shortened essence of the speech. They were content with, instead, a few "sound-bytes" - and not necessarily the most important points that were addressed, but the most "news-worthy".

That concerns me. As more and more information is available, less attention is paid to selecting the most essential. Mind candy trumps a nutritious mind-meal. I would venture to say that the average person can tell you all the details of the Runaway Bride, the Missing Tourist, or the lastest American Idol winner.

Very few could discuss a single point made in Bush's speech, whether taking the pro or con side.

Villainous Company posts about this aspect of modern life. Too many people are removing themselves from participation in democracy, then complaining about their disenfranchisement.

This seems to be a recurring theme amongst our liberal brethren: people declining to participate in the political process and then blaming Bush. I remain unsure how Mr. Bush was supposed to ensure the Sunnis went to the polls on election day in Iraq. Perhaps The Shrub should have gone around madly bashing on the doors of the Sunni populace, Jimmy-Carter-style, to get out the vote?

During the 2008 election, some blacks thought the lines at the polls were "too long" and went home. Later, the DNC claimed they were 'disenfranchised'. Tell that to the Iraqis who braved gunfire and IEDs to get to the polls.