Further dumbing down of our politicians...

Okay, this is just an observation.

Since the dawn of civilization politicians have been, pretty much, a ego based self serving lot. They have, in one shape or another, always have claimed to be the "voice of the people". Whether they be king, queen, comrade, dictator, representative, president or any other political position I have left out.

But in the end, for the most part, at least in our nation, there has been an assumed level of intelligence. Okay, jump all over that if you like, and I know you will, but in my experience, there had been an acceptable level of reasonable intelligence for elected officials.

That being said...

What the republicans have done to the nation discourse is, yes, very disgraceful. They have preempted our nations politics with nothing more than a monkey's shit fight at the zoo.

However, here comes the chicken or the egg part.

With the rise of fox news and it's many imitators to garner higher ratings and the failure of the press due to lower readership, the level of intelligence displayed by these mediums has been greatly diminished.

No, duh, right?

But here's my point: has the lowering of standards which has resulted in less real journalism, less real investigations, less hard hitting questions, less probing questions; given us a much less intelligent elected official?

Because these same officials, for many years now, have expected softball questions or to get a free pass on issues or just not be asked about "sensitive topics", have they themselves also fallen victim of the dumbing down of our society?

Do we expect less from them, because they just don't have it to offer anymore?

When people like palin, bachmann, gingrich, santorum and their like hold a party in rapture do to their blathering and not being held accountable by the press when they lie or fabricate information, does the whole political system of our nation suffer? And does it suffer as a whole from a bar that is greatly lowered?

Are people such as george w. bush* appointed as a "regular guy" because people no longer expect intelligence or insight from this person because we have fallen so low in our expectations?

Does the echo machine propaganda now dictate that the press no longer asks the hard questions for fear of "embarrassing" these politicians?

I bring this up because people such as Rachel Maddown, Keith Obberman and Ed Schultz are asking those tough questions that are making these once free ride politicians uncomfortable. As a result making their supporters angry.

The hard questions, that make these republican politicians "look bad" because they either can not answer the questions or dance around spinning as best as they can are, to me, causing their supporters squirm with a doubt of their ability. A doubt, I believe denied them due to shoddy journalism.

(I believe we are watching the first stage of the grieving process: anger)

What are your thoughts?

Thanks.

I don't know how you square that circle. But if everybody's opinion is just as good as anybody else's; well these people at the townhall's opinions are just as good as, say, Paul Krugmans.

Combine that with the Press Timidity, which you note, and there's a recipe for disaster.

Bryant

News is NOT entertainment, and when the MSM entertains, they do not distribute news.

It's that simple, yet so called college graduates across the country cannot figure that out.

The FCC should come up with a news standard, where networks, stations, and programs would be required to disclose whether they were airing news, giving opinion, or entertaining. And the MSM should be required to put their rating in the corner throughout the entire program.

Yes, I do agree with you that the powder puff (their alleged hard questions) shit must go.