78th Meeting Topic: The State of the Democracy

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Thread: 78th Meeting Topic: The State of the Democracy

PragueSpring

78th Meeting Topic: The State of the Democracy
Posted: Thursday, July 19, 2007 2:00 AM (EST)

Al Gore asserts there is no more debate in his book The Assault on Reason. Compared to the Mainstream Media’s typical apathy to the truth from politicians and pundits alike, Michael Moore is fact-checked as if Sicko asserted the Holocaust never took place. Gore Vidal questions our democracy with the assertion there is a single political party focused on property. Do these political figures correctly point to a state without debate or choice

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jacco

78th Meeting Topic: The State of the Democracy
Posted: Thursday, July 19, 2007 8:05 AM (EST)

Just a thought to kick off discussion maybe. I've seen Sicko and though it is Michael Moore's most consistent, fact based and the least black and white documentary since long by far, I think he is to some extent part of the problem if you talk about lack of debate in the US. Because in his last two documentaries he did what he accuses right wing commentators of doing: cherry picking facts and anecdotes without any regard for nuances to construct your own preconceived storyline. It won't convince anybody that didn't agree with you already. As an outsider (I am Dutch) looking in, that seems to be the problem. Debate in the US often boils down to exchanging firmly set opinions at the top of your lungs. The 'debate' misses an element of discussion where participants are willing to change their minds if the other party comes with a good argument. As far as I can tell both political sides contribute to that climate. Nice to see Michael Moore is getting more moderate, but let's face it: he has a bit of a credibility issue (remember the photograph of the young gun shot victim he left at Charles Heston's house in Bowling for Columbine?)