tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877966.post8004688272193196308..comments2023-11-03T01:31:49.594-07:00Comments on The Candorville Courier: Clinton follows Bush's lead on the MediaDarrin Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18165587947994202497noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877966.post-33355192387359146472007-11-18T10:50:00.000-08:002007-11-18T10:50:00.000-08:00I know, and I agree.But I don't think the Media sh...I know, and I agree.<BR/><BR/>But I don't think the Media should be painted with one brush. There are the Wolf "it's a yes or no question" Blitzers, but then there are people like Charlie Rose and Jon Stewart who invite nuanced, thoughtful debate.Darrin Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18165587947994202497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877966.post-6976998120318292032007-11-18T09:42:00.000-08:002007-11-18T09:42:00.000-08:00I'm always disappointed when I get to this time in...I'm always disappointed when I get to this time in the campaign when I begin to feel that no one is going to be as positive and honest as I would want. There's already too much negative sniping and too much hedging on answers. Maybe I err to much toward the "Don't hate the player, hate the game" school, but I am tired of media complaining about a problem of their own creation.<BR/> Maybe I'm more positive about some of these candidates because they look better in comparison to Guiliani who seems to have carefully studied the Nixon play book.Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06674487559605740272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877966.post-34857244837386893922007-11-14T12:15:00.000-08:002007-11-14T12:15:00.000-08:00I know where you're coming from, and I largely agr...I know where you're coming from, and I largely agree with you about the nature of the Media beast. But I don't agree that avoiding questions with convoluted verbal aikido is an acceptable response. Think about where you stand on an issue and tell people. Stop equivocating about matters as simple as whether you'll release your old papers. Either say yes, or say no and why, but don't tell us they <I>are</I> being released when they aren't, and then blame it on the slow speed of a bureaucracy that everyone suspects you have the power to expedite. Decide what you believe and say it concisely. It may sound naive and overly simplistic, but it's the right thing to do and the only way to actually have a mandate if you're elected. <BR/><BR/>Edwards and Obama both occasionally give convoluted non-answers, but it seems to me that compared to them, Clinton's made a pattern of that kind of thing.Darrin Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18165587947994202497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877966.post-57133748597068224152007-11-14T11:58:00.000-08:002007-11-14T11:58:00.000-08:00I want to be clear I respect your complaint. Howev...I want to be clear I respect <I>your</I> complaint. However, these candidates are the product of a media environment and I get weary of reporters complaining about the monsters they create. You don't get your answers to questions on issues because reporters usually focus on everything except issues. When they say that they can't get answers to their questions what they're saying is that they've let the candidates play them. I suspect that the media likes the current campaign more than they admit. They'd rather talk tactics than issues. It sells more ads.<BR/> Please don't confuse me with a Hillary fan. I don't trust her (or most the others). That's why I need reporters to do something other than complain.Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06674487559605740272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877966.post-79756028234778409322007-11-14T07:50:00.000-08:002007-11-14T07:50:00.000-08:00Again, this wasn't the National Review, this was t...<I>Again</I>, this wasn't the National Review, this was the <I>New Republic</I>.<BR/><BR/>"I don't think Clinton is significantly more manipulative, deceptive, intimidating, or evasive (there seem to be many criticisms floating through National Review's comments) than anyone else out there."<BR/><BR/>I find her far more evasive than either Edwards or Obama. As self-serving as his comments were, Edwards had a point. You can come away from a debate not knowing any more about Clinton's positions than when you went in.<BR/><BR/>Where does she stand on drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants? Does she think her 2002 vote on Iraq was wrong? WHY doesn't she think voting to declare part of Iran's armed forces "terrorists" gives Bush cover for whatever he may want to do to Iran? I've been looking for answers for weeks, and none of the answers I've found have done anything but further confuse the issues.<BR/><BR/>Yes, she has ample reason to believe her words would be twisted, but that's not a good enough reason to be so damn evasive. I'm not going to just <I>trust</I> that she'll be a good president (even though anyone would be an improvement over what we've got now). I believe people govern the same way they campaign. Secrecy and evasiveness, if it remains a pattern through the campaign, isn't likely to just evaporate once she's in office.<BR/><BR/>Bush showed the very same survival skill during his campaign, and look what we ended up with. Even conservatives didn't know what they were getting.Darrin Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18165587947994202497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877966.post-34907439693684345552007-11-14T04:18:00.000-08:002007-11-14T04:18:00.000-08:00My apologies to National Journal. It's the best po...My apologies to National Journal. It's the best political magazine in the country.<BR/>I don't think Clinton is significantly more manipulative, deceptive, intimidating, or evasive (there seem to be many criticisms floating through National Review's comments) than anyone else out there. Haven't you been frustrated at times with <I>everyone</I> so far?<BR/>I think Clinton and the others know that everything they say will be twisted and repeated endlessly by publications like National Review. People are still saying that Gore believes he invented the Internet or the Hillary held seances to communicate with dead First Ladies.<BR/>I think the Hillary is demonstrating a survival skill and the media are as much to blame for the environment as the candidates are for creating it. I love honest candidates--they just don't seem to hang around very long.Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06674487559605740272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877966.post-66175372286592225942007-11-13T22:36:00.000-08:002007-11-13T22:36:00.000-08:00Typo, it's the liberal New Republic, not the Natio...Typo, it's the liberal New Republic, not the National Review (and not the "National Journal").<BR/><BR/>"Let me get this straight. Darrin trusts the National Journal to tell him that Clinton is getting overly positive coverage because no one is covering her evasiveness."<BR/><BR/>I'm not sure what you're trying to get straight. Neither I nor the article said anything resembling "no one is covering her evasiveness."<BR/><BR/><B>"I have a lot of trouble believing that the media is reluctant to criticize Hillary Clinton. It seems to have echoed every rant coming out of the right wing noise machine."</B><BR/><BR/>That's not the point. The point is this: we don't need another four years of leaders who won't give straight answers. I, for one, don't want to be deceived or jerked around, not even by someone with whom I often agree.Darrin Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18165587947994202497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877966.post-6276236043165050122007-11-13T21:53:00.000-08:002007-11-13T21:53:00.000-08:00Let me get this straight. Darrin trusts the Nation...Let me get this straight. Darrin trusts the National Journal to tell him that Clinton is getting overly positive coverage because no one is covering her evasiveness. But we all know about her evasiveness.<BR/>I have a lot of trouble believing that the media is reluctant to criticize Hillary Clinton. It seems to have echoed every rant coming out of the right wing noise machine.Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06674487559605740272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877966.post-20706300145089687362007-11-13T08:37:00.000-08:002007-11-13T08:37:00.000-08:00And then we have Obama stating that he won't even ...And then we have Obama stating that he won't even begin a troop withdrawal process until 2010 according to his statements on Meet the Press.<BR/><BR/>Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle...Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09050729008907590069noreply@blogger.com