[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > You presume that the views of peace demonstrators are representative > in America. The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll showed that 57 > per cent of Americans back an invasion of Iraq so long as some > allies, like Great Britain, Australia or Italy, support it. Without > that support, 50 per cent still back the invasion.
Even 99% approval wouldn't make it moral to start this war. It's hard to go by polls, particularly by the big media giants. ABC is owned by Disney which also has a stake in crude petroleum and natural gas production company Sid R. Bass. The other 2 largest networks are owned by General Electric and Westinghouse, tits deep in defense interests. In the US, the 5 largest corporations own most of the media (TV, radio and newspapers) thanks to dismantling of monopoly laws, which have consistantly eroding since Reagan. Another aspect is that radio and television commentary are greatly slanted to the right. Left wing viewpoints are not represented on TV at all, where 90 something percent of Americans get their news, and only a very small percentage of radio commentary is left of center (much of it far right). So it can be argued that, were the American people to get a more balanced view of things, their reaction would be different. And to tell you the truth, what with the security act and all, if someone called my house and asked me whether I supported the drive to war, I would probably be paranoid of ending up on some kind of a gov't hit list or something, and I wouldn't answer at all. I don't think I am the only one who has distrust for the powers run amok in good-ol'-god-save-America. more = = = > You live in a representative democracy, not a direct one. You voted > for Bush, albeit by the slimmest of margins. That means he gets to > decide. That's what your democracy is. Democracy is nominal. First of all, Bush was not elected, he lost by a slim margin, even before you go into the illegal purging of black voters from the rolls in Florida. This is exquisitely detailed in Michael Moore's NY Times bestseller "Stupid White Men". The right wing supreme court decided, among other things, to not allow sufficient time for the votes to be hand counted...they pretty much handed the presidency to Bush, one of their own. Secondly, a democracy is when a candidate represents people of his/her constituency. The millions of dollars required for public office ensure that, when you finally get to the ballot box, your choice is between moneyed interest #1 and moneyed interest #2. We do not have a labor party. We do not have a democracy. We have a corporacracy. If the people would wake up and get the money out of politics, we might have a chance to actually have a democracy. RR
