Here in the U.S., the presidential election season, like Christmas, seems to start earlier and earlier each time.
In keeping with this, the Democratic National Committee is making waves by announcing that it will exclude Fox News, which has the largest viewership of the major cable news networks by a considerable margin, from debate coverage of DNC presidential candidates.
Thomas Lifson outlines a number of reasons this may not be a good move.
One is that from a historical and strategy perspective:
Presidential debates inevitably favor the challengers. Trump can push them in that direction by agreeing to debates only if Fox News is included. That forces them to either accept FNC or have no debates at all. If they accept, that makes FNC the debate worth watching. The rest are discredited as Democrat "safe spaces,"
And it appears he has pounced and done exactly that from his twitter account:
Democrats just blocked @FoxNews from holding a debate. Good, then I think I’ll do the same thing with the Fake News Networks and the Radical Left Democrats in the General Election debates!
Really all either party has to do is A) not be crazy and/or B) keep their idiot mouths shut to win.
Neither of these seems to be in the cards dealt to either side, so it should be a heck of a ride.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Monday March 11 2019, @02:12PM (10 children)
It's somewhat different from Italy in that while you've got the same thing with parties blocking each other from governing effectively, Italy doesn't have anywhere near the level of vitriol that the US does, the bottomless gulf dividing one half of the electorate from the other. Italian politics is a bunch of family members squabbling amongst themselves, it's very Italian, and just the way things work. The US OTOH is rapidly becoming a house divided against itself. Which is just how Putin and similar strongmen in other countries would want it.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday March 11 2019, @04:04PM (6 children)
The current level of vitriol is somewhat new. At least, before Obama it didn't seem anywhere near this bad. Perhaps I just didn't pay enough attention to politics, before that.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday March 11 2019, @05:50PM
They were really fucking nasty [merriam-webster.com] back before national media was a thing.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday March 11 2019, @06:16PM (1 child)
Obama contributed, I think. Rewrite your sentence to make it more accurate.
Obama did do some stupid shit, as all presidents do. But Hillary was responsible for the birther movement. Hillary called half the population of the US "deplorables". Hillary wanted so very badly to be the first woman president to invade a foreign nation.
We don't see the snowflakes whining and crying about what we did or didn't do to Obama. It's all about Hillary. While, at the same time, those same lefties have forgotten all about how Hillary corrupted the party, and stabbed Bernie in the back. Hillary divided this nation more than Nixon, or any other recent president has done.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 11 2019, @10:44PM
Don't forget the superpredators. Racism and misandry all in one package.
But, I think she was talking about more than half with deplorables. It's probably code for "working class."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 11 2019, @10:22PM (1 child)
Who cares about vitriol? What we need is policy substance. If that's accompanies by vitriol, then so be it. And, if there's no policy substance, then the problem is with that, not with vitriol.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday March 12 2019, @01:30AM
I know! Just add hydrogen peroxide as the substance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Monday March 11 2019, @10:37PM
Perhaps I just didn't pay enough attention to politics, before that.
You sure didn't! [mentalfloss.com]
And the Romans, well! Things went a little further, didn't they?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 11 2019, @06:35PM (2 children)
we should just split up by parties. i don't want to be in a country with these people anyways.
(Score: 3, Informative) by curunir_wolf on Monday March 11 2019, @08:31PM (1 child)
If you read the Constitution, you'll find that that is exactly the way the union of states was organized. Go live in "Blue" state, and you'll be in blue country. The land mass of the US is too large to be ruled by one monolithic government. The closer it gets to that kind of Federal power, the closer it gets to collapse.
I am a crackpot
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday March 12 2019, @04:03AM
Smartest thing said besides "coffee's ready" all day.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.