American politics isn't so much "polarized" as it is just really, really stupid and media-driven.
Could not agree more. The American newsmedia is godawful. The old fashioned network national news isn't terrible, but it's shallow. Cable news is so awful that words fail me. And then there's talk radio, which, with the exception of NPR, is so devoid of anything insightful that it is actually a waste of radio space. We'd be better off and better informed as a nation with those stations playing Britney Spears and Lady Gaga 24/7. The Sunday morning tv news shows are somewhat better, but all they do is give the politicians a forum for their talking points. NPR is easily the best news source around. Nobody screaming. Nobody feigning moral outrage. Just a clear presentation of the facts.
I agree. But more to the point you guys have already won in terms of public opinion too, at least at the moment. The bulk of the country is
obviously liberal on progressive taxes and entitlements and healthcare and all that. Even most of the TEA Party - no not
even, especially them - don't want to actually cut the latter. If anything, they want more (although I think we can both agree medicare in particular is a giant CF of expensive subsidies and stupid so that's inevitable). The one exception there is social security with the age divide, but this is basically a social democratic country just too stupid and media driven to recognize it. And even on most social issues particularly abortion and gays and marijuana there's been an obvious shift towards american "liberalism" (no not libertarianism, there's a distinction).
The bottom line is that there really isn't much serious division in terms of public opinion in this country. Liberals are just amazingly incompetent politically.
