A Little Interruption... Wednesday, October 29

Today we were supposed to be working on the research for our papers as assigned. However, as on occasion happens, we get a bit sidetracked.

We discussed some of the latest happenings as we near the November 4 election day. In particular, we talked about biases and fairness...

If Sara Palin is being criticized for the cost of her wardrobe, why are the men of the campaign not questioned about their costs?

We discussed whether or not there is a different standard for women than for men in the media and the latest issue which has received so much attention -- the hanging in effigy of Sara Palin and whether or not the reaction to having Barack Obama pictured the same way would be also protected as free speech or not.

Below are a couple of links addressing this matter:


http://www.reuters.com/article/sarahPalin/idUSTRE49Q79N20081027

http://www.sundriesshack.com/2008/10/27/sarah-palin-hung-in-effigy-and-the-ap-has-no-opinion/

If we can assume that there will be people who will vote against John McCain because he is older or against Sara Palin because she is a woman or against Barack Obama because of his race, or if we can assume hanging one candidate in effigy is somehow more acceptable than hanging another in effigy, it is clear that (at least sometimes) fairness and impartiality has little to do with election results or the choices people make.

Much the same way as historical neutrality is a sham, so is an unbiased electorate. It is human nature to be subjective. Perhaps that helps to explain why many of the "news" stories of the campaign have less to do with public policy matters and issues and more to do with personality and choices made in private lives. The general populace claims to be opposed to such coverage, yet they consistently pay attention to these things. Voters generally criticize politicians for not talking about the issues... The fact of the matter is politicians want to get elected -- and it may be that to do so, they are simply giving the public what they demonstrate they respond to.

Consider this an issue that may be part of the next blog test.