Biased Article

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Ninot
...because the representatives needed to get on the campaign trail.

I think she just wanted to try and sell her book.

[Ninot]

I'm not buying it

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Ninot

Granted, but the average American seems willing to believe drilling will make a difference. Rather than stand with the economic experts with the facts, the Democrats are getting rolled over.

Facts don't matter in today's politics. That's why so few people understand that Stephen Colbert is not really a parody.

[DanS]

This is a great issue for the GOP. Krugman's just all pissy because the Dems didn't listen to the unions and propose it first.

[Theben]

The really bad thing about it is that it continues to prove that Agathon is right wrt how stupid Americans have become.

[Asher]

Originally posted by DanS
This is a great issue for the GOP. Krugman's just all pissy because the Dems didn't listen to the unions and propose it first.

Did you get your Onkyo yet?

[Kuciwalker]

What I mean, instead, is that know-nothingism — the insistence that there are simple, brute-force, instant-gratification answers to every problem, and that there’s something effeminate and weak about anyone who suggests otherwise — has become the core of Republican policy and political strategy.

Lest anyone think the GOP has a monopoly on such thinking...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/05/us/politics/05campaign.html

Senator Barack Obama altered his position on Monday to call for tapping the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower gasoline prices as he outlined an energy plan that contrasts with Senator John McCain’s greater emphasis on expanded offshore drilling and coal and nuclear technology.

...

Repeating his call for a windfall profits tax on companies like Exxon-Mobil, which he singled out in his speech on Monday, Mr. Obama said he would use part of the tax to provide consumers with an “emergency energy rebate� of $1,000 per family.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Theben
The really bad thing about it is that it continues to prove that Agathon is right wrt how stupid Americans have become.

It's not just you. Every country has its share of morons and the venal. The United States is just particularly efficient at allowing them to elect people who'll do what they want.

This is what democracy looks like.

[BeBMan]

Re: Biased Article

Some people here focus on a single issue - oil drilling - while ignoring the more important point of the article that there is a tendency to present under-complex solutions as valid ways to solve complex political problems. This is a serious problem in modern societies where we need smart, educated people for debating said complex issues, and subsequently for serious political participation based on such debates, since this approach can "dumb down" these debates so much that dramatic errors in judgement result from a wrong sense of simplicity.

Unfortunately the author contradicts himself at a key point: He accuses esp. republicans of practicing the method outlined above, yet when you examine his views closer, the opposite is actually the case. The most revealing proof for this is the line "Four legs good, two legs bad!" While he iimmediately rows back to say he actually made it up, it still reveals the core problem with his thinking. Undoubtedly, four legs would mean much more complexity than two - anybody who has seen the giant mech-like walkers in "The Empire Strikes Back" knows this - but he still insists republicans would drive to reduce complexity!

[Kuciwalker]

[Victor Galis]

Well, I think the real problem is that the Democrats aren't that much brighter either. Neither party has shown a willingness to stand up for unpopular policies, which ultimately is a bad thing. It means no one's trying to lead, the pols just follow what the latest poll says and engage in constant pandering with stupid short-term or meaningless gestures.

[SlowwHand]

Originally posted by Asher

Just how much oil does Texas have untapped? Production has declined in Texas for a reason over the years.

Offshore oil? Just how quickly do you think you can get access to offshore oil at considerable volume?

My father was one of the engineers of Hibernia, one of the largest offshore platforms in the world, and that project took about 12 years from conception to volume production.

Texas capped their wells when the price sank below the ability to make a profit. That's not the case now, and pump jacks are going like crazy.

As for your father, that was in the beginning. Just like Texas, restarting isn't like starting fresh.

[Kirnwaffen]

Some people here focus on a single issue - oil drilling - while ignoring the more important point of the article that there is a tendency to present under-complex solutions as valid ways to solve complex political problems. This is a serious problem in modern societies where we need smart, educated people for debating said complex issues, and subsequently for serious political participation based on such debates, since this approach can "dumb down" these debates so much that dramatic errors in judgement result from a wrong sense of simplicity.

I think it's sad that people basically refuse to sit down and think through all of the steps of a complex problem. Sadder still is the fact that the media and the so-called "leadership" in this country actually encourage it. The media rarely provides a sufficient opportunity for real debate on these issues, and politicians actively attempt to take advantage of the average citizen's ignorance.

Of course, our own short attention spans are a big part of the problem. How many people do you think would even bother to watch or read a lengthy cost/benefit analysis on oil drilling. Most Americans would change the channel or be snoring in the first five minutes. All they know is that Gas is expensive. They don't want to know why; they don't care about side effects; they just want it fixed, and fixed now, and the first person to tell them that it can be done (true or not) wins their vote.

[SlowwHand]

What?

[BlackCat]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
What?

I think that you just prooved Kirnwaffen's

Most Americans would change the channel or be snoring in the first five minutes. All they know is that Gas is expensive. They don't want to know why; they don't care about side effects; they just want it fixed, and fixed now, and the first person to tell them that it can be done (true or not) wins their vote.