Always Politics

I actually surprised myself by finding this to be a very interesting assignment. I honestly have never been all that interested or concerned with politics. I know that is probably not the best attitude to maintain, but I have my excuses like everyone else does. Excuses such as being too busy with my own life, wanting to watch reruns of Grey’s Anatomy instead of political debates, not caring what politicians are arguing about, and of course thinking that they are all full of crap anyway. Every time I would actually pay attention to the campaign advertisements or watch a little bit of news, I found myself irritated that all the politicians would do is say how horrible and ignorant the other party is. I always wondered why they couldn’t just talk about what they would do for our country instead of bashing the people they’re running against. Even after doing this assignment I still find myself shaking my head at the fallacies and flashpoints every politician uses to further his ideas and career.

I will go ahead and move on to talking about the actual class assignment. I found myself randomly picking a political blog that was listed in our textbook and found myself traveling to <InstaPundit.com>. It is a very interesting and quick responding blog site. Of course the first post I would happen to click on would be about the infamous Bill Clinton. Not only was this about Bill Clinton, but the author, Andrew Revkin, really talked about how quickly the internet and blogging can spread misinformation and faulty assertions. Revkin posted about a Mr. Tapper’s post that blatantly twisted Mr. Clinton’s words around and made his message to the public completely different.

Revkin point blank criticized how Tapper used only portions of Mr. Clinton’s speech instead of using the full text. Revkin points out that Tapper only used portions of the speech that supported his preexisting stance and idea. Revkin pointed out a few fallacies and flashpoints regarding Tapper’s post, however, he did not exactly explain them. Rather, he assumed that his readers would automatically know and understand what he was talking about. He pointed out an Ad Hominem argument that was used against Clinton. Attack the man and ignore the bigger argument going on. Attack his character and ignore the fact that his entire speech wasn’t quoted, only the incriminating parts.

By the way Revkin spoke, I also believe that Tapper may have set up Clinton as a Straw Man. Tapper built up an argument against and criticized Clinton for something that didn’t even happen and wasn’t there. Tapper wrote that Clinton seems to be saying that we should slow down the economy to help prevent global warming. However, in reality the full text of Clinton’s speech was stating that a slowdown of the economy wouldn’t work because other economic powerhouses (i.e. China) would fail to do the same. Revkin happily pointed out that Tapper completely twisted around the speech, cut out major parts, and used it to further his own means and ideas.

I found it really interesting how much people on these political blogging sites will argue about anything, everything, and nothing at all. Not only do they argue about what people actually say, but they also make up, twist and distort speeches in order to argue about the made-up stuff. Some bloggers obviously do the making up and twisting to start the arguments on fire. Other bloggers actually seem to take pride in sniffing out and discrediting the people that are making up.

Like I said at the beginning, I still shake my head and grimace every time I hear the word “politics.” I am aware that this may come across as a rant against politics, but seriously politicians seem to stoop to any means to further their own causes. They lie. They make up arguments just for the sake of arguing. They bash and try to discredit their opponents. They basically talk and argue about everything but the real topics and problems. The world of politics will always be filled with intrigue, backstabbing, and lies. However, I still found this an interesting assignment because I honestly never would have taken the time to go to a political blog even if I had known they existed.