One of the advantages of not watching television is that one misses all the crap being broadcast every day. Tonight I was trapped at Lehighton Hospital waiting for an MRI, forced to listen to “Jeopardy.” In the 20 or so minutes it was on, I heard--but didn’t watch--three anti-Obama ads quoting him saying “The private sector is doing ok.”
I read about this last week in the Times. In the context of Obama’s speech, the statement made sense. He said later in the day that he obviously knew that private sector employment was a major problem. The man is not stupid. Yet here were these ads, three in 20 minutes.
By the way, in the Lincoln-Douglas debates, the first speaker was allotted an hour. The second speaker than had an hour and a half to respond. The first speaker was then allotted a half hour for a rejoinder. I’ll save you the trouble of adding it up. It comes to three hours for each debate.
In one of them Mr. Douglas made fun of Lincoln for thinking that blacks were equal. The audience laughed. Lincoln, harking back to John Locke and the right of property, said that what a slave earned by his own sweat should be his, and to take it from him violated the natural rights he was born with. The audience, aware of Locke’s philosophy, clapped for Lincoln.
I can imagine how disgusted television viewers are at present-day spots. Ads like this depress turnout and make voters cynical. That also benefits Republicans. I’d tell you to turn off your tv, but no one ever does.
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