Dumb Things on Air America

Yesterday, on the Majority Report (I believe it was a rerun from earlier in the week) two people said really dumb things.

Sam Seder basically labeled Arnold Schwarzenegger, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and several others 'sell-outs', because "if you don't believe in [George W. Bush's] G-d and social conservatism, then there is no reason to vote for him because he isn't a fiscal conservative..."

Now, it is true that Bush is not nearly the as fiscally conservative as I would like, however, John Kerry (the only other practical choice) has been endorsed by the Communist Party of America (more precisely, the Communist Party of America has refrained from endorsing another candidate because, given their choices, they want Kerry to win). This gives lie to his statement that, if you are a fiscal conservative but not a social one, you shouldn't vote for Bush. Bush may not be perfect, but even the Communist Party recognizes that there is a difference between the candidates on economic issues; it is disingenuous of Seder to pretend that they are essentially the same.

Furthermore, there are other reasons than the ecomomic ones to vote for Bush: terrorism, national security, war in Iraq. Agree with Bush on these issues, disagree with him; don't pretend these aren't legitimate reasons for people to choose one candidate over the other.

And, as far as social issues go, I do not want the government involved. So you would think that I agree with John Kerry on, say, abortion. And I do, politically. I am pro-choice politically because I do not believe that life begins at conception. However, I have a great deal of respect for those who are pro-life because they do believe that life begins at conception. I have considerably less respect for those who claim to believe that life begins at conception and, at the same time, are pro-choice; in my eyes, this is tantamount to believing that people have the right to choose murder.



The other really dumb thing I heard on the Majority Report yesterday was said by Janeane Garofalo. She said that we shouldn't believe the mainstream media when they claimed that this was a horse race between Bush and Kerry because "I believe that it will be Kerry in a landslide! [cheers in the background]".

Apparently, Ms. Garofalo thinks that we shouldn't believe polls either. Poll after poll after poll has shown this race as too close to call; maybe radio hosts have access to a crystal ball.

Furthermore, this is akin to someone in Texas thinking that Bush will win by a landslide: it shows incredible lack of awareness of the rest of the country to think that, just because you and the people who surround you think one way, that is how everyone thinks.