First, spread democracy in the blue states
Reader comment on item: Defending and Advancing Freedom

Submitted by Merry Whitney (United States), Nov 2, 2005 at 17:32

Excellent article, as always. And, if I may add my two cents...

"When it comes to spreading democracy, the Bush administration breaks no conceptual ground."

"Spreading democracy" would be less difficult if we could purge our own political landscape of the divisive "hating Bush is foremost but blaming America is a close second" variety. It becomes a true dilemma when purchasing a newspaper or tuning in to a network "news" broadcast is practically synonymous with subsidizing subversion (a little hyperbole, sorry, but you get my point).

The majority of Americans are not political junkies or ideologues of the left or right. If they regularly read newspapers and follow current events, they believe themselves to be relatively well-informed. But, how can they know about the relevant or essential parts of every political story excluded from most of the articles covering it, or recognize the slanted perspective of the articles themselves?

As long as mainstream news coverage is more agenda-driven than concerned with dispensing truthful information, I doubt whether even the infamous Alaska bridge would be grand enough to span the blue state-red state gap among those who rely on networks and most major papers.

That's unfortunate, because healing the domestic divide could help bring the goal of democracy in the Middle East within reach.

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