Atrios, who hardly needs the additional hits, nicely summarizes why I have no interest in watching the Alito rubber-stamp-confirmation hearings. None of these people seem to associate what's happening in front of their eyes with the effects on actual citizens. (But of course this loss of direct constituent contact is part and parcel of what happens when so many of them are beholden to moneyed interests rather than to the folks who voted them into office.) My interest in politics and how it affected my life was sparked by the Watergate hearings, when it was made perfectly clear that Richard Nixon was a crook and just about everyone agreed - and I mean took it as so obvious it didn't need to be stated outright - that if the president, of all people, broke the law he should be punished. This attitudinal change on the part of lawmakers who are supposed to represent the American people isn't just "frustrating," as Atrios puts it, it's downright dangerous.
It's not just a breakdown of checks and balances, it's a total disconnect between what real people are asking and what the press and lawmakers are ignoring. Maybe it offends some delicate sensibilities to inquire about specifics regarding our president's health - after all, FDR's wheelchair status wasn't widely known - but in this age of 24-hour news networks seemingly desperate for every bit of gossip, both salacious and of actual significance, it seems odd not to inquire repeatedly about the physical and mental well-being of someone whose increasingly erratic decisions so directly impact our lives. It seems even odder to me in this new Gilded Age that nobody's asked the people in power to specifically define their buzzwords and facile phrases. They throw around words like "freedom" knowing that everyone has their own differing mental image of what "freedom" means, so they feel safe that they'll never be called on to provide their own definition. Way I see it, asking people to be specific or give examples or define their terms is one of the best ways to illuminate the subject in question. If they do have an answer, you can become more enlightened and everyone's on the same page, it's a win-win for all concerned. If they don't have an answer, maybe that'll start them thinking more clearly, and it'll certainly tip off the huddled masses to their subterfuge. (I suspect that, to them, "freedom" equates to unfettered capitalism, since citizens have long since morphed to become consumers. That ought to be a fairly easy mindset on which to call them.)
It's not just a breakdown of checks and balances, it's a total disconnect between what real people are asking and what the press and lawmakers are ignoring. Maybe it offends some delicate sensibilities to inquire about specifics regarding our president's health - after all, FDR's wheelchair status wasn't widely known - but in this age of 24-hour news networks seemingly desperate for every bit of gossip, both salacious and of actual significance, it seems odd not to inquire repeatedly about the physical and mental well-being of someone whose increasingly erratic decisions so directly impact our lives. It seems even odder to me in this new Gilded Age that nobody's asked the people in power to specifically define their buzzwords and facile phrases. They throw around words like "freedom" knowing that everyone has their own differing mental image of what "freedom" means, so they feel safe that they'll never be called on to provide their own definition. Way I see it, asking people to be specific or give examples or define their terms is one of the best ways to illuminate the subject in question. If they do have an answer, you can become more enlightened and everyone's on the same page, it's a win-win for all concerned. If they don't have an answer, maybe that'll start them thinking more clearly, and it'll certainly tip off the huddled masses to their subterfuge. (I suspect that, to them, "freedom" equates to unfettered capitalism, since citizens have long since morphed to become consumers. That ought to be a fairly easy mindset on which to call them.)
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