Question of the day

The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. 

Winston Churchill

I really don’t care about the Republican primary race.  Republicrats or Demicans are the same except who they pander to.  But…If conservative white journalists brought up a possible Obama affair or sexual impropriety when he was running, what do you think the reaction would be?  http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/obama_affair_rumors/

When liberal, white, journalists seed the news with possible impropriety about Herman Cain, what’s the reaction?  http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/67194.html

A growing body of work suggests that exposure to subtle racial cues prompts white voters to penalize black candidates, and that the effects of these cues may influence outcomes indirectly via perceptions of candidate ideology. We test hypotheses related to these ideas using two experiments based on national samples. In one experiment, we manipulated the race of a candidate (Barack Obama vs. John Edwards) accused of sexual impropriety. We found that while both candidates suffered from the accusation, the scandal led respondents to view Obama as more liberal than Edwards, especially among resentful and engaged whites. Second, overall evaluations of Obama declined more sharply than for Edwards. In the other experiment, we manipulated the explicitness of the scandal, and found that implicit cues were more damaging for Obama than explicit ones.  http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/klu/pobe/2011/00000033/00000002/00009135

The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.

Robert M. Hutchins

I’ve heard it said that there is a double standard.  Supported by the right when criticizing the left.  Denied by the left.  But disengaging and stepping back, isn’t it obvious?

Interesting.  I guess I’ll just stand back and watch the results.

Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good. 

H.L. Mencken