Is that the Best You can Do?

So I normally try to stay away from politics as much as possible in this blog, which I think is both a product of the fact that I spend approximately half of my life reading political philosophy and the fact that what passes for "News" today is mostly one party bad mouthing another with the occasional tragic story thrown in for good measure. Given the amount of attention that a number of primaries garnered this week, however, I feel like I might as well add my opinion to the craziness. After all, elections are only 41 days away--it's crunch time! [Please note: the exclamation point should be read as a sneer].

This is not meant to be a post that attacks a party that disagrees with my personal beliefs or those of my family. I've spent enough time around people to know that my attempts to sway readers in one way or another will only spur arguments and bad feelings. I can deal with people having different opinions than I do. What I cannot abide, however, are the recent attacks on the Tea Party Movement. Yes, the true aficionados make themselves easy targets by dressing up and taking an unpopular and extreme conservative perspective on just about everything, but similar fringe movements have been around for years. Does the Environmental Movement ring a bell? By and large, you don't see those individuals who drive Prius's or who enacted mandatory composting laws in California being skewered on every news program, however. In fact, you really didn't see Tea Party-ers being attacked in mainstream media in any serious manner until they began to win primaries and become the Republican candidates in a few states.

Granted, it is the media's job to attack popular movements and to shed light on corruption or potentially problematic campaign platforms. That's not what is going on, though. Very little of what I have seen plastered all over media outlets in the last month or so has been any kind of real critique of Tea Party policies. Instead, the religion, character, and even intelligence of the movement's faithful are called into question. This article, shared on facebook by several of my poli-sci oriented friends, provides a good example of the kind of pseudo-academia that is being proffered by liberals:



Like I said, I'm not writing this to try and persuade anyone that one position is more right than the other. I just expect more of both sides--and of the media personalities who often interpret politics for their viewers--than simply name-calling. Seriously, folks, that wasn't even cool in fifth grade. Let's engage in real, meaningful debate with facts and let the people decide as they will.

Oh, and another thing: let's skip the countdown to election day and head right on in to Christmas. After all, Michaels is already rolling out the red and green; why shouldn't we?