2012 Anyone?

Ted Nugent, Vice-president ?

Today I saw what for me at least is the first bumper sticker of the 2012 presidential election. And it caught me completely off guard. Palin/Nugent. How about that for unique, unconventional etc. ? Can you imagine Ted Nugent and Joe Biden having a debate? That would be so much fun.

I am not greatly familiar with Nugent other than through his articles on Human Events. But the thought of such a pairing brings a bit of  a smile.

Are We Having A Coarse Discourse?

According to some, both in the media and in government, indeed we are. Om  of the latest to opine is Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. The Secretary made his comments to the Columbus, Oh. Dispatch newspaper in response to criticism of the President making 5 appearance on Sunday news shows this past week. He said”trash talk” on conservative talk radio and tv shows( hint: Limbaugh and Beck although he did not name anyone).He said that the nation’s ability to solve its big problems is being impeded.

“‘He( Obama) can’t even compete with all this stuff that people are saying about him, so the idea that he did five interviews Sunday, that’s just miniscule compared to the kind of trash talk that goes on all week prior to that.”

“All of this background, all of this trash talk in the background, it does not contribute to civil discourse…”

Now , pay close attention to this next response and see what comes to mind( Does the term Fairness Doctrine sound familiar?). He was asked if he could envision any changes in the media that might reverse this trend of incivility.His response,”In a word, no.Unless the people decide…to shut it off, to turn it off.” Inadvertently, he mat have said more than he intended. If people don’t want to hear or watch Limbaugh or Beck, et. al, they can watch Olbermann or Maddow or Cooper or listen to Air America. Apparently, th have not made that choice , in significant numbers, at least to this point.

One other thought. What level of discourse is  acceptable and who decides. Perhaps Mr LaHood should check out some of the criticism that Lincoln  faced and see how civil that was.