We are able to have intelligent debates, despite different opinions, because we are honest. There are a lot of people out there who will do anything to get their agenda across, sell more newspapers, or whatever. Just watch the headlines in the paper or listen to the pundits on television. Sometime this is deliberate, sometimes it is due to incompetence: I once read an article in the USA Today that claimed that small cars are unsafe. The theory sounds likely and the writer used several dozen statistics. Unfortunately, he did not use a single one of those statistics correctly; every single one was misrepresented or vague. The problem is, the general public does not have the inclination to spend the vast amounts of time necessary to really understand the candidates or the issues.

Instead, we hear that "Al Gore claims he invented the internet." What he said was that he sponsored legislation that helped create the internet explosion in '96. Do the zealots care? The newspapermen? The Bush supporter making fun of Gore?

-Biscuits

...what do people feel about the idea of Jerry Springer running for the Senate?

I have no problem with that.

Surely you don't believe that the persona that Springer displays in his ridiculous TV show is his real personality? The man is an actor. That's his job.

Just because Ronald Reagan was in the movie "Santa Fe Trail" didn't make him a cowboy when he was president. (Well... if you count Grenada, maybe this wasn't such a good example. ) I don't think Jesse Ventura body-slammed anybody in the Minnesota governor's office...

Springer is bright, articulate, and obviously driven to succeed. These are not bad qualities in a politician. Frankly, I would vote for just about anybody who could demonstrate that his every action was not dictated solely by his perception of that action's effect on his being re-elected.

tanstaafl.

Surely you don't believe that the persona that Springer displays in his ridiculous TV show is his real personality? The man is an actor. That's his job.

[.....] I don't think Jesse Ventura body-slammed anybody in the Minnesota governor's office...

This is a good counter-argument to my instinctive, horrified reaction. OTOH, right or wrong, I really feel ill when I see all of the "My daughter seduced my husband's grandfather!!" Ricki/Sally/Jerry TV. Maybe I should lighten up --people are gonna watch they are gonna watch -- but I don't get the same nauseous feeling when i channel surf across WWF (um I guess it's WW-something now) as I do when I surf across the jerrys of the world.

Springer is bright, articulate, and obviously driven to succeed. These are not bad qualities in a politician.

Jerry was mayor of Cleveland, was he not? And I have seen him mount a pretty good defense of his recent talk-show self. I'd say it is pretty much impossible to be a successful politician without a pretty huge self-promotion instinct....

Frankly, I would vote for just about anybody who could demonstrate that his every action was not dictated solely by his perception of that action's effect on his being re-elected.

Agreed. I do wonder about Jerry in this respect, but I'll try to keep the Jesse Ventura analogy in mind, chill out, and watch what goes down. It's not like he'll be running anywhere where my vote can doom his campaign!

Oh, Jim, you jaded, cynical bastard. What were you thinking?