TV has made nation complacent, Gore says

KnoxNews.com (Via Drudge) ^ | 11/12/03 | AMBER MCDOWELL

[mountaineer]

What the heck's Gore doing in TN ?

Someone told him it was a nice place to visit, so he decided to check it out. Tipper, however, said, "Forget it, Al, I'm not going to some backwoods place to watch you deliver another stupid speech!"

[Humvee]

It's obvious that Al has been watching way too much TV.

[RJL]

the decline of newspapers as the country's dominant method of communication leaves average Americans without an outlet for scholarly debate.

Scholarly debate in a newspaper? A few days after their liberal drivel is printed as gospel they might occasionally deign to print a reader’s letter, selected by them, and that’s “scholarly debate”?

Only a tree like AlGore could see this as “scholarly debate”.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Time to pick tobacco ? Cotton ?

[mass55th]

Well Al, if TV has made people complacent, the internet you invented has made people lazy!!

[sergeantdave]

When Gore wants to eat a sandwich, he has to make an appointment with a proctologist to feed him.

[DannyTN]

This from Gore who as Vice President said Ellen DeGenerous' openly gay show was a good thing.

Were all the complacency votes counted Al? Seems to me your one of the biggest proponents.

[.cnI redruM]

GOre should a foremost expert on complacency. He personifies it.

[bc2]

"Our democracy is suffering in an age when the dominant medium is not accessible to the average person and does not lend itself most readily to the conveyance of complex ideas about self-governance," Gore said.

This is going to sound crazy, but I thought the way to educate yourself was through BOOKS and READING and THINKING and maybe some DEBATE.

I know that when I dropped out of college a few years ago after less than 1 semester I probably didn't make the smartest choice. However in that past 4 years I have given myself the self-education of a lifetime... John Locke, Adam Smith, Thomas Paine, The Federalist Papers, David Boaz, F. A. Hayek, etc...

And to hear Gore talk about the complex ideas of self-governance makes me sick... this coming form the Vice President of the most Nanny State Executive Branch our generation has ever seen.

PISS OFF GORE! stupid wanker...

[kallisti]

rotf. thank you, piercing as always.

[T Lady]

Thank you Mr. Huang2! Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! This only illustrates just how idiotic the Goron really is, and thankfully, were all spared of his residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

-Regards, T.

[GailA]

AL THE BORE IS SO BORING that the University had to GIVE away seats in order to fill the audience for his BORISHNESS!

[steve-b]

Our democracy is suffering in an age when the dominant medium is not accessible to the average person

That "internet" thing you invented is solving that problem nicely.

[Tares]

I actually find myself in agreement with Algore on these points.

Al Gore, however, is not likely motivated by a desire to elevate the level of political discourse. His motivation for giving a speech like this is likely two-fold: 1) convince people to watch his TV shows---you know, the TV shows made by (wink, wink) smart people, for (wink, wink) smart people. And 2) If his attempt to create a viable TV/media network fails, to lay the groundwork for a revival of the "Fairness" Doctrine---after all, if a (wink, wink) smart network can't make it, well, we'll just have to force our programs onto TV and radio, it's all getting too stupid without our (wink, wink) smart perspectives.

Al is simply playing to the Democrat superiority complex with this speech.

[xrp]

Al Gore is right, regarding television. However, he failed to address the Internet medium, which by and large is used by a more educated populace, for delivering political messages. The Internet has helped lead the rise of conservatism in the USA in the past 10 years. Intelligent/educated people tend to vote more conservative than liberal (and make more money, too). However, it does seem that Howard Dean understands the power of the Internet...somewhat. But right now, conservatives (Drudge, etc) have the market cornered.

[kabar]

Carter called it a malaise.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

I thought algore invented TV?

[twigs]

What does it do to us that has relevance to democracy? Does it encourage passivity?

He hasn't seen our family in front of the TV (thankfully)! I'm a Rep and my husband is a dem. News like FNC encourages us to go at it, "discussing" the news of the day. My 18-year-old daughter often leaves us shaking her head and saying "not again." But she's aware that media coverage is not something you take as gospel and she knows how important it is to vote. The world is not necessarily like Gore describes it. But then that's no surprise. I don't think he inspired most people last election to think that he had his finger on the pulse of the people.

[jordan8]

The "quasi-hypnotic influence" of television in America has fostered a complacent nation that is a danger to democracy

Won't argue with that.