POSTED RESPONSE TO A COLUMN BY JONATHON FREEDLAND IN THE GUARDIAN
The first comment is right on the mark.
My only objection to it is that the situation in the United States is extreme beyond anything else with which I am familiar.
And, sadly, the United States casts a shadow on the affairs of almost everyone else on the planet, effectively giving its small electorate the role of global aristocracy.
This stuff puts the lie to the concept that voters in America should ever vote for issues. The really important issues are rarely discussed, and the ones that are discussed are subject to complete revisions of view.
The system screams to voters that you must vote for what you perceive as character and personality traits, for those are all you can count on.
And that is not a result of the "media," it's implicit in the structure of American politics and in its role as global imperial power.
