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September 30, 2004

Re: Spin

Gavin, I'm disappointed in your generalizations about my comments. But given you are defending the Bush campaign, I suppose using their favorite tactic of wildly bending the truth is sadly, appropriate.

Here's the facts. Only 37% of voters think Kerry sticks to his positions, and this is based almost entirely on the Bush campaign propoganda. Heck, 70% of Americans though Saddam Hussein was connected to or even behind 9-11.

Does that make the majority of America "dumb?" Dumb assertion. Of course not. I mean, sure, some of them are bound to be idiots. That's just the way nature and nurture made 'em. And some of them are brilliant. And some are tall. And some are short. America, the great melting pot.

While sad, and unfortunate for informed democracy, it's not their fault their sources of information are a joke, or that the media doesn't do a good enough job of challenging such misperceptions, or that many voters don't have time to deeply research every issue, or that we are all wired to prefer "facts" that support our existing beliefs, or to take mental shortcuts whenever possible.

Further, how many Americans are actually going to vote? Of those, how many are actually for Bush, once you take out all the independents and such? This is a sliver of Americans, not a majority as you grandly suggested. And of those, even a smaller number will actually log onto the Bush website.

Such a pity this discourse had to be lowered to such a "dumb" level. Perhaps next we'll hear how Kerry somehow called all Americans morons by stating Bush lied to us on Iraq? Or how we may determine a woman is a witch if she weighs the same as a duck?

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Posted by Randy Henderson at September 30, 2004 01:12 PM


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