illumined horizon

I’m not a sophisticated and astute enough observer of politics to understand the whole pundit/sticking to a predetermined set of talking points phenomenon. I think there are professional communicators advising politicos that this is the way to influence and convince people of a particular message or set of principles. Judging from the Republican successes since 2000 I’d have to say it’s a successful practice for the right. It seems, however, that this is not a healthy practice to engage in for an optimally functioning democracy.

Perhaps, it’s unrealistic to think that every American citizen is sophisticated enough about politics, to render this phenomenon obsolete. But it seems to me that what this practice foments is a reliance and/or dependence on talking heads, and a media elite for information at the expense of free critical inquiry and research of the individual (and moreover the citizenry at large). If progressives and the left can develop and implement a media strategy to foment critical inquiry rather than dependence on punditry and demagoguery (black box voting machines aside) there may be numerous left electoral victories in medium to near term future ahead.