(no subject)

[hnpcc]

It occurs to me (as it has probably occured on LJ before, but I can't find where, so maybe it hasn't) that the main reason I could not live in the US is that I don't think I could cope with a full two years of political bullshit in the lead up to the elections. And not just the low level obvious posturing you get here either, but the full blown hyper campaigns that are all kicking off now. The election's not till 2008! How do people cope? I don't manage well with the official 6 week campaigns (plus the posturing, which can last up to a year, granted).

I think if I were American I'd have to live OS for large periods of time. Or in Alaska, without good TV reception.

Comments

[jamaisneutral.livejournal.com]

bloody political posters and campaigns drive me mad here, and they're pretty limited in time.
(it's just that there's so many elections here! Sometimes it's yearly. Hang on... It is yearly again now... last year we had municipal elections, now it's federal....Then it'll e FLemish, European... what's next?!)

[epideme.livejournal.com]

One thing I noticed in my 6 years is that Australians are a lot more apathetic than the UK (Unless you count an obsessive attention to interest rates.)

On the one hand it's pretty good, but I can't believe what Government Ministers could get away with that would have meant a resignation in the UK.

I still can't believe how the UN food for Oil scandal hasn't brought down the government or how they can get away with the amount of logging in Tasmania etc.

OTOH I'm glad I don't live in the US, but not just because of the amount of politics.

[hnpcc]

I totally agree with you in terms of what should be cause for resignation. Part of it has to do with the amount of press - the UK has a much larger press that acts as a watchdog, Australia has a very small press with very little owner diversity (soon to become less after the media ownership bill gets passed). If the Murdoch papers don't care, then about 3/4 of the population never hears about it, and therefore doesn't care.

Part of it has to do with the extremely low expectations the population has of politicans, who usually rate somewhere along with second hand car salesmen in terms of trustworthiness. Which then begs the question as to how they keep getting elected, but I've given up wondering that.

[bungo.livejournal.com]

How do people cope?

"It's entertainment, stupid."

(to the extent that most people notice it at all.)

[damienw]

(hi, sorry, this is just a drive-by: can you send me some email? i seem to have mislaid your address... me = dmw@pobox.com)

[jakebullet.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's a bit much.

Even being in Canada, we get all of the Seattle stations so we see all of the commercials and get most of the hype. It's actually the local campaigns that annoy me more than the federal ones.

[hnpcc]

They're so personalised, that's what really got to me. It's not attacking the policies of your opponent, or putting your case - it's implying that the opposition all sleep with homosexual goats when they're not busy helping armed robbers and cooking the books. The level of vitriol amazes me.