JSZ, you picked the wrong person to condescend to on this site.
We agree on most things that I've read and I think
this topic suffers from a lack of clarity in regards to the subjects it is targeted at. So before you lampoon my attempts at being playful (not trying to be condescending, certainly not to someone who posts with the quality that
you do) let me... re-posit the initial sentiment.
Everyone has a right to an opinion. Certainly, everyone should take some vested interest in the political system in the United States, and no one is really an "expert" on politics, but rather on the subjects that constitute the label. That being said there are people who are extremely vocal that fall into one if not all of the following;
1.) They aren't interested in politics deeper than the surface. Think of it like reading the headline of a newspaper and
not the actual article.
2.) They aren't informed due to their lack of actual interest. (The Inquirer example isn't uncommon. I hear things like that in line at the grocery store all the time.
Actual political commentary being made based on the headlines of what is basically science fiction.)
3.) They don't actually engage in debate (if they did they'd be exposed) because doing so might force them to
learn something about the other side.
If you fall into one of these three basic examples and are still extremely vocal about your disdain for... let's say George W Bush or Barack Obama, my question is
why? Where does that comfort come form? These same people (again, the limited populace I'm referring to) wouldn't do that in regard to anything else (or at least they seem not to) so what is it about politics that makes it alright?
I'm not talking about elected officials or people who have opinions that I think are wrong, or people that aren't "scholars" on the subject but people who
obviously have no information upon which to base an opinion, being extremely vocal on what said unfounded opinion entails
specifically.
This portion of the population seems like its growing... and if the intent is to
remain uninformed and get louder, my response is... shut the fuck up. If that doesn't clarify the original post... I don't really know how to make it any clearer. I'm laboring under the assumption, at some point, everyone who has watched a television or attended a rally has said to themselves "Who gave this nutbag the mic?"
JSZ