Red Blogs & Blue Blogs – Day 4

If there were similarites over the four days of blog comparison, I sure didn’t see them…

 

Townhall.com took a look at Barack Obama today in several postings.  Two of these deal with his current struggles to find a VP vetting team.  Another article goes to great lengths to defend the Obama candidacy in the face of rumors that have plagued his campaign recently: Michelle Obama’s alleged use of the word “whitey” in a speech at their former church and the accusation that Obama is a secret Muslim intent on the destruction of America.

 

Daily Kos was another story.  I could barely get through the rants of the posts, much less the reader comments, to figure out what was being said.  From what I could gather, the general sentiments were along the lines of:  the GOP is an “embarrassing failure,” John McCain is a gozillion years old (apparently his birth certificate was found in a cave and is written in a language that, according to dailykos.com, has been dead for 1,900 years – yet somehow they managed to translate it – so witty and humorous over there at dailykos.com), and George Bush has single handedly managed to wreck the US economy.  This goes beyond the definition of “politics.”

Red Blogs & Blue Blogs – Day 3

The top item on Daily Kos discusses voters in Washington state, saying, “I don’t think they’re too gung-ho for 100 more years in Iraq, or four more years of the Bush agenda.”  A blog is understood to be a compilation of opinions, but these statements come across as facts, which is dangerous, misleading, and, at the risk of sounding trite, unfair.  When John McCain spoke about 100 more years in Iraq, he was speculating and speaking in broad terms.  Dailykos.com would have readers believe that McCain is pushing for legislation to guarantee 100 more years in Iraq. 

 

 

The main story on townhall.com boasts “Big-Mac:  The Taxpayer-Friendly Candidate.”  This leaves readers with the assumption that not only is Obama less taxpayer-friendly, but also that McCain is the only taxpayer-friendly candidate.  Last night’s post detailing Obama’s flip-flopping on the issue was the perfect lead-up for this.  But, I can only speculate that, when looked at closely, both candidates may have said things that could be misconstrued as being on both sides of most issues.  I think that’s called “politics.”

Red Blogs & Blue Blogs – Day 2

Tonight I thought I’d check out some of the reader comments/discussions on the blogs.  On Daily Kos, one word sums up a sizable majority of the responses:  angry.  Angry at Bush.  Angry at the Republican party.  Angry at Republican pundits.  Words like smug, smarmy, sexist, loathsome and extremist, to name a few.  A thread about the price of gas garnered the following responses about President Bush:  “What a dumbass,” “He can’t be gone soon enough,” “He’s such a schmuck,” “He doesn’t care because his buddies will insulate him from reality,” and on and on.  Angry?  Yes. 

 

The folks at townhall.com focused more on the upcoming election and not at all on a presidency that’s in its twilight.  The reader responses were equally one-sided, but not nearly as angry.  Two articles discussing how McCain and Obama differ on economics were answered with one post that was incredibly detailed – a breakdown of Obama campaign quotes detailing how he has flip-flopped on the issue.  Overall, the responses weren’t as angry or in-your-face at those at Daily Kos, but, dishearteningly, there were enough about the “black guy” to make me squirm in my seat.

 

But it seems the angrier the audience, the more responses a post receives.  In blogging, does silence mean consent?  I always find it more helpful to leave emotion at the door, and people will take you (and your message) more seriously.

Red Blogs & Blue Blogs – Day 1

It’s almost comical that two Web sites, presumably reporting on the same day’s events, could vary so much in their coverage.  I started with Daily Kos.  The number one posting was an excerpt from an interview with a Democratic Senate candidate from Nebraska.  The issue of the environment – clean energy, carbon emissions, the rainforests, deforestation, etc. – was the topic of discussion.  I was fairly certain this wouldn’t be detailed on the right-wing blogs, so I moved onto the next post.  Somehow this week’s flooding in the Midwest was more of a disaster because of the war in Iraq.  Specifically, and I’m paraphrasing, President Bush and his neo-con cronies are contributing to thousands of Americans losing their homes in the flooding.  The National Guard has been deployed to help these areas, but they are at roughly half capacity as the other half of their manpower and resources are in Iraq (thanks to Bush & McCain).  Another article basically states how a McCain win in November would equate to the third Bush term in office.  The book advertised on the side of the page “Goodnight Bush” is my favorite. 

 

 

On the more conservative side, townhall.com, more “newsy” in nature, had its standard articles by conservative figures such as Ann Coulter with “Obama was Selected, not Elected” and Dick Morris with “Hillary Circles Slowly Overhead.”  The site reiterates McCain’s offer/challenge to Obama to join him at a town hall meeting, an offer which Obama has so far refused.  Another article that caught my attention detailed how Obama’s race may still be an issue for voters in some states (Pennsylvania, for example).