- McCain to Seize the Stormy Moment?
- Dem apologizes for joking about hurricane
- Teen daughter of GOP VP pick is pregnant
The first article's headline was on CNN.com, but the actual article was on Time.com in association with CNN. The second was on CNN's ticker, with considerably less importance, but still noteworthy. The third popped up while I was doing research on the first two, and took the top spot on the list of headlines.
First I shall discuss McCain and Hurricane Gustav.
August 31, 2008-John McCain specifies changes to Republican convention with hurricane Gustav approaching the area. Original photo source unknown.
The first day of the Republican National Convention was cut short yesterday due to the impending danger of Hurricane Gustav. Most of the proceedings were cut altogether, leaving the convention to a bare-bones schedule to get through necessary procedures.
CNN's Michael Scherer wrote about John McCain's attempt to use Gustav to bolster support for Republicans, after the Bush administration botched the rescue and relief efforts during Hurricane Katrina. McCain's choice to suspend the convention in order to provide leadership in the face of Gustav seems admirable at first, but Scherer noted one instance in which McCain may have taken it too far.
“During a Sunday interview with NBC News, McCain said he was even considering accepting his party's nomination Thursday not from the convention floor in St. Paul as planned, but via satellite from somewhere in the storm ravaged region."
“The media is already asking questions about how much good it does to have a politician with a big security entourage and no actual connection to the afflicted region staying put there.”
I can't help but agree with Michael Scherer. McCain is doing an admirable thing, but with less than admirable motives. There is a fine line between promoting your party and doing something for personal gain, and I can't say exactly where I think McCain is. I'm wary.Here is an extended excerpt from Mooney's brief Ticker article:
“The hurricane is going to hit New Orleans about the time they start. The timing is, at least it appears now, it will be there Monday. That just demonstrates God is on our side,” Fowler said, while laughing. Fowler also told Spratt that “everything’s cool.”
Speaking to the Associated Press Sunday, Fowler said his comments were intended to make light of the late Rev. Jerry Falwell's remark that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 was God's punishment for abortion and homosexuality.
"I don't believe in a God that's vengeful," Fowler said. "I believe in a God that's compassionate."
"This is a point of national concern. I think everybody of good will has great empathy and sympathy for people in New Orleans," Fowler also said. "Most religious people are praying for people in New Orleans. There is no political connotation to this whatsoever. This was just poking fun at Jerry Falwell and the nonsensical thing he had said several years ago."
Was Fowler talking about something he truly believed? No. He was laughing, he was joking around--not at the expense of hurricane victims, but toward Jerry Falwell, who really did believe that Hurricane Katrina was an act of God. Fowler doesn't really believe that the timing of the hurricane showed that God was on the Democrats' side. So why is this even in the news?
This is the kind of crap that makes me avoid politics. People take things seriously when they shouldn't, with the intentions of hurting their enemy's credibility. To their credit, CNN doesn't seem to be putting a spin on the story. And I can take comfort in the fact that this was a brief article and that it wasn't front-and-center in CNN's list of news. It was on the ticker.I think it's safe to say that most people don't look upon teenage pregnancy with warm feelings. Bristol's pregnancy, by way of association, hurts her mother's, and McCain's, reputations. Everyone involved insists that they are proud of Bristol's decision to keep the baby and marry the father.
There are a couple different ways to look at this article. People might still see the pregnancy as something to hold against Palin and McCain, or they could see it as evidence of strength. The Palin family professes their full support of Bristol, which shows strength in the face of adversity. Teenage pregnancy doesn't have good connotations, but to accept the challenge and rise to meet it is admirable.
Dana Bash, who wrote the article for CNN, seems to focus more on the negative side and the reaction to it instead of looking for something positive. The article isn't bad, but I hope readers are aware of its focus. There is more than one angle, after all.
Bash, Dana. " Teen daughter of GOP VP pick is pregnant." CNN.com. 1 Sep 2008. CNN. 1 Sep 2008 <http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/01/palin.daughter/index.html>. ACCESSED AT 1:00pm
Mooney, Alexander. "CNN Political Ticker: All Politics, All the Time." CNNPolitics.com. 1 Sep 2008. CNN. 1 Sep 2008 <http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/01/dem-apologizes-for-joking-about-hurricane-2/>. ACCESSED AT 12:30pm
Scherer, Michael. "McCain to Seize the Stormy
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