Does Anybody Feel Fatigued By The Current Administration? Like It's Early '79 Again? (1 Viewer)

Aside from the usual suspects of the board chiming in to bash and to retort this back to the PSF mod thread, are there any true moderates (not you Scotsmen) that feel fatigued by the relentless coverage of bad news in America?

Do you think the reality is as bad as the coverage would have us believe? If so, are you fatigued by the administration? Asking out of curiosity, because it feels that way to me. 

Yes. I mentioned this in another thread. There is no way that the voting public can keep up with everything that's going on, and work a job, and raise a family. It's exhausting to keep up with all the news, much less decipher the 10 different angles to decide if you're happy, sad, or angry. Indifferent doesn't seem to be an option any longer. 

KCitons said:

Yes. I mentioned this in another thread. There is no way that the voting public can keep up with everything that's going on, and work a job, and raise a family. It's exhausting to keep up with all the news, much less decipher the 10 different angles to decide if you're happy, sad, or angry. Indifferent doesn't seem to be an option any longer.

Click to expand...

Interesting. The squeeze on Middle America to both function and be fully informed is very difficult, I would imagine. Especially with so much personally invested (that seems like the wrong word, but other phrases are worse), as you have as a parent of a military member.

I had a thought that this fatigue might be a function of the United States's government possibly having gotten too large, with too many social roles to fill. Rather than just an administrative state of affairs, it needs to nurture, moralize, hector, harangue, police morally, etc. 

I was thinking we were better off when we laissez-faire'd a lot of this at the federal gov't level. 

Just a thought.

I think social media feeds on the bad news too much.  We have record low unemployment, raising wages, low interest rates a smoking hot housing market, no inflation to speak off, i know I am better off then two years ago, and I am not a Trump supporter.

Gopher State said:

I think social media feeds on the bad news too much.  We have record low unemployment, raising wages, low interest rates a smoking hot housing market, no inflation to speak off, i know I am better off then two years ago, and I am not a Trump supporter.

Click to expand...

Oh so you stopped cheering for the packers then?

steve bannon's stated goal was to "flood the zone with bull####" and it's working as intended

snitwitch said:

steve bannon's stated goal was to "flood the zone with bull####" and it's working as intended

Click to expand...

If that were really Bannon's goal, and his goal was to unwind the administrative state, he sure is trying very hard to do so. 

eta* And I think it's actually "flood the zone with ####," according to Michael Lewis, which is a telling difference. 

I was born in 1972.  As the Carter administration drew to close, I was probably worried about figuring out how to ride a bike and what cartoons were airing on which channels on Saturday mornings, as opposed to the geopolitical situation in the Middle East.  So it's hard for me to draw a first-hand comparison between now and then.

Funnily enough though, a few days ago I remembered complaining about Obama that the guy needed to be in the spotlight too badly, and how the guy needed to step back and let people forget about him for a while.  This was in the context of Obama going on ESPN to run through his NCAA bracket.  I look back on that past version of myself with jealousy for the doe-eyed innocence that I once had.  For the past 2.5 years, we've had to live with a president who is aggressively in our face literally every single day.  Every day is a new outrage, and it's impossible to get away from it.  It's not just the overtly racist, hateful, and un-American bile that Trump relentlessly puts out there.  It's also the idiotic stuff like cofeve and serving ####ty fast food on fine china and staring directly into an eclipse. 

I would be thrilled with an empty suit for the next four years.  Anybody who will stop intruding on every waking second of every day. 

IvanKaramazov said:

I was born in 1972.  As the Carter administration drew to close, I was probably worried about figuring out how to ride a bike and what cartoons were airing on which channels on Saturday mornings, as opposed to the geopolitical situation in the Middle East.  So it's hard for me to draw a first-hand comparison between now and then.

Funnily enough though, a few days ago I remembered complaining about Obama that the guy needed to be in the spotlight too badly, and how the guy needed to step back and let people forget about him for a while.  This was in the context of Obama going on ESPN to run through his NCAA bracket.  I look back on that past version of myself with jealousy for the doe-eyed innocence that I once had.  For the past 2.5 years, we've had to live with a president who is aggressively in our face literally every single day.  Every day is a new outrage, and it's impossible to get away from it.  It's not just the overtly racist, hateful, and un-American bile that Trump relentlessly puts out there.  It's also the idiotic stuff like cofeve and serving ####ty fast food on fine china and staring directly into an eclipse. 

I would be thrilled with an empty suit for the next four years.  Anybody who will stop intruding on every waking second of every day. 

Click to expand...

I was born in '73 and was just using '79 and conventional and historical narrative for historical reference. I also had the luxury -- as I've said before -- of researching for five years at my job, a job that included duties like reading so much of this stuff that it often felt like I was there instead of barely ascertaining the gas crisis at home. I do remember that and Iran, frankly, but I've been a burgeoning political little junkie since about four or four and a half, so there's that. I remember doing extra chores in exchange for a vote for Mondale when I was ten. (Who got much better media coverage than Reagan did, of course. I was not nearly so astute then.)

I never claimed to want Obama out of my life, but that the President and his gaffes are there every day is something I've noticed with this one. For this one, though, I blame both him and the relentless and willing negative coverage of him, something I've never seen before in my life. He reminds me of what the Royals in Europe must feel like, and that's a bad thing for the country, IMHO. 

rockaction said:

Aside from the usual suspects of the board chiming in to bash and to retort this back to the PSF mod thread, are there any true moderates (not you Scotsmen) that feel fatigued by the relentless coverage of bad news in America?

Do you think the reality is as bad as the coverage would have us believe? If so, are you fatigued by the administration? Asking out of curiosity, because it feels that way to me. 

Click to expand...

I think it depends on how you consume your news and where you get your news from.  In America "news" is a term with little to no meaning anymore.  There's about 30 minutes of every day dedicated to actual news by cable news.  The only national organization I watch on a regular basis is the CBS Evening News.  I couple that with 60 minutes and that's about the extent of my national "news" consumption.  Obviously, if I want to watch these debates I have to turn on CNN unless it's being broadcast by CSPAN, PBS etc.

By the way...it should give EVERYONE pause to notice the shift in coverage of these events.  When I was a kid, debates were on all the national networks.  I remember specifically because I hated those nights.  The shows I liked to watch I couldn't and we didn't have cable, so it was off to bed early those nights.  Now?  Now we have exclusivity rights to debates.  Stop and ask yourself why that is.  It isn't because the networks have an interest in getting news out to the people.  They want exclusivity because that equals in their pockets.  

That said, I AM fatigued by this administration.  To the best of my knowledge there hasn't been a more disgusting administration in my lifetime.  It's one thing right after another even if you're selective in your outrage.  There is PLENTY of legit disgusting behavior coming out of this administration.  If I limited myself to the pure incompetence level it's enough to exhaust anyone paying attention.  It's not like it's lie after lie being thrown out by the media in an attempt to undermine.  He walks up to the bonfire daily with a 55 gallon drum of gas and dumps it right on top...whether intentional and thus disgusting morally or unintentional and completely inept doesn't really matter.  It's all exhausting nonetheless.

Fatigue is an excellent word for '79, and it was a term for all. Gotta pull rank - i knew Jimmy Carter well, spoke with him for hours on the campaign trail (there could still be tapes somewhere in the basement of WHDH Boston, as some were for attribution), spent hours in a room with him, staff & well-wishers @ the '80 convention, i've even seen his penis and hung out with several Carter staffers (at an afterparty during the '76 Olympic Equestrian Trials, i split a Countess with one of em). Fatigue is perfect because we were even tired of Nixonian rage by '79 and powerless to deal w oil, stagflation, Escape-From-NY conditions in most of our cities and about 47 other things. 

There are two significant differences between then & now. First, we had no answers then. If Reagan had been a Commie, we would have gone Commie. Actually the view that capitalism had failed was far more prevalent than capitalism being the answer for the problems of that era. The combination of Ronnie's confidence and Carter's moralistic fragility, not any politics or policy finally receiving their due, won the day. The only guy smiling was the last man standing.

The other difference can only be described as the Rage of a Cuckold. The left has PTSD over the day Trump stole our wife, even though we weren't treating her all that well and honestly had other, more vital priorities. And because the thought of Mr Mushroom in our boudoir flashes so hot within us, we can neither properly nor effectively respond. We're still speechless, as anyone who turns on a TV can see. The only way to overcome that is to admit that our negligence, and not the charms of Spray-on Don, is at fault and re-learn proper husbandry for our 2nd or next chance.

I long for the days when political news would arrive once every few months by horseback, about events that occurred a few months ago, and that was it.

rockaction said:

Interesting. The squeeze on Middle America to both function and be fully informed is very difficult, I would imagine. Especially with so much personally invested (that seems like the wrong word, but other phrases are worse), as you have as a parent of a military member.

I had a thought that this fatigue might be a function of the United States's government possibly having gotten too large, with too many social roles to fill. Rather than just an administrative state of affairs, it needs to nurture, moralize, hector, harangue, police morally, etc. 

I was thinking we were better off when we laissez-faire'd a lot of this at the federal gov't level. 

Just a thought.

Click to expand...

I blame the 24hr news cycle.  To much time to fill up with attention grabbing headlines.  This paired with a reality TV drama loving society fuels a never ending race to the bottom 

I just long for a guy that can do the job without the constant fear of it all blowing apart.  I don't tend to follow up on people that seem competent at what they do.

Maurile Tremblay said:

I long for the days when political news would arrive once every few months by horseback, about events that occurred a few months ago, and that was it.

Click to expand...

I didn't realize we were talking 1879.

Sheriff Bart said:

I didn't realize we were talking 1879.

Click to expand...

I'm gonna edit the title just so Maurile rhymes with quarrel feels badly. 

IvanKaramazov said:

I was born in 1972.  As the Carter administration drew to close, I was probably worried about figuring out how to ride a bike and what cartoons were airing on which channels on Saturday mornings, as opposed to the geopolitical situation in the Middle East.  So it's hard for me to draw a first-hand comparison between now and then.

Funnily enough though, a few days ago I remembered complaining about Obama that the guy needed to be in the spotlight too badly, and how the guy needed to step back and let people forget about him for a while.  This was in the context of Obama going on ESPN to run through his NCAA bracket.  I look back on that past version of myself with jealousy for the doe-eyed innocence that I once had.  For the past 2.5 years, we've had to live with a president who is aggressively in our face literally every single day.  Every day is a new outrage, and it's impossible to get away from it.  It's not just the overtly racist, hateful, and un-American bile that Trump relentlessly puts out there.  It's also the idiotic stuff like cofeve and serving ####ty fast food on fine china and staring directly into an eclipse. 

I would be thrilled with an empty suit for the next four years.  Anybody who will stop intruding on every waking second of every day. 

Click to expand...

For those who would argue with the ABT people, this is a good post to look at.

rockaction said:

Aside from the usual suspects of the board chiming in to bash and to retort this back to the PSF mod thread, are there any true moderates (not you Scotsmen) that feel fatigued by the relentless coverage of bad news in America?

Do you think the reality is as bad as the coverage would have us believe? If so, are you fatigued by the administration? Asking out of curiosity, because it feels that way to me. 

Click to expand...

Tired from the bull#### that comes out Trump everyday?   Yeah. Exhausting.  

Not tired from policy platform fAtigue though.  

What is Trump’s healthcare plan again?  Lol.  Joke.  

A second rate reality tv star overtook the White House.  And brought an elephant to its knees.  

So, what’s to be tired about?

dkp993 said:

I blame the 24hr news cycle.  To much time to fill up with attention grabbing headlines.  This paired with a reality TV drama loving society fuels a never ending race to the bottom 

Click to expand...

I agree.  Look at ESPN or CBS Sports.  They talk about trades that "almost happened" a year ago to fill time and get news.

zoonation said:

Tired from the bull#### that comes out Trump everyday?   Yeah. Exhausting. 

So, what’s to be tired about?

Click to expand...

Without being too cute, exactly the rhetorical you posed to youself.

Tired of Trump and/or the relentless coverage of him, really. 

It’s a weird enigma over the past year or so where something happens every day, but nothing is really happening.  

shader said:

It’s a weird enigma over the past year or so where something happens every day, but nothing is really happening.  

Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean by this.  You mean nothing is happening to you?  Consider yourself one of the lucky ones who isn't directly impacted by this circus.

Acknowledging the "fatigue"...

whoknew said:

Now this is a good tweet. I may have to give Michael Bennet some more consideration:

"If you elect me president, I promise you won’t have to think about me for 2 weeks at a time. I’ll do my job watching out for North Korea and ending this trade war. So you can go raise your kids and live your lives."

Click to expand...