(Excerpted from "Blame the Media" by Matt Taibbi, in the 10/25/12 Rolling Stone.)
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What we Americans go through to pick a president is not only crazy and unnecessary, but genuinely abusive. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent in a craven, cynical effort to stir up hatred and anger on both sides. A decision that in reality [could be made with] one or two days of careful research is somehow stretched out into a process that involves two years of relentless , suffocating mind-warfare, an onslaught of toxic media messaging directed at liberals, conservatives and everyone in between, which by Election Day makes every dinner conversation dangerous and literally divides families.
In every race there are now not two but three dominating figures -- the Democrat, the Republican, and The Process, and we're raising whole generations who hate The Process far more than they like either candidate.
If we did this right, people would come out of presidential elections exhilarated, not exhausted. The campaign should start and finish in six weeks. There should be free and equal TV access to both candidates. And it should be illegal to publish poll numbers.
It's a shame. Feeling optimistic [about elections] shouldn't require turning off the TV or tuning out The Process. What we are witnessing, after all, is the world's greatest contest for power, an amazing fairy tale full of iconic moments that we'll watch no matter how much Sean Hannity or Chris Matthews screams at us. But it would be awesome, next time, if we could find a way to turn down the volume.
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