Who Voted for Bush?

ok. i will be nice and explain myself in the nicest way possible because i feel that this is an important behavior to notice when it comes to politics. we are all guilty of being biased. we all think we are not.

first let me clear the air and say that i personally dont like Rush Limbaugh at all. i share many of the same opinions that Alex does.

But this is about a basic flaw in human behavior that we all have, not about politics or Rush Limbaugh.

here is what Alex said:

Rush Limbaugh deceives people every day.

One guy on a daily basis spreads venom, half truths, and misleading facts which affects the way people vote...

I remember last summer driving across the US, listening to Rush (AM radio travels further) and trying not to laugh out loud that anyone would fall for his actions.

The difference is that you probably agree with much of what Rush has to say, so you don't see the dishonestly. I don't agree with either of these people, so it is easier for me to see the deceptions from both...

Colin, I saw your "political chart" that you so carefully recorded for each of us and posted the results. You are VERY likely to agree with alot of what Rush has to say... he is playing to your preferences...

The difference is that you probably agree with much of what Rush has to say, so you don't see the dishonestly. I don't agree with either of these people, so it is easier for me to see the deceptions from both...

this is what i am trying to say:

Alex characterizes Colins opinion of Rush Limbaugh as being biased because Colin is more likely to agree with what Rush Limbaugh says (supported by the political test which for the sake of this conversation can assume is accurate)

Alex then admits repeatedly to having a negative opinion of Rush Limbaugh and has said in the past that he has a negative opinion of Rush Limbaugh listeners - and used that fact to say that his opinion is MORE balanced because he is more likely to see the negative side of Rush Limbaughs preachings (i.e. the "half truths" etc).

What i was trying to point out (in the wrong way obviously) is that Alex is also biased (admittedly) AGAINST Rush Limbaugh which also causes him to both view Rush Limbaugh and his opinions in a negative light. It causes him to focus more on the "half truths" rather than weigh each thing said on its own merits. i think that the only way he could argue that his opinion about Rush Limbaugh is more valid than Colins is if he could prove that he had absolutely no opinion whatsoever about Conservative and Liberal politics and the Republican and Democratic parties, Rush Limbaughs politics and Colin.

Its my belief that we all behave pretty much in this way. we all see people, opinions, beliefs and ideas that we agree with in a more favorable light and those that we disagree with in a more negative light and we are almost incapable of weighing them evenly and without bias. i personally dont think its possible to do so.

This plays out on GFY at least 100 times a day. "CNN is propoganda, Channel 5 in Porvo, Finland tells the real truth (or the "my news is better than your news" debate)" - the reality is that one side is telling the news from a perspective that is relevent to the USA, US politics and current events that effect the USA and the other is telling the news from the perspective of people who live in a tiny, sleepy town in the Baltic Sea whos greatest concerns are how to grow a better potato and certainly not where is "osama bin laden" and "how do we deal with terrorism in the 21st century". This is what i believe to be the "accidental bias" of media worldwide. it leads to opinions and world views that are accidentally biased. no matter how bad we dont want to believe that they are.

I dont believe that i am balanced in any of my opinions. i try to be. i want to believe at times that i am. but i really dont even believe that its possible to be. i find myself constantly accepting statements from people i like, agree with or respect with less question than those of people who i dont - at which point i then immediately find 6000 ways to rip that statement and that person apart. Alex does the same thing in my opinion... but he does so while trying to present admittedly biased opinions as balanced and accurate facts.