What if it happened again

So I just got through watching a very interesting documentary in class about how the media greatly affected the public opinion on the war in Iraq. It showed how after 911 there was really little to no criticism on the bush administration from mainstream media outlets such as the Washington Post. The documentary seemed to be trying to say that this lack of criticism played a major role in the decision to go into Iraq shortly after 911. Any questions of the Bush administration during this time were frowned upon and seen as unpatriotic. As a result of this when the attention was turned away from Afghanistan and to Iraq there was almost no immediate criticism which would have been extremely helpful in making a much more intelligent decision. This is a prime example of the media not being objective and how that can be detrimental to the country as a whole. This documentary really got me thinking about what would happen if we were attacked again? What would be different about both the medias reaction and the reaction of the general public? If the reactions did turn out to be different would this be good or bad? I personally feel that another terrorist attack would not bring the country together as it did in the wake of 911. I think that instead it would intensify the criticism of the Obama administration from right wingers such as John McCain and Dick Cheney. I also feel that talk radio hosts such as Rush and Hannity would begin attacking the current administration very quickly after an attack happened. I do not think that this would be a good thing for our country because it would split us down the middle. I think that we need to find a middle ground between these two different responses. It is important that if we ever were attacked again that we get behind our president and support him in what would be another difficult time for the nation, however we still would need to remain objective about how far we would follow. I really would like to know others opinions on these questions so please comment.

Left-Right Black-White

About two years ago, during the primaries I really became torn as to which political party that I should affiliate with. My whole life I was raised a Republican and had never really questioned it. It was during this time that I realized that there were issues on both sides that I agreed with and also ones that I didn't agree with. The one thing that has astonished me the most is how different the two parties claim to be but when all is said and done they seem to handle things in the oval office strikingly similar. Although I was not an Obama supporter I really liked his stance on bringing our troops home. I am not saying that I believe our motives for being in Iraq are all evil, I just feel that our present internal problems should hold a higher priority than problems overseas. I also agree with Obama and the democrats on environmental issues. A few things that I do not agree with are the tax reform and gun control. While I agree with the republican side on taxes and gun control I strongly disagree with them on issues such as the death penalty and stricter narcotics laws. And then you have the issues that are not simply black or white like in my opinion abortion, education and health care. I am not sure I agree with either side on these issues. For example I do feel that our health care system is flawed and needs work but I am not sure that a universal health care is really the best way to solve its problems. There is a reason that the United States offers many of the most highly trained doctors in the world and I feel that we would loose this if health care became state run. I am not going to go into why i feel the way I do on all of these issues because it is irrelevant to the point I am trying to convey. My point is that it seems impossible to me that one person can agree with either the left or right completely. What really frustrated me during the election is that because of our two party system I am forced to choose the lesser of two evils. I think that the media is one of the main reasons we are enslaved to the two party system. An example of this is the presidential debates that took place just a year ago. The debate was limited to the democratic and republican representative with no voice for other parties such as a libertarian representative. The justification for this was that there was not enough support for any other parties for them to have a spot in the debate. I understand that simply being allowed to participate in the debates would have changed the out come of the election, but it would allow other opinions to be heard. This could then lead to more national interest and increase support of other political parties. These are just some of my thoughts on how everything is not simply left or right.