The article I chose shows how important partisanship is in politics today. At the end, of the most recent election both candidates promised a time of putting party lines aside. If the past week is any indication, the next four years are going to be filled with the Democratic and Republican parties going back and forth at each other’s throats. My article illustrates this point by discussing how Bush’s cabinet nominees are being scrutinized. Gale Norton is Bush’s nominee for Interior secretary. Her past history as a constitutional lawyer, a good one, is the root of the problem her opposition has with her.
Many are scared about how Norton will handle issues concerning the environment. Bills that are coming up for vote that could possibly give some organizations the biggest financial boost they have ever had are in jeopardy now because of Norton. Her past history shows how she moved too far right on the conservative wing, and people are afraid she will give the states too much power and won’t regulate tough enough. When Clinton was elected eight years ago, no one paid this much attention to the people he chose.
Does this mean that the people he chose were a perfect fit? I don’t think so. His nominees had to go through the same hearings, but now, we have to listen to these hearings on television. I think the Democrats know exactly what they are doing with public image. I am not trying to say this is all some sort of elaborate spin to make us all forget about how the Democrats dragged the election on for a month too long, but I think it should be expected that they will do something to take the heat off of them and put it back on the Republicans.
Now is the perfect time while people’s interest in politics is still fresh and a new idea. I can’t blame them for doing what they need to get by during these hard times for the party. The two major parties in our country are both very concerned about how the public feels about them especially after our last election. The article did an excellent job of balancing the story enough to show both sides of the hearing. The author told the reader about several cases Bush’s nominee for Interior secretary had handled and gave the verdict with the reactions afterward.
I learned personal and professional history of Gale Norton, but more importantly I learned how far away we are from BI-partisanship becoming a possibility. One final thing this article taught me was the media may not always be to blame, but I have watched several biased news broadcasts this past year about our presidential election. A small group of Tele-castors on both sides have made their feelings very evident to their audience without regard. Journalism needs to remain unbiased at all times in order for us, as the audience to have complete trust in them.
I know many other people beside myself who lost a lot of trust in the news this election season. I believe too many broadcasters today are not separating their political beliefs from their job. I bet next week’s headlines will be bashing some Democrat from Illinois who washed his clothes with detergent that kills some sort of endangered whale. My point in all this is that the media with all its fickleness is a perfect combination when mixed with politics and all of its ruthlessness.
