One of the many things we must keep in mind with regard to national politics is that campaign speeches and campaign "programs" are image-building enterprises. In the process, negative escapades are to be hidden, denied or at least spun. Politicians know that much of their appeal is dependent on emotion.
My particular irritant, however, is the national news media. They make no attempt to hide their bias. In fact Bernard Goldberg, author of "Bias," an expose of how the media distort the news, states that, "Media stars easily talk about 'right-wing Republicans and right-wing Christians and right-wing Miami Cubans and right-wing radio talk show hosts, but the only time they utter the words 'left-wing' is when they are talking about an airplane."
Liberal views are not liberal at all — just reasonable. The media are controlled, for the most part, so their view is the reasonable one.
Let's keep our minds open and compare opposing views in this long year of clang and clatter of political rhetoric.
Jene Kartchner
North Salt Lake