The Political Arena: The Elephant and the Badger
3/28/2008 12:00 AM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 2
John McCain, you're next. Come on down!
It's easy to imagine McCain standing on his stoop and yelling for those damn kids to get off his lawn. The man is amazing, but he's also old, and traditionally, old age and liking
God of War 2 are mutually exclusive. Republicans don't get asked these questions as often and McCain earned his maverick reputation -- and the enmity of a lot of his own party -- by voting across the aisle or moderately as his conscience dictates. Until recently it was hard to accuse McCain of pandering. Presidential politics seems to have changed that, given that he's now comfortable hanging out with the likes of a Christian Right demagogue like Hagee.
Ontheissues.org has an interesting collection of quotes, but these are mostly from 1999. Back then McCain believed that "unfiltered Internet robs our child of their innocence and that parents should be active in media kids are exposed to." So far, so reasonable. He also said that we should "label violent media products like we label cigarettes" -- uh, what? -- and that "violence in the media
caused the Littleton shootings (Columbine)" .
[Note: emphasis mine] More recently, in 2003, the Christian Coalition rated him 83 percent on their complicated and influential "family values voting record" score.
Would McCain legislate against violent media? Is he pro-censorship? Maybe, maybe not. The scarier thing for gamers is his belief that violent media -- and not the many other factors -- caused Klebold and Harris to rampage and kill people. That's political pandering during a tragedy at worst and a misguided view of gaming at best.
That's All, Folks!
Four candidates remain. Well, technically Hillary is mathematically out and Nader is a hopeless cause, so we actually have two remaining. One has promised to do nothing unless compelling evidence surfaces linking videogames to societal ills, but states that children's time might be better spent on things other than gaming, while the other seems to think that games cause ills but hasn't said what he'd do about them (and in fairness, that quote is from 1999).
An informed voting public is key to a democracy, and voting in favor of videogames and Hollywood -- even if you don't like the product -- is a valid issue. It's important to know where candidates stand on issues important to you. So, now you know, and knowing is half the battle!
