Merle Haggard
Established Member
Democracies are in trouble because people are unable to apply the slightest amount of critical thinking to their reading and instead expect the media to think for them.
Like most of the posters in this thread, whose reaction to reading something they disagree with is "OMG BBC non-story waste of money MUST BE STOPPED" rather than "oh, I just read something I disagree with, which is something I should expect to happen regularly in everyday life".
Not disagreeing with your broad point; but you're talking about differences of opinion. The B.B.C. item is under 'News' not 'Opinion' or "Editorial' and there are details which are implied therefore as being fact that could be disputed - because posters believe they're wrong. That's something different.
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
My apologies, I didn't realise Ernest Marples was a labour politician who in 1961 appointed his Labour friend Mr B Ching.
Perhaps Labour should have stepped in to prevent it once they took power but the damage was already done. By the Tories.
Their manifesto, and promises by their Shadow Minister of Transport, promised that they would not only 'stop the Beeching cuts' but 'reverse them'.
One of my first disappointments with politicians (of all parties)...