Unfortunately, too many of our citizens have lost faith that our biggest institutions -– our corporations, our media, and, yes, our government –- still reflect these same values. Each of these institutions are full of honorable men and women doing important work that helps our country prosper. But each time a CEO rewards himself for failure, or a banker puts the rest of us at risk for his own selfish gain, people's doubts grow. Each time lobbyists game the system or politicians tear each other down instead of lifting this country up, we lose faith. The more that TV pundits reduce serious debates to silly arguments, big issues into sound bites, our citizens turn away.
No wonder there's so much cynicism out there. No wonder there's so much disappointment.
I like the "silly arguments" line, but I'm somewhat wary of the causal claim. My sense is that people like silly arguments. Unfortunately.
NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/us/politics/28watch.html?hp) about the same quote:"Mr. Obama cast the administration’s mistakes as a communications lapse, not flawed decision-making. He managed to suggest that partisan posturing clouded his message about health care and the economy."