the_unlettered_tellurian

Here is The New York Times attempt at putting Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain’s views on a few issues.

As someone who has not been following the candidates (or the American elections) regularly, I found this page very helpful.

But there’s one thing that has been bugging me a lot…even a  casual glance at the so called “Issues” gives the impression that America is, in fact, a nation full of people who can’t see beyond themselves…just like  ordinary people in any other country in the world.

For all the preaching that the US government does about international issues, not to mention all their interference in international affairs, their politicians appear to be pretty “homegrown”, restricting their opinions to “issues” that are more “local” than “global”.

Goes a long way in reinforcing views expressed by many in the past that it is the US “machinery” that runs the game…the US politicians are only as “enlightened” as their counterparts in any other country.

Or is it that the NYTimes has restricted its choice of “issues” listed on the page to those that are merely national in scope?

This New York Times graphic gives an unique perspective on the percentage of income spent by Americans on fuel across various counties.

Titled The Varying Impact of Gas Prices it says that the counties where motorists spend the highest percentage of their income on gasoline tend to be in poor, rural areas.