How the Hype Became Bigger Than the Presidential Election

rollingstone.com — Well, it's over. Or almost over, thank God. It looks like Obama will probably win, which I guess is good news, compared to the alternative – a Mitt Romney presidency would have felt like four straight years of waking up with a naked Lloyd Blankfein sitting on your face. But it's not so much the result that matters – it's the quiet. What we Americans go through to pick a president is not only crazy and unnecessary but genuinely abusive. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent in a craven, cynical effort to stir up hatred and anger on both sides. Politicians are much to blame for this, but we in the media have to take responsibility for the damage we do to the American psyche in the name of election coverage.

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