eglamkowski's Journal: This is so stupid

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/4/10/223445.shtml?s=ic

Giuliani Off the Mark on Grocery Costs

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani hasn't done a lot of grocery shopping lately -- at least based on his answers about the cost of milk and bread.

I do grocery shopping nearly every week, and I haven't the faintest clue how much a gallon of milk costs, nor a loaf of bread. I occassionaly buy a quart of milk, which I guess is in the 1.50 neighborhood, but that doesn't mean a gallon is $6. I would guess probably in the neighborhood of $3.50 to $4, but I never look at how much a gallon would cost so I can't say that with any confidence.

As for bread, I couldn't even make a ball-park guess. I *NEVER* buy bread. Can't even guess what the price would be.

It's not because I don't shop, it's because I don't buy those things.

What an absolutely stupid, stupid, stupid non-story that is. Not knowing the prices of milk and bread isn't, in my mind, indicative of any damn thing at all.

Just because someone doesn't know the prices of arbitrary food items doesn't mean they are out of touch, it just means they don't buy those things. They may be staples for some people, but hardly for every person. Probably for fewer people than you might imagine. Especially in a place like Atlanta where everybody seems to eat their meals out at restaurants, three meals a day, 7 days a week. And those that don't are generally the immigrants who are going to eat whatever they are used to, not what americans may be used to, and probably doesn't involve either milk or bread (asians certainly don't eat those things, and they represent a sizeable portion of the Atlanta immigrant population). I'd be surprised if the majority of people in Atlanta could have gotten that question close to right...

As a Counterpoint...

[Shadow Wrought]

Anyone who's going to lead us should at least know how much the Milk and Honey are going to cost;-) Bread, not so much. That's what Manna is for;-)

But

[Stargoat]

But what's not stupid is that Giuliani is anti-property ownership. The man is a fascist, and I do not use the term lightly. What does he have against ferrets? [typepad.com] Any man who would abuse government position to outlaw furry pets needs to have his priorities examined, and then tossed out of office.

Re:

[eglamkowski]

I'm not very keen on Guiliani being the next president, either.

The only candidate I see that is even remotely acceptable is Ron Paul. I don't care much for his foreign policy ideas, but pretty much everything else on his platform is solid. You can't always get everything you want, but there's no need to settle for getting NONE of what you want... Which is what I would get with any other candidate that has announced so far.

2008 is going to be a very bad year, and the four years that follow it are finally

fwiw

[stoolpigeon]

the two most common items bought in a grocery store are bread and milk. i'm guessing that is why those would be chosen. but it is a stupid question and a stupid accusation. no one at that level of politics lives a 'normal' life. so what value is it trying to differentiate candidates on a basis where they are all identical? you wont run into Hillary or Obama at your local grocery store any time soon.

i would like to know if he is familiar with details around wages and cost of living on a national

Re:

[Xaoswolf]

Hell, I live a normal life, and I don't know what milk and bread cost. I can tell you what a 24 pack of frozen corn dogs costs though...

Re:

[eglamkowski]

I think it's just the soccor moms and a couple of single white guys who could correctly tell you the price of milk and bread. The rest, the vast majority of people, wouldn't have a clue. They may be the most commonly purchased items, but the number of people who purchase them are fairly small, much, much smaller than the number of people who consume them. For every family of 4, there's probably only 1 person doing the shopping...

Re:

[eglamkowski]

This sort of mindless crap (did the reporter know the price of these things without looking it up?) is a result of the idiotic 24-hour news cycle that is destroying this country. Whoever dreamed up the 24-hour news cycle deserves a thorough beating for the catastrophic damage they've inflicted to the world. It's not being sarcastic either - it really is a devastatingly bad thing.

Re:

[Degrees]

Yes - but can we get CNN to do a story on how much hurt the 24 hour news cycle causes? Maybe we can get Fox and CNN to war against each other, and after they have decimated each other, we all win.

I can hope. ;-)

Re:

[iminplaya]

It is a machine designed specifically for the purpose of distraction. And by all accounts, it is providing quite a bang for the buck. It seems to me to be working almost flawlessly. They receive our collective attention AND approval carte blanche. Only we can possibly motivate any change. They have no reason to do it on their own, not with the wild success it enjoys as it functions now. In fact all indications are that we want more of it. We can't spend our money fast enough. That's why we need credit, to s