Watching Japanese news makes me angry
The media clearly has a vendetta against the DPJ. It's less apparent in regular news broadcasts, but the frequency with which they pick up anti-administration issues and with which they poll for (un)popularity numbers must be deeply skewed.
I wouldn't give Prime Minister Kan an A+ for his handling of the disaster, but there is no reason for his opponents to get so riled up. It isn't as if he is purposely standing in the path of recovery in any way. Yes, things could go faster. Information could be more readily available. Stronger stances could be taken. Yes to all of these things, but he is not doing anything to merit this crazy constant barrage of criticism, not when turning over to a new administration would cost even more time and disrupt the flow of this process.
His popularity ratings have been plummeting for his entire term pretty much because the media has been prompting people to doubt him the whole time. They were pretty bad about Hatoyama, although Hatoyama added fuel to the fire by being incredibly indecisive and lacking a backbone on really important issues. I understand why people were pissed with him.
Which brings me to another point-- who gave Hatoyama the reins to lead the witch hunt against Kan? I'm sorry, but Hatoyama is a quitter without a backbone, who says things he cannot back up. What gives him the right to tell Kan that his time is up? Perhaps he is more credible than Ozawa, a man knee-deep in financial scandals who does not know when to shut up, but I have nothing but contempt and disappointment for both of these people and do not see why they felt that anyone wanted them to open their mouths now (if ever again). And why anyone is listening to them is beyond me.
With that said, the DPJ and LDP are not ideologically that far apart. They differ on several sets of issues, but considering many DPJ members are former LDP-ites, the divide is not that large. Yet they fight like cats and dogs, and they try to constantly undermine each other. I don't understand what gives Japanese people the idea that switching politicians constantly will make any difference, much less switching parties. Unless he does something egregious like starting an unjust war, scaling back civil liberties, destroying the economy, or perhaps overlooking a serious national security risk... you've got to give someone a few months or years!!
Oh Japan, you can shuffle around your PMs all you want, but what do you think it will actually change?
I feel really bad for Kan. I don't think he deserves this maelstrom, and I'm sure all of this ridiculous political maneuvering hinders his ability to actually do things that need to be done. Everyone needs to buckle down and listen for a change.
Although there is a fair share of crazy WTF going on in American politics, I have seen and met enough good politicians to know that many of them do earnestly try to help people. I do not see this in Japan. These assholes just want to make themselves look better by dragging others down and wasting time.