Whew!
Great thread, a few comments--
Often, essayist overdramatize to make a point and blend concepts to try to provide a big picture. Whoever wrote the article threw in everything but the kitchen sink trying to make the point that generally speaking we in the US are spoiled, not well informed, willing to take the lead of biased media sources, and are unrealistic in our expectations of the Executive Branch.
Also, the article is pointing out that there seems to be a feeding frenzy between the media and the public with growing momentum-- our current president is a complete boob, a backroom operator with evil connections to big business, and a liar who knowingly misrepresented the reasons for the Iraq War in order to get the public behind it, manipulating the public's rage and heartsickness on 9/11 in order to protect our oil interests.
The article's position is that if you buy into those views you are just a lemming-- things are not as bad as all that-- look at all the good things you have . . . simmer down now. The article implies that an alternative view point would be that things are not all that bad, the executive branch must be doing something right, and we are all just a big bunch of complainers blindly following vulture media's lead.
Though I agree that we should take a moment-- just a moment-- to think about how fortunate we are with all of the things that are "right" in America, there is no shame in a little public uneasiness and outrage, and nothing wrong with the media noticing that direction and going with it. Whether the media loves the president or hates her (!) there will always be folks who stay on the surface, just accept the media pablum and do not make up their own minds. Then there are the rest of us, more than you would think, who look at all media viewpoints with a degree of cynicism, take it all in and make up their own minds.
I do agree that the media is pretty strident right now in its attacks on Bush, but I don't agree that the US in general is a bunch of whiners. One reason the US is such a great place is because many people before us would not settle and think they were lucky enough as it was. Civil Rights, worker's rights, FDA regulations which protect us from being poisoned, all came about because folks did not focus on what they had but focused on what was wrong. This does not make them ungrateful or whiners, it makes them patriots.
History, not just US history, is full of people who would not settle. If we collectively think Bush is doing a poor job, we will get our chance in the near future to replace him. If we think the war is bad, we can vote for people who are against it, or go to Washington and hold a sign outside the Capitol building. And in the meantime, we are going to go to our coffee shops, and virtual coffee shops and talk to each other about all of this-- both superficially, when we have not had the time to really look at something, and critically, when we have had the time, looked at a few sources, picked our own opinion out from all of the noose. This is not whining, this is democracy.
If the media wants to focus on Bush's flaws and mistakes, they have every right to do so. If the media wants to ignore any number of positive things about his administration and take every opportunity to illustrate what a poor public speaker he is, and wants to imply that he is in corporate america's back pocket, so long as the stories are not a complete fabrication, they have every right to put their stories out there. Since it is a free mediia-- and getting freeer all the time with channels like Youtube, Blogs, etc.. We have ample opportunities to carry forward our suspicion of media bias and find an alternative channel for our information.
Keep complaining, keep trying to make things better, and every once in a while, for a sec, take a look at all that we have and be grateful.
Vin
Great thread, a few comments--
Often, essayist overdramatize to make a point and blend concepts to try to provide a big picture. Whoever wrote the article threw in everything but the kitchen sink trying to make the point that generally speaking we in the US are spoiled, not well informed, willing to take the lead of biased media sources, and are unrealistic in our expectations of the Executive Branch.
Also, the article is pointing out that there seems to be a feeding frenzy between the media and the public with growing momentum-- our current president is a complete boob, a backroom operator with evil connections to big business, and a liar who knowingly misrepresented the reasons for the Iraq War in order to get the public behind it, manipulating the public's rage and heartsickness on 9/11 in order to protect our oil interests.
The article's position is that if you buy into those views you are just a lemming-- things are not as bad as all that-- look at all the good things you have . . . simmer down now. The article implies that an alternative view point would be that things are not all that bad, the executive branch must be doing something right, and we are all just a big bunch of complainers blindly following vulture media's lead.
Though I agree that we should take a moment-- just a moment-- to think about how fortunate we are with all of the things that are "right" in America, there is no shame in a little public uneasiness and outrage, and nothing wrong with the media noticing that direction and going with it. Whether the media loves the president or hates her (!) there will always be folks who stay on the surface, just accept the media pablum and do not make up their own minds. Then there are the rest of us, more than you would think, who look at all media viewpoints with a degree of cynicism, take it all in and make up their own minds.
I do agree that the media is pretty strident right now in its attacks on Bush, but I don't agree that the US in general is a bunch of whiners. One reason the US is such a great place is because many people before us would not settle and think they were lucky enough as it was. Civil Rights, worker's rights, FDA regulations which protect us from being poisoned, all came about because folks did not focus on what they had but focused on what was wrong. This does not make them ungrateful or whiners, it makes them patriots.
History, not just US history, is full of people who would not settle. If we collectively think Bush is doing a poor job, we will get our chance in the near future to replace him. If we think the war is bad, we can vote for people who are against it, or go to Washington and hold a sign outside the Capitol building. And in the meantime, we are going to go to our coffee shops, and virtual coffee shops and talk to each other about all of this-- both superficially, when we have not had the time to really look at something, and critically, when we have had the time, looked at a few sources, picked our own opinion out from all of the noose. This is not whining, this is democracy.
If the media wants to focus on Bush's flaws and mistakes, they have every right to do so. If the media wants to ignore any number of positive things about his administration and take every opportunity to illustrate what a poor public speaker he is, and wants to imply that he is in corporate america's back pocket, so long as the stories are not a complete fabrication, they have every right to put their stories out there. Since it is a free mediia-- and getting freeer all the time with channels like Youtube, Blogs, etc.. We have ample opportunities to carry forward our suspicion of media bias and find an alternative channel for our information.
Keep complaining, keep trying to make things better, and every once in a while, for a sec, take a look at all that we have and be grateful.
Vin
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