Beyond Bodacious

War news and the actual events behind it are gruesome, but the TV Chyron underlining it all makes me wonder who is in the control room? Here the picture of the killed Husseins is the backdrop for the dancing Chyron that reads “Beyonce hates being called bodacious.” You can’t read between the lines because there is only one. What the control room airs is indecipherable. The feeders are the newsmakers, not the news itself, even they are bored. The broadcast control room allows the Sadam hanging verdict to influence elections. The suppression of James Baker’s critical reports on Iraq do not influence elections – hardly Chyron-provoking material. What is pictured large on channel 1 and writ large on channel 2 are the two ring circus of Mad magazine-like collision and distraction.

The Elephant in the Room

Letter to the editor, submitted by my woman friend to the NYT, accepted and edited, full transcipt below responding to The Elephant in the RoomI, too, have hidden from political discussions over the last few years because of the resulting emotional confrontations. Not long ago, you could reasonably debate political issues like the economy, social programs, education, even war. Now, we live in this you’re-either-with-us-or-against-us new order. The divider, who calls himself a uniter, and a corrupt Republican-led congress have stayed the course in derailing the US on so many fronts that the political issues have been elevated to truly moral issues. Support for abuse of prisoners, erosion of citizen’s rights and privacy, loss of the checks and balances in our government through the use of signing statements, voting fraud, bald-faced lying that can be proven by use of “the Google” – the list goes on and on. The offenses are so massive that that it looks like anyone who supports this administration is either immoral or just plain ignorant. My outrage causes me to be quiet lest I lose civility in social situations.

Overcoming Our National Fear

The force of national fear is in the air, but what is the moral response to American victimization? To paraphrase Arianna Huffington:

A great leader is there to inspire fearlessness in a nation. Look at FDR. He said in his first innaugural, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” This is incredibly profound. With these words, he helped Americans in every walk of life who feared the future of the Great Depression and the horrific years of the Second World War. With his words, we got through it.

This is the opposite of what this administration, what this president has done. They have decided instead, to spread the disease of fear. And with fear, to divide us, to make us afraid, to cause us to doubt ourselves when we need to question adminstration actions. There message is - be very afraid – because the administration has the answers, trust us because you don’t know. If you begin to disagree, then their chosen press agents step in to say “shut up, turn off the mic” and instill fear against you for being un-American.

Democrats, when you are intimidated and hear “you want to cut and run”. You say, “Our military has achieved victory in Iraq, why do you not want this to end?”