it's funny, insightful and generally anti-mayor daley, which i have to admit, reluctantly, is a good thing. the city is clean, it's run efficiently -- at least on the surface -- and it's about as nice a living experience as you're likely to find in a large city. but the man's ego and thirst for control knows no bounds ...
but i write this piece mainly because i came across this yesterday:
The problem with the conspiracy theorists is that they find a need to look past what's staring all of us in the face: Reams of reporting clearly shows that the Bush Administration fabricated an argument to take us to war in Iraq. If you don't believe this by now - no matter what your political affiliation - you simply aren't paying attention. (emphasis added)
i couple this with something that a former coworker put on her blog, and that's been making its way across the "reality based internet" for a few days: what we conservative "wingnuts" see when we read the new york times.
***
it's getting harder and harder to read the internets lately ... i guess admitting the fact that several countries had what was thought to be rock-solid evidence about saddam and WMDs -- too hard to remember, or admit, or to write (even in pencil) into their little book of facts.
or allowing that the leading newspaper in america might have a small blind spot when it comes to owning up to its institutional biases -- they're insane, they're "wingnuts," they're obviously living in a fantasy world, etc.
it's pissing me off. people go too quickly to the knee-jerk response when a little thought would lead them, maybe, to realize how shallow and self-serving their cherished beliefs about the other side actually are.
no wonder the internet is polarizing -- you don't have to force yourself to listen to views that you think are wrong -- not even silly, or misinformed, but plain wrong. you can have your bookmarks set so that you never once venture into the land of the other side, so your little digital echo chamber is perfectly complete.
i am sorry for the rant, but this is really pissing me off this morning.
1 comment:
I'm not going to argue with you on the point of evidence for WMD's. As you stated, several other countries came to the same conclusion as this administration. Whether the evidence was fabricated by the United States, or it was actually just a complete and utter intelligence failure across the board, we'll probably really never know the truth.
With that said, I think the underlying reason individuals in the "liberal" media like to lash out at this administration boils down to the incompetence they've shown in handling this war and the issues plaguing our country over the last 6 years. This is not a knee jerk response with little thought. History clearly shows that the U.S. has continually underestimated the insurgency in Irag (among other things). In 2003 our President stood on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln in front of a massive banner that read "Mission Accomplished" to boast about our glorious victory in Iraq. The events of that whole day seem completely surreal considering we continue to have large numbers of troops on the ground even three years later with no end in sight. This one event blatantly shows the incompetence of not only the President, but also the people that surround him.
And to put icing on the cake, the Middle East is now becoming increasingly unstable. Granted some of that isn't the fault of the U.S, but we've played a big role.
I think American's have gotten tired of the constant "spin" that comes out of the White House and they want to see a president who is willing to converse and listen to people who aren't ultra conservative republicans. An example of this would be when he holds those town hall meetings and the guest list is virtually locked down so only supporters of the Republican Party can really ask questions to the President.
There are also many large domestic issues that this administration hasn't done anything about, even though there has been a Republican majority in Congress for the last six years. We haven't seen any progress on Social Security, Healthcare, or Education. Instead they go round and round debating stem cell research, flag burning, and gay marriage in an effort to scare ignorant midwestern conservatives to vote for the Republican Party. The blame can be partly put on Democrats as well for not pushing and working with the Republicans on their initiatives so they can make some positive changes happen for our country.
This is why I believe people are so willing to give knee jerk responses in the media today. We are all in a complete and utter state of disillusion about the way our government has acted over the last six years. Like it or not, the buck stops with the Republicans because they have been in the majority. Please don't take this response as me bashing the Republican Party either. I'm not saying all republicans are lunatics*, but it just seems like they aren't in tune with mainstream America right now. Instead, it seems like they are definitely leaning hard towards the right just to appeal to the safety of their base. While doing this, they are also making a conscious decision to turn a deaf ear on any good ideas or debates that come from the left.
* Although, I’m pretty sure if you looked up lunatic in the dictionary there would be a picture of Ted Stevens.
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