Regular lookers at BIRCHES will know that SPARTY is our friend, one who has a cynical view of the "News" programs these days. I mostly agree with him. Here is his latest thought about how the current information medium, television news, spreads falsehoods:
A couple of items in Eric Alterman's column in the most recent The Nation reinforces my decision to visit the televison news programs only in my weak moments: The most frequent guest on Meet The Press in 2009 was Newt Gingrich, who got away without challenge with "In the Obama administration, protecting the rights of terrorists has been more important than protecting the lives of Americans" and on ABC's Good Morning America Rudy Giuliani said "We had no domestic attacks under Bush; we've had one under Obama," and George Stephanopoulos did not follow-up.
Regular lookers at BIRCHES will know that SPARTY is our friend, one who has a cynical view of the "News" programs these days. I mostly agree with him. Here is his latest thought about how the current information medium, television news, spreads falsehoods: 
10 comments:
And those are some of the "better" news sources....? Disgusting.
I heard a guy on the radio say today (mind you, it was on sports talk radio---) that he doesn't care what Obama had to say--- he was just cutting into his television shows. He would "rather watch the Red Wings lose, than have to listen to him drone on and on about all of our problems," and that he just, "want(s) them fixed."
I have this opinion that stupidity is feeding itself here. How are we to ask the hard questions if doing that doesn't bring in ratings--- The masses don't want to have to make hard decisions, to make a valid point on an issue and discuss it to a conclusion/solution. When ratings are all that those news stations care about, why have discussions that will go over most of the viewers' heads thus making them look for something "easier" to think about on another channel?
The majority of "average" Americans don't know the ins and outs of politics- how the government works- even though they all certainly had to take the courses to get out of high school. They allow themselves to get caught up in patriotic propaganda and consider themselves "informed" citizens. That's BS... They're not "informed" enough to know who their Senators and Congressmen are, let alone what those people may do for a living.
As a teacher, whose livelihood is spent trying to build informed citizens and "thinkers", am I bitter?
-Trase
U-S-A!! U-S-A!!
Yes, and maybe even twisted, but I'm in that category as well, because I agree with you. Ignorance is bliss! What irks me is that many of these informed citizens get their informed opinions fed to them by stupid fools (esp on that idiotic Fox News channel) who dig up a smattering of facts taken out of context, apply faulty logic, and come up with some ridiculous conclusion to support some preconceived looney idea. Whew - that was a long sentence, but I am not changing it! Rant rant rant! Another problem is that people are not taught to be critical thinkers - it didn't seem to be part of my high schooling at all. People need to be able to look at an issue, weigh up both sides, and come to a conclusion. I read recently that the ability to think critically was a hallmark of adulthood. Perhaps this statement is a bit condescending, but if it's true, there are a lot of people stuck in adolescence/childhood/infancy.
Fox just makes sh*t up... there is rarely even the smattering of facts. Makes for great entertainment, which sadly, is all that many people can handle intellectually.
-Trase
I have tried to find it in my soul to give a good goddamn about Jay Leno and Whathisname, the redhead, but I just can't see spending as much time on it as CNN seems to think it warrants.
Sometimes I check Fox to see how they're dealing with a story, but they seem to be hopelessly stuck on CORN. Lord love a duck!
It's pretty hard to discuss any thing in depth when everything has to fit into 2-3 minute sound bites. It's not just on TV you know. Try to carry on a conversation in almost any gathering and it flits from one thing to another like an ADHD child. We have so little time to listen to each other let alone evaluate and discuss anything. So much has to involve who can come up with the cleverest zinger to put someone down. Bring up anything and the response need not have any relationship to it. How's this for a rant!!!
CORN?
I was very proud of my President today (Friday)
George Bush would have wilted like a week old cut rose had he talked with the Democrats like that.
sorry, I didn't mean CORN, I meANT ACORN
Oh. T thought there was a new group, or there was some controversy with the actual vegetable... like Obama was going to ban corn on the cob. That's how evil he is!
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