There are entirely too many subjects for blogging this week. I've been batting them about inside my head in a wild tennis match of sorts. Ideas and thoughts flying everywhere! Bouncing off of every conceivable surface. Collecting bits of grey matter as they careen and collide and crash. Though I miss my windowed corner of writing escapism at the Napa, California Starbucks just down the road from the state hospital, I'm every bit as stimulated in my present hometown of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Why, my family oozes enough source material to keep this thing going for years on end. But, the news end of things hasn't been to shabby, either.
Before going on to other matters, let me air a grievance I have toward an unknown college-aged female driver who was parked next to me at the light on Church Street just before the I-24 bridge at 10:47 this evening. She was texting, tapping and scanning with the tip of her manicured finger, all the while holding her smoking cigarette in place further down the same finger. Besides the obvious distraction of texting, not to mention that it's illegal (and carries what I consider a wimpy fine of $50), the double whammy of performing the maneuver while smoking with the same hand seems a bit of a risk. A lit cigarette falls into her lap, burning through the flimsy layer of her short Saturday-night party dress, and then what? Pain? Startle reflex? Reaction? Over-correction? A perfectly awful late-night weekend automobile accident? The two girls never make it home? This irritated mother never makes it to pick up her daughter from a babysitting gig at the other end of town? PEOPLE! Please, either pull over or put your phone out of your sight! It's not worth the risk and possible outcome! Asking what bar serves the strongest drinks or what party offers the hottest eye-candy: are these topics valued above human safety and life? Enough said.
So-o, Andrew Breitbart, the blogger who posted the merest wisp of a portion of a speech given by Shirley Sherrod, a black woman who was, until Tuesday past, the Agriculture Department's director of rural development in Georgia, ought to be ashamed of himself. If you don't know the story, in brief, he's a politically enthusiastic Tea Partyer who blogs from this perspective. Nothing wrong there. More power to him. More power to us all. Whatever. But, as one who is putting information out there for the masses, and one who possibly holds the power to sway public beliefs and opinion, he has a responsibility to research thoroughly and present honestly. His posting of this video snippet, which was picked up by FOX News and other media outlets, had people believing this woman was a racist toward whites and refused to help white farmers. In reality, the full speech reveals a professional who, in a moment 20 years ago or thereabouts, realized she had a bias which kept her from helping poor people in general, a bias which was coloring her character and her ability to perform her job in its highest capacity; this realization caused her to reassess what she had carried with her as the result of painful experiences in her childhood, and she actually went above and beyond to save a specific farmer from losing his livelihood. Her strong faith in the Lord and her deep passion for her position were also in evidence. All of that was lost as the few seconds of a few of her words went viral and spread outward in a rather large radius before someone was able to grab the attention of the news powers-that-be and entreat them to watch the speech in its entirety.
(I'm including a video link to the speech:
the REAL story behind Shirley's words.)
(To be balanced, I'm also including a link to one of Andrew Breitbart's sites:
Big Government.)
Based on what I've read about him, he can't really be considered a journalist. The way in which he conveys news, the formation of his words and ideas around the stories, reeks of sensationalism. It's attention getting. The pot he chooses to stir is set aside for boiling alive everything in his path, everything set in his laser sights, everything which does not run parallel to his views. There's definitely a way to discuss different opinions and divergent philosophies. His ain't it. The very idea that his type of writing in ingested by so many who are desperate for change, eager for the next better thing for America, scares me. The flames he fans are, indeed, seductive, but they also fan hatred. When questioned by the press, Mr. Breitbart deflected any responsibility for what he chose to air over what he chose to ignore, by stating his intention was to show the racist reaction of the listening audience and had nothing to do with the words of Ms. Sherrod. (I'm simplifying for the sake of space.) Wow! Do intelligent people honestly swallow that rotten bait? Check out the unfolding story for yourself.
I know people who are members of the Tea Party. This entry is not political in any way. But, I hope my affiliated friends can see that this man casts their efforts in an ugly light and detracts from their basic premises. Though I don't doubt his intelligence, I doubt his integrity. I realize these are strong words. The more I write on this, the more incensed I become because this man tramples on the very moral foundation upon which this country was built. There are good folks engaged in the political process because they love this country and they respect people even though they reject the principles embraced by certain factions within this country. Calling individuals pricks and soiling the graves of the newly dead with verbal diarrheal rhetoric is simply uncalled for.
Question the news. Don't believe everything you read. Research for yourself. Be open-minded. Realize no side is entirely wrong or entirely right.
Enough said.
No comments:
Post a Comment