Huh?

Everyday the news is filled with statements that just don't make any sense to me. The ideas they espouse are so jarringly disconnected that I just can't seem to make them resemble anything even close to logical thought. So I write them down. Then I study them later. The ones which are left still puzzle me. Maybe you can help.

- Many of those who say that government should stay out of private enterprise because no business is too big to fail are the same people who say health care reform shouldn't be enacted because it might cause large insurance companies to fail.

- Many of the politicians who say they don't want government involved in our health care are the same people who called a special session of Congress so they could pass a law to keep Terri Schiavo alive.

- Apparently those in the media who say they don't receive Republican talking points just happen to choose to use the same exact stilted language on the exact same day. Or did the word "dithering" suddenly become the most popular word in the English language?

- Isn't Fox "News" quoting Matt Drudge like Al Capone calling John Dillinger as a character witness?

- People identify certain "pundits" with whom they disagree as idiots. Fine. But when those same idiots come out and say something that their detractors agree with, they're held up as experts to be listened to. And people on both sides of the aisle do this. Case in point -- just because Rick "man on dog" Santorum is now saying the previous administration made some errors in the way they waged the war in Afghanistan, that doesn't make him smart. It makes him late.

- The Wall Street Journal states that more lobbyist dollars are currently going to Democrats in Congress than to Republicans. You'd think that story might have mentioned the fact that there are more Democrats serving in Congress than there are Republicans.

- Joe Lieberman says that now is not the right time for health care reform. Then why doesn't he give up his government run health care until it is time?

- And while I'm on the subject of Joe Lieberman, I find it amazing that this "independent" senator has stated that he already knows he'll be supporting many GOP candidates in the next election even though he doesn't know who exactly will be running.

- Poll after poll state that the majority of Americans want health care reform, yet Sean Hannity still goes on his program day after day and says that the polls are clear -- "Americans don't want health care reform."

- John Boehner says that the over nineteen-hundred-page health care bill the Democrats put forward is too long. That might be true. But I can't help but think that the zero-page version that his party has offered might be a little too short.

- Senator Chuck Grassley said that he's not opposed to end-of-life counseling, but thinks that those types of decisions should be made twenty years in advance. So does that mean that Senator Grassley knows when we're all going to die?

- It still bothers me that Sarah Palin can go to China and criticize our president on foreign soil, but when Natalie Maines of The Dixie Chicks did the same thing in England a few years ago she was vilified.

- Dick Cheney says that when President Obama is doing his job as Commander in Chief, he should always listen to his generals -- except for the generals who disagree with Cheney.

- According to Tucker Carlson, kids singing about President Obama is wrong. He called it "radical Khmer Rouge stuff." But Tucker didn't have any problem with kids singing about President Bush.

- It's not a news story, I realize, but it bothers me that when I type the word "Hannity" my spell check program doesn't recognize it and suggests I use the word "sanity" instead.

- When Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland, a few different actors and directors were very upset. Their rationale for why he shouldn't have been detained? "He's a brilliant director." Guess he didn't drug their thirteen-year-old daughters and then have sex with them.

- Bernie Goldberg told Bill O'Reilly that there were some people on Fox who have "outright lied" on their programs. He asked Bill if he wanted him to name names. Bill's face looked momentarily horrified at the thought of biting the hand that feeds him, but he quickly recovered. Bill -- who's always looking out for the folks -- said, "No, because then I'd have to go back and research it."

- The party that recently endorsed fifty million dollars worth of "abstinence only" birth-control education is the same party that brought you Ensign, Sanford and Vitter. And, yes, there are plenty of "non-abstainers" in the Democratic party, too. But at least they don't preach to us from a self-constructed moral high ground while spending our tax dollars on a form of birth control that's proven to be neither popular nor efficient.

- Rush Limbaugh spreads an outright lie about President Obama, tells his audience that he knows it's an outright lie, then says it doesn't matter whether it's true or not because he agrees with it.

- Fox keeps confusing excellent ratings with excellent news coverage. The Gong Show got good ratings, too. The difference is that they never claimed to be anything other than what they were -- a place to go to watch entertainers make fools of themselves.

So, please, help me out here, because I can't think of any more appropriate response than, "Huh?"

Comments

[Russwoody]

Mr. Hackel
Brilliant. You've put your finger on a phenom that is pervasive yet unchecked in this new version of America. That Fox News and conservative radio have gone unchallenged in any significant way for so many years now, has created an environment comparable to an unchecked fungus. It starts with fudging the truth a little here and there, talking only with those who agree with you, building on the fudges, and spending hours each day (three, Rush) speaking a string of thoughts and half-thoughts that morph into firmly held and espoused beliefs. No one, no politician, no political party, no radio host, no industry should be allowed to speak without challenge. Hell, the book I wrote (at www.Nuldoid.com -- hey, I managed to get a plug in here)... is about dissent. The biggest danger this glorious country of ours faces, is dominant and unchecked voices. Which is why, what you do here, Dave, is so important.
Russ Woody

[jade7243]

How about the same people that criticized Sarah Palin for quitting her governorship barely half way into her first term are claiming Joe Biden should "quit" as VP 9 months(!!!!) into his first term.

(Now where did I read that Joe Biden should pull a Palin???? Where was that???? Hmmmm...)

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

Just plain excellent writing!

[garyguitar]

Excellent observations as always. The Hannity-Sanity was brilliant! Also, the Gong Show is pretty much what its all about now. Check out the Tommy Tedesco (the most recorded guitarist in television and movie history) dressed up in a tutu singing about "When I had a career." People hear what they WANT to hear, not what's being said. Keep fighting the fight. You're a better man than I, Gunga Din!!!!!

[newsmctado]

Here's one paraphrased from some blog I read:

Many congressional opponents to Health Care Reform cite the cost ($900 billion over ten years, or 90 billion per year) as reason to oppose it, saying that it will cripple the economy. However, those same members did not bat an eye when President Obama signed $780 billion in Defense Appropriations for FY2009.

[howeverfaraway]

Check my avatar. I've felt that way for several years now...

[Housewife]

I think the appropriate response is some combination of laughing, weeping, screaming, vomiting and a lot of letter writing. I do all these things, but not in any particular order. I let the spirit move me.

[PeregrineBoy]

Wonderful material, Dave Hackel! There's no shortage of these sorts of things, which is a sad commentary. I suspect there's a website somewhere that posts such things daily. If you find it, please let us all know.

[COPerez]

Brilliant, Dave!

For the longest time, those statements had me slapping my forehead in frustration. But I kept getting the worst headaches... Now I'll just say "Huh?" Less painful.

[3fingerbrown]

Many who have believed for years that there's a huge, all-powerful, very conservative military-industrial-religious-economic complex that really runs this country are now disappointed that the president hasn't simply waved his magic wand and turned America into a progressive paradise. Huh?

[Dave Hackel - Huffpost Blogger]

Good one. All those years to create the problems Obama found on his desk and there are many who think he should have solved everything in a few weeks. And, of course, if he had -- he woudln't have done it to their liking.

[Leoneski]

I love this. The disconnect between these contradictions means there is no critical thinking going on. There is so much party line being spewed it is frightening. Great job, Dave for pointing it all out.

[midwesthousewife]

I think it is because the people making these statements have found out that there is no penalty. They can lie and distort with impunity. They will not lose their job nor their office.

[COPerez]

Agreed!

When did the word "lie" disappear from the dictionary? There really are discrete, verifiable bits of information "out there;" so when some bobble-head on the teevee spews a lie, why can't they be called on it? Instead, those who are called on to dispute the lie use mealy-mouthed words that don't add up to "they lied to you." And the media reports it as a "he said/she said" story rather than pointing out those obvious facts and how the statement does not comport with those facts.

And dog-forbid the audience do their own fact checking...

[ahackel]

Huh? works for me. However, those who earned the "Huh?"seem so obviously deserving. I guess,though, that they are mostly politicians who seem to be able to get away with anything. Will we ever learn that more of us have to call them on these things? Maybe Dave has come up with a new award that ought to be awarded on a regular basis. What would the award look like though? How does one depict a vacuum?

[ranchero42]

Rush Limbaugh LIES?!! You don't care if I ever sleep again, do you?

[treeder]

Excellent post, Dave. It sent me to my Bartlett's to dig up a quote I vaguely remembered. It's from Demosthenes; what he had to say over 2,300 years ago seems relevant to our current political discourse. He said, "Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true."

[BluebirdofUnhappiness]

I wish I could locate it or remember some identifiable details, but I read about some recent study that proved that statement was true.

[iamjones]

simply brilliant post!

maybe it is the context of your article, but all of a sudden i realized the term "birth control" makes no sense. it is, in fact, "impregnation control" which is quite a different thing.

[ranchero42]

Can't we split the difference and call it the "Libido Credo"? The place they seem to need it most lately is Texas; in practice they appear to regard it lightly so I guess they should rename it "Chaste Until You're 'Faced".

[Dave Hackel - Huffpost Blogger]

Never thought of it that way. But you make a good point. Births seem to be going well. It's nine months prior that the controls are needed.