Letter to America

Dear America,

Every day I watch the "news" on TV. Everything's breaking, spinning, screaming. The talkers talk and talk in endless circles, in calloused clichés, in hollow, manufactured, regurgitated rhetoric. But they don't talk for me or you.

They reduce race to entertainment, war to sport, politics to reality TV. Day after day they stare at themselves in their meta-mirror; they think they can shape the narrative of our lives.

America, we are witnessing a giant circus, a spectacle. Our journalists are lackeys, our pundits clowns. They told us war was necessary, inevitable, noble, then costly, tragic, devastating, then necessary, inevitable, and noble again. When will it end? When will we make the show stop? When will soldiers be human beings instead of pawns and statistics?

America, it's not just Fox News. Faux news has spread like a devastating disease. The talkers talk about appearance, not reality. Infotainment rules the airwaves. Hannity, O'Reilly, Greta, Buchanan, Tucker, Matthews, Blitzer, Cooper, King: these are game show hosts. The truth-tellers are few and far between. The status quo is noise and distraction.

America, do we see this? Do we see through this? Do we know that Barack Obama is not his pastor, that his pastor is not Obama, but that both are complex human beings? Do we know that Jeremiah Wright said and did more than the 30-second loop shown endlessly on our networks? Do we know that a picture of someone wearing a turban while visiting Africa does not mean they are a terrorist? Do we know that patriotism is more than a flag pin? Do we know we don't have to vote out of fear?

America, I can feel you struggling, resisting. I can feel you changing. Some of you are timid and scared, but gradually you are moving. I see your faces in crowds, in lines, in rallies. I see the hope in your eyes.

America, it's okay. Don't listen to them.

America, think what we could do together. Young and old, male and female, black, white, Hispanic, Asian. Millions of voices calling for change.

America, don't let them call it a fairy tale. Don't let them reduce you to robots. They are the cult; they drink the Kool-aid.

Their cynicism corrodes, their propaganda pollutes.

Our story is much better. We are the movement. We work together; we talk; we know what can be done.

America, I believe the best stories will prevail.

America, did you know we can create the narrative?

America, the world is watching, waiting, listening.

It's our turn to speak.

Comments

[jeskiley]

I couldn't agree more, we can create the narrative. But first, you have to get entirely off the horsetrack so you can "be the change we're meant to see." You'll never see me in birkenstocks, I'm leaning towards cowgirl boots, but I did throw my hands in the air and turn off our tv's during the day. Amidst the new quiet I've become incredibly active, thanks to that small change alone. As I told my kids, once the moans and groans officially died down, tv is a tool for education and it provides entertainment, but it must be used responsibly. We shouldn't gobble it up as if it's the last meal on earth, and we should never let it do our thinking for us.

The best stories will prevail, I love it!

[DemandTruth]

Birkenstocks are actually pretty comfortable. They have great support - as do cowgirl boots (as long as you wear the really well-made ones) but they let your feet breathe too!

TV should only be used as a fiction-box. An entertainment tool - just like the nintendo you hook up to it. Now that's not to say you can't learn from the TV. I've become a better cook because of the food channel. I've learned alot about history (that used to bore me in school) because of the History Channel. I've learned tons about our oceans and our rainforests and our deserts and our ancient monuments and our planet and sun and moon and stars and the universe that surrounds us because of the Discovery and History channels. I've learned about ancient inventions and medicines and prehistoric man and the wonders of the Grand Canyon! That stuff has helped me in my evolution and I can't deny or dismiss that.

And I must say that I enjoy some reality shows (the artistic ones where the winner is required to have some sort of talent - not simply be the cutest ho with the biggest boobs that can capture Flava's or Rock's attention for the moment) and there are some GREAT fiction, adventure, mystery, sci-fi, and comedy shows on TV.

But don't look to TV for your news. If you want commentary on the news, KO, TDS and Colbert (even Southpark, acutally) are great. But to stick to TV for fiction and entertainment. Go to the internet for your news.

[AuntSam]

Thank you. If only media would report the news and not keep making the news ....
CNN's (Lou Dobbs) is now just another form of Bill Reilly (FOX)...so anybody have a good answer for: What do you get when you join 'Fair and Balanced' with the 'The Best Political.­...' = ________
Again, anyone who casts their vote based on televised 'news reports', any media hyperbole or what someone has told them or racial, gender, religious bias is casting their vote in ignorance. Do your homework - fact check - educate yourself on candidates history of character, policy statements, voting record and their contributions to our nation and society. And please, vent to the media outlets if you believe they are misrepresenting facts, telling only half truths and otherwise spinning what they tout to be news when in truth is only their own biased rhetoric.

[SamThornton]

Joe, you said, "Our journalists are lackeys, our pundits clowns." Poor lackeys, poor clowns. Journalists and pundits are giving the lackeys and clowns a bad name.

There is a reason for this inferior performance, of course. The one thing TV producers fear more than death itself is silence. Dead air. This biases them toward people who can talk continuously, who never shut up, who can actually speak when inhaling. In short, the Scarboroughs, Blitzers, Mathews, and -- yes -- even the Olbermans.

As they used to say back in the old West, empty wagons rattle loudest.

[Klingon]

I'm in, Joe. As millions already are. Lead the way. Let the new narrative [of the people] ring far and wide. Speak up, everyone. Join. Touch. Get involved. As long as you allow the talking heads to box you in to narrow, self-serving choices, nothing will change. America is being hijacked by a few. Where is the outrage??

[JasonEverettMiller]

Brilliant. I am so ready to start "the next great chapter in the American story." This last two chapters almost made me close the book.

[jdbid1]

Everything you say is absolutely true but to say, "Don't listen to them." is a bit unrealistic. The media decides what we hear and see and they only present what they want to present. They decide who gets coverage and what slant to give the coverage. The best example is a 60 Minutes piece on Obama when a "average" person was asked who he was supporting said that he would like to support Obama but he just couldn't get past Obama being a Muslim. When the reporter asked if he knew that it was not true, the individual reacted in disbelief. Now the story on Rev. Wright has taken on a life all its own. No longer is it a discourse that this Country desparately needs on race and gender. Now it has become a matter of how Obama characterized white people in his speech when he used his white grandmother as an example. As a white person, I know exactly where he is coming from and I dare say, most if not all white people, upon some serious reflection would have to agree with him. But the media has already decided that what he said needs to be analyzed and dissected for no other purpose but to fill air time. Then the cable TV hosts and their guests along with the conservative talk show hosts fan the flames until the viewer and listener has etched in their brains that Obama hates white people. Mission Accomplished!

[StephenSmoliar]

I do not think it is unrealistic to say "Don't listen to them." If we stop watching their propaganda­-disguised­-as-news, then we stop watching the advertising that keeps them in business. We have the opportunity to take a big broom to not only our minds but also the airwaves in one fell swoop! We can also go after our cable providers to demand alternative sources. At least two of them are out there following a higher standard of delivering "straight" news: One is the BBC World Service and the other is Al Jazeera English. The last time I wrote to Comcast about this, I was informed that there is not enough demand for such programming; so let's up the level of demand!

[Sumocat]

"Do we know that Barack Obama is not his pastor, that his pastor is not Obama, but that both are complex human beings?" -- I find it so bizarre how easily people have equated Obama with his pastor. I understand the comments stirred up a lot of emotion (I viewed it more rationally but I understand there was emotion), but Obama wasn't even there when the comments were spoken. He literally had nothing to do with it, yet was forced to respond.

[bellecloche]

Absolutely!

[DemandTruth]

Nailed it.
Beautiful and spot on! You speak for me as well as to me. Thank you!