Our Sick Society
Time is running out before we're robbed of our sanity. Long ago in World War II, there used to be a patriotic poster that hung on many walls. It read, "loose lips sink ships." Today, our ship of state is in mighty danger of being sunk because of the reckless violation of one of our treasured liberties: freedom of speech. Reckless free speech. It pains me to say this because I'm a First Amendment fanatic with a strong belief in free speech, no matter how reckless it is sometimes. But we should remember that freedom is not absolute anymore than it is allowable to yell fire in a crowded theater.
What can be said of the public when the loud mouths of Fox News enjoy some of the highest ratings of any cable television programs in the country? Fortunately, we can thank Jon Stewart for keeping us awake most evenings by poking fun at O'Reilly and Beck who are the Abbott and Costello on a ship of fools. Rush Limbaugh, talk radio's schlockmeister, also gets a few seconds of attention from Stewart, but fortunately not much.
It is no wonder that Rupert Murdoch, who claims to have voted for Barack Obama last November, hasn't checked his commentators even mildly. He and Roger Ailes hide behind the myth of presenting news that is "fair and balanced." But as long as the ratings and ad revenues remain high, O'Reilly and friends no doubt will stay right where they are. It is when Limbaugh, the corpulent commentator, goes on the radio airwaves to liken the president's tactics to those of Adolf Hitler, and Beck, a former CNN polluter and more recent inductee in Fox News, claims that our president hates white people, you know it is time to put the brakes on their charade. This is not a call for censorship, but a demand for accuracy. These guys need to be policed by tough-minded editors or the kind of executives who used to be in charge of program practices on the television networks.
The talking heads paid by Murdoch and other cable operators are not as serious as they 0are dangerous. Their language is inflammatory, and they arouse the worst instincts in human beings. They raise the emotional temperature when the level of America's anger, frustration and even desperation has never been higher in recent memory. The number of Americans faced with losing their homes or jobs is alarming. Some people are genuinely skeptical of the Administration's health plan, if only because they do not understand it, and President Obama has yet to spell it out clearly. But to ignore the rate of spiraling health costs that could bankrupt the country is just plain foolish.
Here's where the cynical tactics of Republican leaders in Congress come in. They're not interested in any kind of health care reform. To them, this issue is part of a strategy that is no strategy at all. It is gutter politics by a party that seems to have lost its way and its dignity. How else can Newt Gingrich truly endorse the absurdities of Sarah Palin and the attempt to use her Down Syndrome child as a prop to attack the President?
The most vocal opponents of health care reform have been recruited, either by the GOP or the health insurance industry, to disrupt town meetings.and instead of appearing to be concerned citizens, they're acting like nothing less than thugs. They've been brainwashed into thinking that what they have is good enough without realizing that the employer-paid benefits they have or had are going away, never to return. The unions that ensured their continuation or the institutions that did so before ( because it made good corporate sense) may not be able to sustain them in the future. But the nasty tone of the opposition can be traced significantly to the Fox commentators and Republican congressmen like John Boehner of Ohio, whose appearance on television suggests that he is suffering from gallstones or permanent cramps.
The number and tone of irrational and hysterical letters to the New York Times is frightening. The failure of the Republican Party to control rather than exacerbate extremism is depressing. Its mantra for the past half century or more is that government and taxes are the evil enemies of the middle class, when in fact the government is us. We elect its participants in the House of Representatives and Senate all the time. We vote for state legislatures and city council routinely. They add up to what we know is representative government. It is no amorphous "thing" lurking out in the woods ready to devour us. As for taxes, we have been against them since the days of the Boston Tea Party. Everyone has to pay them, but every politician acts as if they are poison that must be purged from our system vigorously. California voters are still suffering from the foolishness that was deposited on us by Proposition 13.
With the exception of the nation's major newspapers, the mainstream press in general does little to inform its reader of the realities of life. What's worse is the absence of civic responsibility in local broadcast journalism. It is appalling to be exposed to a drum-beating video version of the police blotter every weekday evening. The silence of the political and business elite also is bewildering. Moreover, there is the failure of American institutions to warn citizens everywhere of just how much danger ignorant, ideological and ill-informed rabble-rousers pose to our nation. Need we be reminded of the consequences caused by these reckless critics? They are frightening because their appeal is to the lowest common denominator.
We need to applaud, not disparage, the most intelligent leader in the White House we've had in years. He is doing his best to lift the country out of the economic mess he inherited. Abroad, he is restoring America's image that was tarnished by the Bush administration. To demean Barack Obama with the language his critics have employed is to demean us all.
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If you are concerned about receiving "real" health care reform in this country, please take the time to watch a video on our current system. The video was created by Oregon physicians who are advocating for the single-payer option. The video is very informative and helped me to gain a better understanding of various aspect of health care, as we know now it.
https://ww
These Oregon physicians are in the process of organizing a caravan designed to inform the public about the benefits of the single-payer option. At last count they will be stopping in approximately 23 states, on their way to demonstrate in Washington. They need volunteers and our support. Please spread the word.
Wonderful commentary. These days we need to repeat these points each time the hatred and inciting starts up again.
Beautiful post Murray. It saddens me to see all the gullible redneck people holding up their "hate=Obama" signs so proudly when they actually look so foolish and hateful.
Hear! Hear! Murray Fromson should be back on national TV. We must get back to honest journalism as it was practised in the days of Murrow and Cronkite,and Sevareid, (and Fromson) among others of those late lamented days.
Why is the Wahington Post, NY TImes, Evening news etc. even covering Sara Palin anymore. Would they have quoted her if she made these outrageous statements BEFORE John McCain legitimized her? Of course not. She's no longer a candidate for office, so why bother? Her last notable action was to resign as Governor of Alaska. That was news and warranted press coverage. Her rantings from here on are not newsworthy. If she wants to air her views publicly, as I am doing now let her blog like the rest of us.
Disagreeing with the President is far different from yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre, sir.
President Obama is an elected official charged with developing and implementing solutions for the American People: Solutions which the American People find satisfactory.
Do not attempt to downplay the American discontent with the HR 3200 proposal. This is not but a Racist's club attempting to dethrone the historic Black president.
The nay-sayers are real people with legitimate concerns--who are not radicals--as those woefully blind to facts presented in this discourse would purport.
Few of us want to see an additional 2-8% payroll tax on employers: A tax that will cost American jobs. Seldom will you find an American who wants to be fined 2.5% of their income to pay for a program, which they do not want, and to which they owe no involvement.
Not only is it Constitutionally illegal for the Federal Government to institute such a program because the central government was granted no such powers, but the HR 3200 bill itself is riddled with Constituti
Do not tell me that we're working to "sink the ship" by defending the Fourth Amendment. Do not tell me that privacy is un-American. Do not tell me that disagreeing with public figures is un-American.
If the President's intent is to drive "the ship" into an iceberg, we would prefer to ensure that America is not as to The Titanic.
-Grizzly
Exactly.
All the same points I have been spouting all week to anyone who will listen (my poor, beleaguered husband mainly).
I still do not understand people that scream about "government". What do they want exactly, anarchy? No police or fire protection?? No collection of garbage or roads to travel on or education for our children? We have the best, if sometimes the messiest, type of government in the world -- a representative one elected by those of us that actually manage to get to the polls and stand in line because we care about where and how we live. The way some people complain you'd think we actually live under a midieval feudal system, when we are actually responsible for our own government.
President Obama and other members of our goverment have shown tremendous restraint and understanding of some very rude, obnoxious, people. They remain civil when others around them debase themselves.
Well said.
The problem with Obama is his policies. This brings the criticism.
The problem is all the negative feedback the president is getting for no reason other than the fact he is a black man and a liberal, the nuts on the right have a big problem with this. The right wing has given us one of the most destructive presidency's I have ever witnessed or read of. Bush and his cronies have done an excellent job of dividing this nation down the center. All we are left with are a bunch of jabbering fools drowning out the real debate.
Ignorance for some reason is now a virtue in this country. Its only a matter of time before the hordes of ignorant fools burn someone at the stake.
History is proving George Bush's policies brought this country to it's knees. Hold the judgement of Obama's policies to 8 years from now and you may be surprised how wrong you are. The problem with Obama is the right-wing extremists who cannot handle having an intelligent and well-spoken black man as our leader. Sick!
I enjoy how you complain about name calling by calling the name callers names.
A sick society, indeed.
There's a difference between calling people names, and calling it like it is.
Amen.
It's not name calling if it's accurate, as others have pointed out. I love the Air America did it too argument. First, how do you know how anyone who writes here responded to AA? For all you know, if AA was untruthfully labelling somebody, HP bloggers were outraged. I'm a leftist, not a liberal, but generally the idea of a liberal -- when the idea is not being demonized by the right -- is someone who can see both sides of a question. Second, in my extremely limited, third-hand experience of AA, they're astonishingly fair, especially compared with the irresponsible, incendiary, lying right wing media.
"How else can Newt Gingrich truly endorse the absurdities of Sarah Palin and the attempt to use her Down Syndrome child as a prop to attack the President?"
- - - -
Last Sunday, on This Week with George Stephanopolous" when Gingrich backed Palin's claim about death panels, Stephanopolous chimed in with a timid, weak comment like "that's not correct." Where is the challenge? Where is the passion? How can he let this type of claim go unquestioned on his show? I realize he's just a "moderator" but how can we give him any credibility if he allows this type of garbage? We need journalists who will challenge -- with passion and vigor -- the hateful lies spewed by right wing extremists like Palin, Gingrich, Boehner and others.
Taiyo, I completely agree and this is why CNN has been replaced by MSNBC in my home. Chris Matthews, Keith Olberman and Rachael Madow do not allow the kind of garbage spewed by these wing-nuts go unchallenged, and they challenge them with passion and vigor.
Absolutely! Keith and Rachel are daily must-see programs in my home.
I hope these agitators, including the media, and not just msm, think about what will happen if ANY harm, no matter what, befalls the Obamas.
You wanna talk about a civil war . . . It won't be pretty folks.
How dare anyone criticize President Obama! They all need to shut up and do whatever he wants.
He was elected president! It's a mandate for Obama change. There's a new Sheriff in town, baby!
If they right doesn't like it, they can leave the country.
Right! History has taught us that mindless obedience always works for the best.
There's a big difference between mindless obedience and reasonably supporting your nation's leader, whether you voted for him or not. That's called "patriotis
That aside, I agree with the author on the need for civil discourse. Funny, I don't remember anyone on this site condemning Air America during the last go-round.
No one is telling anyone to shut up and do whatever Obama wants. That's a total strawman, and what's more is that you know it.
BTW, why WOULDN'T the right-wingers just "leave the country?" They were huge advocates of liberals leaving the country throughout the Bush years.
Absolutely. The 24/7 Fox News Channel is bringing our society to the last days of the Roman Empire where people were entertained watching gladiators and animals claw people apart.
That you for this post.
To demean ANY PRESIDENT with the language his/her critics have employed is to demean us all.
Where was your voice prior to this January? Take issue with policies. Personal attacks like those you cite for President Obama are no more offensive or demeaning to us than those on previous presidents.
Our previous president demeaned US. Bush embarrassed us and made us ashamed. No one took seriously then the effects of what he did and said.
This president deserves respect.
thank you for proving my point.
The most dangerous person in America right now is Gl3nn B3ck and the 9/12ers ..
Any group that wraps themselves so tight in the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution should be taken seriously. Remember Ruby Ridge same ideas and beliefs.
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