Posted by
Arnie on Tuesday, December 26, 2006 12:43:51 PM
Not the total problem, but the American people as a whole
can be blamed for the political mess that’s going on in Washington now, along
with it’s past performance, that has brought the country to it’s present
condition of political corruption, greed, turmoil, division, resulting with the
peoples general dissatisfaction with the government. On December 10th, CBS news presented the conspiracy
theory again. “According to a July poll conducted by Scripps News Service,
one-third of Americans think the government either carried out the 9/11 attacks
or intentionally allowed them to happen in order to provide a pretext for war
in the Middle East. “ Why do so many
Americans get caught up and quickly believe these conspiracy theories? Is it totally the work of the left-wing
groups like Michael Moore, Moveon, DailyKos, and others who have perpetuated
these myths? Has it been the
mainstream media continual barrage of presenting the worst portrait of America,
always the bad news getting the headlines?
A combination. But still.
Here I am writing this and I get the same news and broadcast
programs, and those web-sites previously mentioned are open and available to me
also, but I don’t succumb to any of this crap.
Here you are reading this, and you are probably part of the choir, and
you haven’t been taken in by the voices of the hate America first crowd. And there are millions more like you and me
throughout the sea to shining sea who, have not been taken in by the conspiracy
theories. How come we have not fallen
through the cracks? I wish I could
come up with a very detailed intelligent answer of the ages, but I can’t. Only a hypotheses, and a simple one at that.
Those 33% of Americans that believe in the 911 conspiracy
may also believe that Jimmy Carter may have a screw loose in his old age, but
he is right about Israel being the major reason for the middle east
conflict. They may also believe that
Senator Ted Kennedy did stumble away from his girl friend and allowed her to drown,
but he is also a great senator and a reputable voice to behold. They may also believe that Al Gore, even
though he stretched it by claiming he invented something, he would have been a
great president because he has a big heart for saving the environment. These same 33% of Americans may also believe
that the ACLU is really interested in protecting the civil rights of ALL
Americans. These same people probably
only get their news from the mainstream in bits and pieces, sound bites here
and there, a once in awhile 60 minute investigation, a breaking news headline
cutting in on their favorite primetime series or from a coworkers
rant during a coffee break at the office, factory, store or the mutual walk to
the car after work. In other words, they
do not care more than that.
And that is my hypotheses.
They do not care. They do not
care to be informed, to read some, to investigate, to look further for
validation, to be skeptical of the broadcast news. These are Americans. And,
they also vote. So where do you think this third part of America get the
information to make an intelligent decision in the voting booth? The coffee break. It’s America folks, and the bulk of this countries citizens have
not cared enough. Sure it’s hard to
manage all the details and demands of daily life and still find time to be
informed about what’s happening on the other side of town, state, and
country. Voices of the media coming at
us from all directions warning us of the next outbreak of E. coli, how the ice cap
is melting and New York will be under water, an ‘experts’ advice on how to
protect your children from a possible fall from unsafe playground equipment,
about the truck that turned over on I-35 backing up traffic for 3 hours, and
the 10 O’clock special report about the sexual habits of gorillas in
captivity. With all of this coming at
us, who has time to care?
That’s my
hypotheses. Because most American
citizens have not cared enough to get informed. It is work. It does take
time. And that is why Washington is
out of hand. We are the problem, and
most politicians like it and prefer it this way too.
But now with the expansion in the last couple of years of
the www, news you can use is easy to get, is easier to filter, is easier to
comprehend, is so much more informative, and a 5 second sound bite can be
expanded to a 3 minute read. We the
people should not be the problem much longer, and politicians don’t like that
either. It just may call for
accountability.
Which brings up another related issue. Should the country adopt a civics test one
must pass before being allowed to vote?
As I See It Now.