Monday, May 02, 2005
minor bomb scare; the -idiot act-; we no longer fear fear, we -embrace- it.
love of fear:
- some innocuous looking “stuff” was left in the entrance of a bank i was at today. i overhear the lady behind me on the phone:
“someone left something that looks like a flare between the doors. we're not sure what it is, so we're evacuating.” looking over, sure enough, there's something there. scary looking ? nah. but you could see the anxiety in the faces of the tellers. the check i'm waiting for comes right about that time, so i figuire it's a good time to get moving. no need to get caught up in security issues. i've heard from people who have been through it, that the worst part about being around when a bank is robbed is not the robbery itself, it's having to hang around for the hours of police crap that comes afterward.
- over at the other bank, i'm opening an account. “we need to see your driver's license. you know, patriot act.” “aren't we giving driver's licenses to just about anyone nowadays ?” “yes, well, there are certain letters that flag some people”. oh, i get it now - we're going to label potential terrorists into submission.
- oh yeah - the check isn't signed. understandable, everyone was a bit nervous at the time. returning, i pull into the lot in time to see two police cars and a firetruck leaving.
where the hell is a roosevelt when you need him ? but the horror today is that there is “failure of substance” - not material, but - dare i say? - spiritual.
politicizing pbs
this one is interesting to follow. the story originates with the new york times, claimed by many to be highly biased towards liberals. my contention is that there has been a severe conservative shift that makes objective, reasonable, libertarian and traditional conservatives - in addition to traditional liberals and social progressives - appear increasingly farther to the left by comparison. the shifted conservative perspective is that more and more of those groups - who, in reality, reflect a true balance - are falling into socialist and communist 1 camps, etc. the irrationality in all this is mind boggling, and stomach turning. also, the shifted conservatives are increasingly demanding - ! - that the “correct” response is for american democracy to bow to this insanity, as if reason could be defined by a warped weighted average.
case in point:
that's the orginal headline. the story is worth a quick read. but, in looking for a source for this same article that doesn't require registration, as the nyt does, i found the following versions of the headline (from a google news search) - please bear with the volume for a moment:
Republican puts pressure on US public television
International Herald Tribune, France - 5 hours ago
WASHINGTON The Republican chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is aggressively pressing public television to correct what he and other ...
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Public TV chief seeks `balance'
Chicago Tribune (subscription), IL - 9 hours ago
WASHINGTON -- The Republican chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is aggressively pressing public television to correct what he and other ...
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PBS under equality pressure
Washington Times, DC - 1 hour ago
Washington, DC, May. 2 (UPI) -- Alleged "liberal bias" at the US Corporation for Public Broadcasting reportedly is under scrutiny by its Republican chairman. ...
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Republicans Angry at PBS Bias
NewsMax.com, FL - 3 hours ago
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s own chairman has confirmed what critics have long been saying: Public television has a liberal bias. ...
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Public television becomes more public
American Thinker, AZ - 5 hours ago
Wait, don't touch that dial! Those well-bred squeals oozing from a television set near you are just liberals stunned to learn that ...
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wow, without even getting into the the actual articles, look at the spectrum of political bias exhibited by these titles and leads ! the nyt original looks rather tame in comparison.
that kind of highlights this “flag”, but wasn't the original motivation for its posting. the original motivation was basically stated above, but to be clear: “balance” is not subject to the relativist perceptions of an extremist conservative minority. or even a warped majority. what good - what public service - is performed by simply reflecting a narrow subjective view, or of an average of the populace ? and who says that “balance” is only achieved by tight temporal relationships - that is, within a show, or even a season - ?
the valuable balance that pbs has provided is one of historical nature. it is, in the best sense, conservative, by - so far - attempting to maintain consistency in the face of many changes. a barometer, if you will.
now suddenly some groups don't like the what the barometer reads. their solution ? damage the instrument.
balance is also provided in a larger sense, in that extremist “mainstream” [an oxymoron, in its classic sense] opinion needs to be countered - or at least stood up to. pbs, by maintaining historical fathfulness and consistency - by not bowing to revisionism - provides this, too. if such an institution had not existed, it would have to be invented. and hey - these “conservatives” (in truth, reactionaries, social luddites, and corporate henchmen) would never have done this.
don't buy it, people - you can be liberal / progressive without being socialist. and you can be conservative without being fascist or fundamentalist. (hell, you can be fundamentalist without being fascist as well.) i'm sick and tired of these bozos who have been coopting the conservative label, and corrupting what was once a respectable and fair political stance. and i'm sick and tired of their modus operandi of condemning their opposition, being viscious and divisive. none of this is healthy or socially responsible. it is the worst kind of moral relativism. yes, i want to beat them with their own stick. these people have nothing to do with morality.
“they”, “these people” - arghh. that's the problem. a good number of americans have been duped, and they beat the party drum, often in good faith. unfortunately, their faith has been misplaced. their reason has been subverted. but no one wants to believe that about themselves.
what to do ? i don't know. for now, i can only raise a flag.
1update: it seems necessary to point out that there's nothing intrinsically “wrong” with socialism or communism, or any number of concepts intended to improve the lot of humans in social groupings. the corruptions that have historically occurred in some cases are due to the usual human shortcomings, and they can occur in any setting. witness american society today. unfortunately, the human penchant for labeling has unjustifiably stigmatized some labels and idolized others.