Case in point: I woke up early this morning and decided to watch Washington Journal, something I haven’t done in at least a month or so, primarily due to the fact that I’ve been staying up to all hours of the night and sleeping in. I shouldn’t have. Watched WJ, that is. The normal WJ drill for the first hour of the program is to cover the newspaper headlines while the host takes calls from viewers. And here’s what set me off, Gentle Reader: the first four or five calls…from Dems, Republicans and Independents…were from the frickin’ Truthers. And they were well-prepared Truthers, at that, armed with URLs of Truther web sites, quotes, “evidence,” various and sundry rants about Bu$hitler, Cheney, Neo-cons, yadda, yadda, yadda. This went on, literally, for the first 20 minutes of the program.
Brian Lamb, C-SPAN founder and the normal host on Fridays, must be on vacation. Mr. Lamb doesn’t entertain Truther rants gracefully, if at all. I’ve seen him play with Truthers on occasion, picking at their arguments, shooting holes in their “facts,” and what-not. But generally speaking, Mr. Lamb simply disconnects them once they begin their rants with a curt “Thanks for your call,” followed by “click.” Not so this morning. I only saw one call summarily disconnected by Steve (this morning’s host) and that was when the caller’s language became abusive towards the administration. The rest of the callers were allowed to rave on. This is wrong.
It’s wrong because C-SPAN is providing these idiots with a national platform for their gibberish. It’s wrong because listening politely encourages them. It’s wrong because C-SPAN becomes a minor “accessory after the fact” and serves to perpetuate the madness. I’m all for freedom of speech, generally speaking, but I have my limits. You can publish all the conspiracy theories you
want on your blog or on a web site devoted to such drivel. You can rave about Neo-con crimes on a street corner if you so desire. But you should be cut off at your knees when you begin spouting this crap on the premier public affairs network in the
Shunning works. And Truthers should be shunned.
Related: “Zogby poll: 42% of Democrats think Bush either caused 9/11 or let it happen.” Just in case you missed it yesterday.
I am thoroughly depressed. How can one shun 42% of the entire Democratic Party? (OK, I know it’s just another frickin’ poll, and polls lie often distort things, for any number of reasons. But still…)
Ah Buck, don't let the crazies make you crazy. When I hear the truthers on the WJ, I get so worked up...I just have to turn off the TV. If everyone did this, then the WJ would be more apt to change its policies giving time to the truthers. No viewers makes a big impact.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's what's happening...the crazies are making me crazy, much as I hate to admit it.
ReplyDeleteIt would be fairly easy to be dismissive of these idiots if there weren't so damned many of 'em! And that's the biggest reason I get so upset. I've always put a lot of faith in the wisdom of the American people. So when I see a significant percentage of the American public (upwards of 25%, according to some estimates I've seen) buying into this nonsense I begin to wonder if my faith and trust is misplaced.
I sure hope not.
I suppose I should have just turned off the teevee this morning. You can bet your boots I will the next time it happens!
Oh Buck, I went and read the link, what is scary is the youth in the poll. Wow are they being lead down the wrong path..
ReplyDeleteShelly
I don't worry too much about those polls. When I was in college, I took a class on Psychological statistics. I've forgotten about 99% of what I was taught, but my professor said one thing that has stuck with me to this day. He said, "You can make any survey prove any point you want it to." By wording the questions a certain way, or only interviewing a certain demographic or finding some reason to disqualify answers that don't support your decision, you can get the desired results pretty easily. I can run a poll over the weekend and make it prove that 100% of Americans believe Bush had nothing to do with 9/11. Does that make it an accurate sampling of the entire American population? No, but I don't have to admit that. Neither do the ones whose polls "prove" the opposite.
ReplyDeleteI realize this comment is probably way off base of what you wanted to discuss, but it is my general reaction every time I hear about another poll which "proves" something so obviously not true.
Too much civilization, that's the problem.
ReplyDeleteWhile we're still savages, on a daily basis we're exposed to a bunch of "Lady or Tiger" decisions, in which case we end up being torn into pieces if we make the wrong choice. Being torn into pieces is very, very personal...
Now, you can't play tag or dodgeball and if you want to play on the monkey-bars -- can I still say that? -- you have to wear a helmet and elbow pads. So now, how can you get hurt, or even suffer in any way, by reaching a wrong decision? Answer: You can't. Hardly ever. Certainly not by age twenty-five.
So we have lost our ability to infer. Inferences, in 2007, are things people reach so they can talk about them in groups, and in so doing ingratiate themselves with each other socially.
A tragic side effect of this is that along with the ability to infer, we have lost our ability to show gratitude. Consequences, across the board, don't matter.
So yes, of course Bush caused 9-11. It's "true," in the 21st-century sense. Why, I'm amazed it's taken them this long to figure it out.
/sarc
Becky said: I realize this comment is probably way off base of what you wanted to discuss, but it is my general reaction every time I hear about another poll which "proves" something so obviously not true.
ReplyDeleteAu contraire, Becky. A large part of what I meant was included in that little ("polls [strikeout] lie [/strikeout] often distort...") statement. I agree with you completely. Polls aren't worth the newsprint they're printed on, for the most part. But they at least give us a point of departure for discussion.
Morgan: I don't think ALL of us have lost our ability to infer. I agree inference has been greatly diminished of late, but it's not completely gone. I probably depend on inference TOO much in my writing, often leaving many things unsaid, assuming my readers will "get it." And I think the folks that frequent these parts DO get it. Usually. And if and when they DON'T get it, I expect them to call me on it. And once again, they usually DO.
;-)
Shelly said: Oh Buck, I went and read the link, what is scary is the youth in the poll. Wow are they being lead down the wrong path..
ReplyDeleteI got wrapped around the axle while writing my last and forgot to address your comment, Shelly. Forgive me?
It's up to US... as in parents, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles, ect... to engage the young in this space. Sunlight being the best disinfectant, and all that. And which is part of the reason I tend to go on SO much on this (and other) subjects. Combating distortion and misinformation is my new purpose in life, as it were.
;-)
What the "truthers" fail to realize is how much damage they are doing to the very people whose lives were grossly impacted by 9/11. I know there are a few 9/11 families who are part of the truth movement - but I submit that they are people whose grief has reached such epic - understandably so - proportions that they will latch on to anything that they believe will help ease their pain.
ReplyDeleteOld friends lost their daughter on 9/11 - and I know the "truth" movement hurts them very deeply. I know they do believe that our government ignored warning signs that MAY have prevented the events of that day - I think most of us agree with that at this point (not just Bush either, but Clinton before him and the elder Bush before that).
To say that the Bush Administration actually CAUSED 9/11 to happen creates such discourse on top of such unimaginable grief - and wounds the victims and their families all over again.